[LifeAspect]

I use isoacoustics for my kef ls50s, very happy with them.

 

[goldendarko]

I've had my KEF's for almost a year now and am still loving them. Was thrilled to see they won best budget product and best overall product from Stereophile Magazine, pretty cool stuff. That said, they are great with acoustic music and especially great with voices and female voices in particular, though they also play rock music really well.

 

[wgb113]

I ended up switching out the Benchmark DAC2 HGC/Parasound Halo A23 combo for a McIntosh MA6300/Schiit Gungnir combo and added two Dayton Audio SUB800s to the mix and the sound is absolutely stunning on all genres.  As they've broken in and I've gotten accustomed to their sound I can say that they really are a very special speaker for $1500/pr from 70-80Hz on up.  Blended well with sub(s) gets you full range sound without any impact on the LS50s and results in a presentation that's really magical.  Listening to some Back-To-Black Friday RSD releases now (Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue mono) and it's just awesome.
 
Bill
 

 

[goldendarko]

Wow, beautiful setup, is that the new Back to Black Blu-Ray release from Acoustic Sounds that you are referring too? If so how is it?

 

[wgb113]

Wow, beautiful setup, is that the new Back to Black Blu-Ray release from Acoustic Sounds that you are referring too? If so how is it?

 
Thanks.  No, it's the vinyl release.  I also have both the stereo and mono 24/96 downloads from HDTracks and it's hard to say which one I prefer but they're both really, REALLY good.
 
Bill

 

[goldendarko]

I might have to check out the blu ray release then. Probably mastered from the same hdtracks used

 

[stainless824]

does anyone here know which cables go well with the LS50 (if you're into the whole cables thing)? I know its a matter of system synergy; amps and dacs have to be factored in.
 
Amp: Ayre AX-7e
DAC: Perfectwave DAC MKII
 
To be honest i'm super happy with my setup atm, but would just like to extract that last 10-15%. Been tempted to go out and upgrade from the LS50, but I guess I like them too much to justify an upgrade at the moment. The presentation of a new speaker might not be to my liking.
 
I'm currently looking at Nordost

 

[Jodet]

  does anyone here know which cables go well with the LS50 (if you're into the whole cables thing)? I know its a matter of system synergy; amps and dacs have to be factored in.
 
Amp: Ayre AX-7e
DAC: Perfectwave DAC MKII
 
To be honest i'm super happy with my setup atm, but would just like to extract that last 10-15%. Been tempted to go out and upgrade from the LS50, but I guess I like them too much to justify an upgrade at the moment. The presentation of a new speaker might not be to my liking.
 
I'm currently looking at Nordost

 
I've had good luck with anti-cables and cardas. 

 

[zigy626]

I purchased some LS50s at Christmas along with a Cyrus Streamline 2 Network Player for use as a second system for bedroom or office and was blown away by them from the start.  I benched them against PMC Twenty 21's which are quite a jump in price.  The PMCs had better separation which was to be expected with improvements in both drivers and crossover but they also sounded too clinical for my liking.  I could have walked away with either but the LS50s won on their musicality and timing, they also produce a fair bit of bass for bookshelf speakers. I listen to a broad range of music from classical to electronica, film scores and rock & pop and this system extracts subtle details in my FLAC files that I didn't realise were there on the original CD.  If you are familiar with KEF's UniQ driver technology, they are quite an improvement over previous generations as I have some 12 year old KEF Reference speakers to compare to, the LS50s detail and separation is vastly improved over these huge floorstanders, though the later still wins on the scale of its soundstage . Given the amount of praise they have received from the Hi-Fi press you could probably just buy them without auditioning, and are superior to all the other speakers you have shortlisted as I also considered them at the time, they also partner very well with my Cyrus network player.

Did you find the Cyrus Streamline 2 was sufficient to power the KEF LS50 since it's only 30w/8ohm. I had the same setup but just felt a bit uncomfortable pushing the Streamline. Hence I bought a second hand Cyrus 6XP. After about a month of listening I am now contemplating buying a Cyrus X power which has about 75w. But still with my current setup I am really happy. However while listening to complex classical tracks I find the 3 dimensional image collapses due to a lack of top quality DAC inside the Streamline 2.

 

[goldendarko]

I believe KEF recommends at least 75 Watts with the LS50's even though they are relatively efficient. I am pumping 220 watts into mine and they sing beautifully

 

[Chewie]

I suspect lots of people use LS50s as part of a main/living room hi-fi setup.  However I only use them as a bedroom/study situation so the power output in the smaller space is perfectly sufficient.  I also tried the Streamline 2 with PMC Twenty 21s and it coped with those as well.  Cyrus and KEF compliment each other very well for my tastes, the warmth of the KEF sound takes the edge off the analytical approach that the Cyrus produces (which I happen to like).  Sure the amp could be better as could the DAC but it gives a great performance in the given smaller space for a one-box system and two speakers, it was meant to be a scaled down version of my main setup which is Cyrus X series, driven by X300s and KEF Reference which again the Cyrus/KEF combo works very well.  If you are looking to drive LS50s in a living room there would of course be improvements with an 8a or X Power but KEF do pitch them as monitors so they are well suited to closer listening situations with smaller space and wattage requirements.  As with all the KEF speakers I have owned they have high sensitivity so are easy to drive with smaller amplification

 

[goldendarko]

Yeah, I use mine in a nearfield situation too (desktop) and am using a Peachtree Audio 220 watt amp with them, they can definately play louder than I can handle, but I like the versatility a powerful amp provides as I will eventually plan on moving these into the living room when we get a larger house and then I should be able to crank it

 

[stainless824]

The ls50's don't need huge wattage; but the highest quality power you can provide them. I've compared an ayre AX-7e with a w4s class D monoblocks and the Ayre just outclasses it in everything except being able to play at concert level SPLs. The LS50's just scale so well with higher quality gear its uncanny.

 

[zachchen1996]

Has anyone here heard the joseph audio pulsar's? How do they compare to the ls50's?

 

[goldendarko]

The pulsar costs $7000, the LS50 costs $1500 so I'm not sure it would really be the fairest of comparions, but from everything I had read about the LS50's before purchasing them they took on speakers in higher price ranges for a lot less dough but I can't comment on the pulsars as I've never heard them.