[musicman2006]

 

 

 

 


 

Here are some pictures as request by a couple people. You can see where I replaced the white ceramic resistors with the 1% Mill resistors,not that brand of resistors matters much, it's easy if you know how to solder. The crossover boards are held in place by a jagged toothed plastic brace inserted to the cabinet that can be carefully pried out with a screwdriver. Also you can see, KEF thought it a good idea to wrap their capacitors on the tweeter board in their own constrained layer damping material, the same stuff they put on the front cabinet bracing. A quick peek underneath reveals they are Clarity Caps. There also is not much space to work with as far as placing your own extra CDL material but it works and I also put some behind the Xover boards since there is enough clearance. 
 
More importantly, I put two layers of the Dynamite on the baffle as shown to reduce reverberation directly to the driver as well as some smaller cut pieces on the other areas such as the raised lip where the driver is screwed into the baffle. In the last pic you can see some white cotton batting in the back which I experimented with replacing some of the foam  but didn't find there was much of a difference so I put all the foam pieces back in, not blocking the port on the upper right. The tan looking stuff is the soft material KEF uses between the two hard surfaces of the cab bracing and the baffle to complete the CDL system.  A stiff surface is the reason I chose Dynamite because other brands I used did not have aluminum backing as thick as Dynamite does, and yet another horrible brand I used actually had the butyl rubber melt , thankfully I found that out the hard way with much cheaper speakers years ago. 
 
Note: I don't have any relation to Dynamat, it's just what I have found that works best after using several other brands. 

 

[33na3rd]

Originally Posted by musicman2006 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Here are some pictures as request by a couple people. Also you can see, KEF thought it a good idea to wrap their capacitors on the tweeter board in their own constrained layer damping material, the same stuff they put on the front cabinet bracing. A quick peek 
underneath reveals they are Clarity Caps. 
 
 
 

 
Thank you for posting those images!
 
Are all the capacitors in the LS50 film types, or are there electrolytic's in there too? 
 
Thanks, JAS

 

[musicman2006]

According to the KEF white paper for the LS50, the company uses film capacitors. 

 

[Overpricedcable]

Posting this on a few forums, need some KEF advice.
 
Ok, so after hooking up a few mismatched speakers to test surround sound for my room, I'm sold. The Frankenstein setup is as follows: Front LR Kef LS50, surround LR Pioneer ebs73, sub SVS sb12 nsd, and center...one of the two svs ultra bookshelf speakers that I jacked from my roomate temporarily (just a standard bookshelf speaker).
 
I'm thinking about replacing the rest of the mismatched speakers and getting three more KEF ls50 (two to use as surrounds and one as a center, in addition to the two KEF I already have to make a 5.1). My question is this: would I be better off buying dedicated surround speakers, such as the svs ultra surrounds, and a dedicated center, like the svs ultra center, or going all KEF? I really don't know the benefit of a dedicated surround vs just the KEF. Same with the center. Price isn't the concern here. My main concern is the form factor. I see the speakers that I listed have a different design (the SVS center is a traditional design, and the surround has two sides to it and is supposed to be wall mounted). That's radically different than a single driver, and I wasn't sure what I'd be missing if I went with a non-specialized design for my surround speakers.
 
Thanks so much for the advice, I'm new when it comes to surround setups. For comparison:
 
Ultra surround: https://www.svsound.com/products/ultra-surround
Ultra center: https://www.svsound.com/products/ultra-center

 

[yage]

  My question is this: would I be better off buying dedicated surround speakers, such as the svs ultra surrounds, and a dedicated center, like the svs ultra center, or going all KEF?

 
My understanding is that most 'surround' speakers are built so that they sound good right up against a wall or in a wall - mainly for convenience. If you want to use your surround system for critical listening to music in surround, then five LS50's and a subwoofer will do quite nicely. However, placement would be pretty tricky (the 'surround' LS50's would be placed well away from walls) and you'll probably make an enemy of your roommate if it's a shared space. If you care more about movies in surround and their whiz-bang effects then you probably could get away with a slightly mismatched system with SVS surrounds + center channel and your LS50's acting as the 'front' speakers.

 

[Overpricedcable]

Hello again! I recently bought another pair of KEF LS50 from Amazon for $1,049.00 (link, seller is discount music: https://www.amazon.com/KEF-LS50-Mini-Monitor-Gloss/dp/B00EPDMDZ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482298591&sr=8-1&keywords=kef+ls50). I noticed the item says used but the description says brand new, which is understandable since Amazon only lets some items go as new if they are listed by authorized sellers. 
 
I bought them, received them, and everything looks brand new. The box is the same (sealed with KEF tape), the speakers have no blemishes, they sound the same, and all the literature is included. Here is the issue: there is no serial number on neither of the two speakers nor the box. My original KEF order had both.
 
Aside from voiding the warranty, is there reason for concern? They don't appear fake at all. I am curious about if they are refurbished or recertified--would this be a reason for no serial number? The reviews for that dealer are also suspect, which I should have looked at more closely other than just the % rating. I've contacted the buyer and am waiting for a response (they've responded to my inquiries before).
 
Thanks.

 

[nasiemp]

Just purchased these speakers recently, and had several days to listen. The Kef LS50 are hooked to a NAD 320 BEE integrated amp. Music source is MacBook Air -> iTunes -> AMarra, -> Gungnir DAC using USB. I have a HSU STF-1 sub as well, and I spent half the time listening to the speakers without it. The listening room is 9 x 9 ft and 8 ft high.

Initial listening impressions are positive. It's a big step up from my older Energy RC-10 bookshelf speakers.

The LS50 sounds neutral. Music sounds natural and accurate. Soundstage, imaging, resolution, and clarity are very good. There is no boxy character. Rapping my knuckles against the sides of the speaker produces a dead sound with no vibration. The sounds appear beyond the speakers.The instruments and vocals are well defined and easy to position in the listening plane. I find the bass is present, but could be tighter. Also, it could be more impactful.

I can't say it's better than other speakers in its price range, since I only compare it with my RC-10s which cost less than a third the price of the LS50. Overall, it's worth the upgrade.

Hi,
Curious as to your positioning in your room.. My room has similar dimensions and I'm trying many things to make sure there isn't a bass boom with heavy bass tracks.

Cheers,
Nasiem

 

[treal512]

This thread needs more pictures >>

 

[Carlos Dias]

Acabei de comprar o KEF LS50, principalmente para uso em um condomínio, onde devo ter cuidado com o volume. Ainda não os configurei, por isso não posso fornecer nenhuma perspectiva do som deles.

No entanto, há um vídeo do YouTube de um par tocando várias faixas de música ... e ... você pode ter uma boa idéia de seus recursos de som, palco sonoro e imagem. É consistente com as críticas, que sugerem que elas tenham um desempenho tão bom quanto os alto-falantes de vários mil dólares. Eu os selecionei sobre os Maggies menores com os painéis de baixo. Todas as revisões relatam que nada realmente se compara na faixa de preço até $ 2000 + e que elas preencherão uma sala menor com um palco e uma imagem semelhantes à vida. Vamos ver se minha decisão foi certa - mas acho que provavelmente sim. No mínimo, terei alguns dos melhores alto-falantes de campo próximo disponíveis.

Vou complementá-los com o submarino KEF R400b para aquecê-los um pouco e adicionar um pouco de peso ao som. Essa combinação deve me dar uma aproximação bastante próxima das lâminas KEF ( $ 30.000 ), para uma ninharia relativa - o mesmo driver médio / triplo e drivers graves semelhantes.

No entanto, eles exigem alguns componentes eletrônicos bastante pesados para otimizar seu desempenho - eles são bastante ineficientes, com uma sensibilidade de apenas 85 db. Acho que vou conduzi-los com o W4S STI-500 ( 250 watts / canal em 8ohms ), que também recebe críticas excelentes, que relatam que compete com os "garotos grandes." E ... isso levará os Maggies muito bem, se eu decidir mudar mais tarde. Enquanto eu vi alguns relatos deles se saindo muito bem com o amplificador Unison Research Set... Eu ficaria com um estado sólido de 150 + watts, ou amplificador híbrido, no mínimo. Se eu quiser dar um pouco de som de tubo, usarei meu estágio de linha de tubo ou um buffer de tubo.

Espero que isso faça o trabalho até que eu tenha espaço e privacidade para meus Maggies, LaHave, Vapor Audio, Evolution Acoustics ou Selah ... ou ... talvez... Física Esmeralda CS3 ( todos os "assassinos gigantes" reais ).

Uma qualidade do som não é terrível relacionada à potência do amplificador. Uma potência do amplificador é uma medida da capacidade do mesmo em energia mais forte para os alto-falantes. Uma qualidade do valor dos produtos mais ricos, incluindo uma qualidade dos componentes do amplificador, o design do circuito, uma resposta de frequência, uma distribuição prejudicial, uma distribuição prejudicial, entre outros.

Ambos ou amplificadores de 40W e 80W podem produzir produtos de alta qualidade, incluindo construções com componentes de qualidade e um projeto a ser projetado. Uma diferença de potência entre o modo de reprodução a uma capacidade de reprodução de volumes mais altos, mas não é um indicador direto da qualidade do som.

É importante levar em consideração os autores de uma qualidade superior, como uma fonte de áudio, os alto-falantes, uma sala de audição e como as preferidas. Além disso, faça uma audição comparativa terrível entre os amplificadores poda ser uma melodia de determinação qual deles oferece uma qualidade de som desejada.

 

[Carlos Dias]

Os LS50 são incríveis. Eu pedi um par ( Voltar encomendado até fevereiro em algum momento ). Os LS50 são muito reveladores e exigem um bom amplificador com no mínimo 50 watts / ch.

Se o seu orçamento for $ 2000, incluindo um amplificador, os anos 50 são muito caros. $ 1500 + pelo menos $ 180 para suportes de alto-falantes. Eu recebi os suportes de alto-falante Reference 3a que são vendidos para pares $ 350.

Combinar os LS50 com um amplificador $ 300 está fazendo um terrível desserviço aos anos 50

Uma qualidade do som não é terrível relacionada à potência do amplificador. Uma potência do amplificador é uma medida da capacidade do mesmo em energia mais forte para os alto-falantes. Uma qualidade do valor dos produtos mais ricos, incluindo uma qualidade dos componentes do amplificador, o design do circuito, uma resposta de frequência, uma distribuição prejudicial, uma distribuição prejudicial, entre outros.

Ambos ou amplificadores de 40W e 80W podem produzir produtos de alta qualidade, incluindo construções com componentes de qualidade e um projeto a ser projetado. Uma diferença de potência entre o modo de reprodução a uma capacidade de reprodução de volumes mais altos, mas não é um indicador direto da qualidade do som.

É importante levar em consideração os autores de uma qualidade superior, como uma fonte de áudio, os alto-falantes, uma sala de audição e como as preferidas. Além disso, faça uma audição comparativa terrível entre os amplificadores poda ser uma melodia de determinação qual deles oferece uma qualidade de som desejada.

 

[Pirastro]

I owned the original LS50 "non meta" for about 5 years before upgrading to Totem Model One Signatures. The KEFs are a really good speaker. As far a technicalities go, they are stellar. But IMHO, they are not a "special" speaker. They always sounded like really good "hi-fi" speakers. However, listening to the Model Ones, I forget that I'm listening to speakers and just hear the music and musicians - difference between really good and great, I guess.

 

[naka9]

I have the Kef LS50, and also the Totem Model 1, and both are great, if partnered with the right amplifier and correctly placed in the room, on 24in sturdy stands.
The Totem is more expensive and much more demanding with the rest of the system, especially the amplifier, that has to deliver enough current to make them work.. Get it right and they can be amazing, performing way past their size, filling the room with a spacious, robust and natural sound.
I have wonderful results with the Vincent SV-237MK.

The LS50, are a miracle for the price, and also are for the serious audiophile, as long you give them a bit of space to breathe (on stands) and sellect the speaker cables well. It can sound very nice with a Yamaha AS-701, great with a Rogue Sphinx and remarkable with an Hegel H360.