[guido]

...another advantage of using the RCA inputs is that one can take full advantage of the DSD and upsampling features of an external DAC instead of being limited to 192 on the USB input...

 

[AlanU]

I guess that there is no passive filter there is more "tweaking" capabilities.

I am impressed with Kef. I actually use the Kef's R series and T300 slim line speakers for my 9.1 channel home theater and not for critical listening. For my chill background music I'm using HEOS and stream Tidal on my Denon AVR. I also have a 5.1 setup in my bedroom using Q series and T100 slim series.

Since we are subjective in hearing I will say the price point of the Kef LS50W is a great bang for the buck. The kef sound is quite nice. I listened to a pair of $3200 Emit M30 dynaudio towers with a Moon neo 240 integrated and it was questionably tad better than the LS50W. Diminishing returns even for cheap mid/hifi gear.

The original passive speaker folks can use any type of amplification, DAC, interconnects and speaker wires. Throwing on vinyl to a tube dac or solid state dac you can change the sound exactly the way you like it.

The Kef dac reprocessing RCA's just baffles me but I guess it works. Hifi 2 channel people are different folks that typically seem to look down upon equalizer or using digital filters on DAC's. They will tweak with power conditioning, cabling, different pre amps/amps and tweak a room before telling friends they used an equalizer. However speaking with a person proud of their home theater they'll admit they love room calibration via software.

I stopped buying speakers after I purchased Canadian made Totem Earth speakers. I tame them with my power rectifier and tube dac setup and it' quite analog sounding like vinyl. My friends certainly have much more expensive stereo's but at the end of the day we must be happy with our ears.

I've auditioned the kef LS50W in a tuned sound room and it did sound very good. I also listened to my R300 with a Nait Supernait integrated amp. All sorta has kef wide soundstage with great imaging but the R300 just sounds more pleasing to me for reasonably priced R series speakers. The R300 true large 3 way speaker is not very common these days I suppose but the bass just is not as tight as the LS50W but the R300 seems to dig deeper giving me more "full" satisfaction.

 

[Blueshound24]

They're second hand so plenty of break in...
Tried a little more tweaking today, still no stands but managed to set them further apart and I also toed them in a little. The result is better, and they definitely sound much better with the volume turned way up (not surprising). I highly doubt that they're faulty but it still worries me because I find it hard to believe that all of the reviewers and owners heard something similar to what I'm getting and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Maybe my living room is really that bad... I just expected them to be crisper and shinier, if that makes any sense. The sound is decent, but not what I'd call audiophile.

Have you tried placing the foam plugs in the port in the rear? I've found that really tightens up everything and with more detail, especially if you can't get them out away from the wall very much.

 

[Chikolad]

Have you tried placing the foam plugs in the port in the rear? I've found that really tightens up everything and with more detail, especially if you can't get them out away from the wall very much.

I don't have any foam plugs
They don't come with the LS50W as far as I know

 

[Blueshound24]

I don't have any foam plugs
They don't come with the LS50W as far as I know

They came with my wired LS50, I would think they should come with the wireless as well?

If not, you should be able to make your own out of some foam to experiment with.

(Edited for clarity on wireless vs wired)

 

[Chikolad]

They came with my non-wireless LS50, I would think they should come with the wired as well?

If not, you should be able to make your own out of some foam to experiment with.

They don't. I think maybe because KEF relies on its DSP features to be able to adjust the bass and match it with the room.

 

[jologskyblues]

The wireless version doesn't come with the foam plugs unlike the passive version which has those oval-shaped 2-piece foam plugs. The wireless version doesn't need them because the bass extension can be adjusted electronically.

Anyway, I used to just use socks to plug the rear ports of my old speakers. It seemed to work. lol

 

[canali]

i might be selling my MR 1.4, cardas cable, and lps ultracaps power supply.
from what I understand, the MR has no use with the kefs (closed digital dac system and now ROON ready)...and i hardly listen to cans at my desk anymore.
i'm happy with my sonos play 3 at my desk...or chord mojo and iems on the go.

 

[canali]

is anyone here using the microrendu with their kef ls50 w speakers?
i've read with last update to kef speakers it almost makes the MR unnecessary, however.

 

[guido]

Can anyone get the new Kef Control app to work on IOS?



Mine stops working after the first attempt and I have to reinstall it every time...

 

[jologskyblues]

Can anyone get the new Kef Control app to work on IOS?



Mine stops working after the first attempt and I have to reinstall it every time...

The KEF Control app runs fine on my iPhone. My only issue is that my sound settings for the subs resets after turning off the speakers so I have to re-apply the saved preset every time I turn on the speakers.

Edit:

The KEF Control App was just updated. You might want to try updating to see if that solves your issues.

 

[smilemantts]

Can anyone get the new Kef Control app to work on IOS?



Mine stops working after the first attempt and I have to reinstall it every time...

Ditto on my iPad, although seems to work fine on the iPhone.

 

[guido]

KEF's apps are truly horrendous...

 

[Cadtot]

Today, my Kef LS50 Wireless speakers made a very loud crack noise, the UPS on my NAS indicated a power variation and the speakers are now DEAD. I purchased them in April 2017, so they are only 18 months old. Scanning the Internet, the symptoms indicate that the power supply has failed on the right speaker.

Very good speakers but as a 40-year user of Kef speakers, this is a bit disappointing, and I expected better.

Hopefully, they will be repaired under warranty?

 

[jologskyblues]

New KEF control app and firmware update just released. Stream app now supports gap less playback over WiFi. App and WIFI connectivity with the LS50W is also more reliable now.

Probably the most interesting thing in the KEF ontrol app change log is the added support for the KEF LSX. Must be an upcoming wireless active model. If so, I’m glad to see that KEF is continuing to pursue actives in the consumer Hifi segment.