Does anyone have experience with the Kef LS50?

[Yikes]

The LS50's are amazing. I have ordered a pair (Back ordered until February sometime). The LS50's are very revealing, and require a good amp with at a minimum 50 watts/ch.

If your budget is $2000 including an amp the 50's are too expensive. $1500 + at least $180 for speaker stands. I got the Reference 3a speaker stands that sell for $350 pair.

Pairing the LS50's with a $300 amp is doing a terrible disservice to the 50's

 

[Aiml3ss]

Quote:

The LS50's are amazing. I have ordered a pair (Back ordered until February sometime). The LS50's are very revealing, and require a good amp with at a minimum 50 watts/ch.

If your budget is $2000 including an amp the 50's are too expensive. $1500 + at least $180 for speaker stands. I got the Reference 3a speaker stands that sell for $350 pair.

Pairing the LS50's with a $300 amp is doing a terrible disservice to the 50's

 
I was thinking about getting a peachtree amp to power the LS50's or whatever speaker I end up getting. That should do the trick eh?

 

[anetode]

I have a pair of the LS50s set up in my bedroom. It took some playing around to find an optimal position for them and the sound is still a little bright (lower treble). They're terrific speakers if used within their limits of volume and low-end extension. To solve the latter I crossed mine over to a sub at a highish 120hz to give them some breathing room. I wouldn't recommend them without a sub for the main listening rig, as the 5.25" outer ring, while an admirable effort, has too little extension and distorts audibly in the bass frequencies at loud volumes.

 

[Yikes]

I have a sub, but I'm of the belief that a subwoofers most important feature is it's OFF Switch.

Typical in room response has the 50's down 3 db at about 50 hz. If I decide to use my sub I would start with a crossover at about 60 hz, 120 seems a bit high, but if it works no worries.

A 120 hz crossover would be benificial for louder listening. At The Show they were playing at decent levels (estimated to be 88-92 db peak) with a 200 watt/ch Parasound amp. To my ears they were getting -3db in the 50 hz range. Quite satisfying with acoustic jazz, and no sub.

Definitely not a speaker for head bangers.

 

[anetode]

To be fair, most of the time I'm listening without the sub and at a low-to-moderate volume. It's only that if I didn't have access for 10% of the time to listen to loud, full bandwidth music then I would slowly asphyxiate.

 

[Dissonant]

Just went for my second audition of the LS50s with my dad. Fantastic mini-monitors that sound more like small floorstanders in terms of bass extension and scale, when set up well. Dynamics were not lacking at all for the levels and music I auditioned at. Overall soundstaging is up there with the very best, due to the supremely coherent coaxial design. The type of speakers where you could see where they were and still not be sure if the music was enamanting from them - they disappear. The crossover is also masterfully handled. I couldn't hear the existence of a crossover at all. They had a sense of immediacy, pace, speed and rhythm that is basically as good as it gets with multi-way speakers. Just short of planars, crossoverless full-rangers and electrostats, but a more balanced presentation. Great build quality (though made in China) and smart design. Truly a state-of-the-art mini-monitor. Similar offerings from Quadral and Neat paled in comparison IME. A future classic, IMO.
 
BTW, there's a KEF showroom here (opened by KEF themselves), and word is the LS50s are not limited editon, but limited production. Production (not sure if sale applies too) will end on the 51st Anniversary of KEF this year. Meanwhile, they will churn out as many LS50s as possible, so do take your time to weigh your options and audition it if possible. 
 
Overall, a great buy. I wouldn't worry too much about stretching your budget though. The LS50s are relatively unfussy about stands. Hell, KEF themselves placed it on top of a Q900 during my audition. Cheap and good stands from the likes of Atacama, filled with sand or something would do the trick. Also, whilst the LS50s are super-revealing of upstream components, you don't feel like they limit the LS50s in any way. The showroom I was in literally demo'd the LS50s on the entry level NAD integrated (C 370, I think), and it still handily bested anything new at its price range, provided you use it in a small to medium-sized room.

 

[LifeAspect]

Anyone knows if a roksan kandy K2 can amp them properly enough? Atm I use this amp together with b&w 685s and when I asked a "local" audio store, they say they wouldn't drive the ls50's. I just can't believe that a 860+€ amplifier isn't capable enough to drive these.
 
Anyone knows?

 

[EddieE]

They were talking rubbish. The hifi shop I auditioned them in had them hooked up to a k2, they sounded great. I'd think either Kandy ( have a KA1 myself) would more than enough for these, and they could be powered fine by much less powerful amps.

 

[Yikes]

You guys do realize that how much an amp cost has little bearing on how powerful it might be?

The LS50's are relatively inefficient. There is a reason they show them with 200 watt/ch amps at shows.

That being said, if you have a small room, and you tend to listen at moderate levels you might get by with 20-25 watts/ch. lets be real if you frequently try to push the SPL'S above the mid to high 90's you should consider a different speaker.

If on the other hand you usually listen in the mid to upper 80 db range then you could possibly get by with even a NAD 326BEE. Which is what I use for my Desktop Office System. If I decide that the LS50's don't belong in my big rig they may be relegated to my Bedroom system (amped by a 200 watt/ch Rotel) or the NAD in my office, or maybe even my office at work.

The fact that I am buying them says they are good, where they end up will be driven by exactly how good

 

[Dissonant]

Quote:

You guys do realize that how much an amp cost has little bearing on how powerful it might be?

The LS50's are relatively inefficient. There is a reason they show them with 200 watt/ch amps at shows.

That being said, if you have a small room, and you tend to listen at moderate levels you might get by with 20-25 watts/ch. lets be real if you frequently try to push the SPL'S above the mid to high 90's you should consider a different speaker.

If on the other hand you usually listen in the mid to upper 80 db range then you could possibly get by with even a NAD 326BEE. Which is what I use for my Desktop Office System. If I decide that the LS50's don't belong in my big rig they may be relegated to my Bedroom system (amped by a 200 watt/ch Rotel) or the NAD in my office, or maybe even my office at work.

The fact that I am buying them says they are good, where they end up will be driven by exactly how good

This. Works well with NADs(even the entry-level ones), just a little bright at first. Once my ears adapted it was a love story through and through. I can only hope I clear all the miscellaneous speakers with enough takings to place the deposit for the LS50s before they run out of stock...

 

[EddieE]

If you actually read the response I gave, it has nothing to do with the cost of the amp. I've actually listened to these exact speakers on the exact amp the guy is talking about - it could reach "way too loud" volumes using little of the Kandy's range. The K2 delivers 137w into 8 ohms, 199wpc into 4 ohms - it is more than a match for the LS50.
 
KEF states amp requirement as 25-100wpc, and while they might struggle with a 25wpc amp, they absolutely do not require a 200wpc amp for any room short of a banquet hall. 
 
You're focusing on the wrong things here.
 
The LS50 might have relatively low sensitivity, but they are also not being very accurate with their nominal 8ohm rating. If you look at sterophile's measurements you will see that they are closer to 5-6 ohm for most of the treble, 4 ohm at points in the bass and lower mid range. There are three peaks topping at 12ohm, 13ohm and one off the chart, but they are speakers that draw relatively high current. 
 
Short of weedy amps, you should think more about current delivery than just wattage. It's much more important that the amp you chose is comfortable managing a 4 ohm load. I wouldn't worry too much about the amp being a renowned master of low impedance, but would avoid pairing them with a cheap receiver, regardless of what voltage it can churn into an easy 8 ohm load. If the amp doesn't quote a 4 ohm rating in its marketing materials, avoid it for sure.

 

[anetode]

Incidentally the K2 is the amp I'm currently using with them right now. Over the past four years the Roksan has never failed to deliver enough volume through three different monitors (85-88 db sensitivities). If you push 200w through the LS50s they'll distort to all hell anyway.

 

[EddieE]

The Roksan Kandys are great amps for the money. I have a Kandy KA1 Liii, and assumed I'd have to upgrade quickly when I got my super hungry Magnepan MMG, surprisingly they do a very capable job with them, so I'm in no hurry now.

 

[LifeAspect]

thanks for the replies guys..got me a bit worried. Not that my b&w 685 are bad speakers, but the KEF LS50 do look like a step up from these.

 

[Aiml3ss]

thanks for the replies guys..got me a bit worried. Not that my b&w 685 are bad speakers, but the KEF LS50 do look like a step up from these.

If you end up parting with the 685's, I'd be interested.