[canali]

i am so not into headphone gear the last little while.
prefer speakers' sound 95% of the time.
heck i'll even take the sonos play 3 at my kitchen table vs
my chord mojo and iems or confining headphones
...there is just something about sound coming from outside my head
that i find immensely more enjoyable

 

[AlanU]

I would definitely keep a pair of decent IEM's at least.

When I want easy listening and less reference sound I enjoy a pair of my Kef R300. However there are times I'd prefer my Tube dac source feeding my Totem Acoustics Earth speakers for substantially more sound dispersion and emotion than the Kef LS50. I still truly like the sound of a tube amplifier adding harmonics to make the non amplified KEF LS50's more musical and less digital/reference. The key factor is listening space..........

Amazing how we all have preferences. Listening to my Totem's it makes my Campfire Andromeda's sound like Apple iphone earbuds

 

[Chikolad]

Hi Everyone,

I'm copying this post from the one I just made at the Roon forums as you might also be able to help me.

Today I bought a pair LS50W’s second hand from a local guy (sadly they are not sold in my country).
Now, I have zero experience with loudspeakers, as thus far I have been into headphones exclusively. My reference setup is currently Audeze LCD-3 headphones connected to a Chord Hugo 2.
I brought the speakers home and hooked them up, and I put them on my IKEA TV cabinet (this one, if it matters: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60239715/) as I have no speaker stands yet. I reckon the distance between the speakers was 1.2-1.3 meters. And the cabinet is 50 cm high. The speakers were maybe 15-20 cm from the wall (>30cm is recommended, I know).

After reading all of the rave reviews I expected to be blown away by these speakers… but I wasn’t.
The bass felt one-note at times and uneven, the treble didn’t sparkle as I imagined it would… it just didn’t feel “hifi” enough. The sound was rather smooth though, pretty cohesive, and vocals stood out rather nicely. Sound stage wasn’t very good imo and didn’t feel 3-D like or holographic. Everything was happening in the space between the speakers.

Granted, I only had about an hour to play around with them. I tried the different switches of the EQ to represent the room and the physical setup but eventually, weirdly, preferred the default setting.

I’m trying to understand if the fault is with the placement of the speakers and the room (can the difference be that big?), my expectations (coming from a really good headphone setup), or the speakers themselves.
I have found 2 examples online, one of them on Amazon, of people who received speakers that didn’t sound faulty but also didn’t sound very good. They compared them to passive LS50’s that sounded better. These people had their LS50W’s replaced and the new ones sounded a lot better.

Reading through this thread, I didn’t see anyone having a problem with the sound of the speakers, just with various defects.

Could it be that I was sold one of those not so great sounding pairs? I would hate to think so…
I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter from experienced people like you

 

[D2Girls]

@Chikolad

I can tell you that 1.3m distance apart is not enough. Try at least 2 meters. It really depends on your room but youre going to want to pull them at least 2 feet away from the wall and at least 6 feet apart. From the sounds of your descriptions on they sound its a room and placement issue.

 

[bearFNF]

Hi Everyone,

I'm copying this post from the one I just made at the Roon forums as you might also be able to help me.

Today I bought a pair LS50W’s second hand from a local guy (sadly they are not sold in my country).
Now, I have zero experience with loudspeakers, as thus far I have been into headphones exclusively. My reference setup is currently Audeze LCD-3 headphones connected to a Chord Hugo 2.
I brought the speakers home and hooked them up, and I put them on my IKEA TV cabinet (this one, if it matters: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60239715/) as I have no speaker stands yet. I reckon the distance between the speakers was 1.2-1.3 meters. And the cabinet is 50 cm high. The speakers were maybe 15-20 cm from the wall (>30cm is recommended, I know).

After reading all of the rave reviews I expected to be blown away by these speakers… but I wasn’t.
The bass felt one-note at times and uneven, the treble didn’t sparkle as I imagined it would… it just didn’t feel “hifi” enough. The sound was rather smooth though, pretty cohesive, and vocals stood out rather nicely. Sound stage wasn’t very good imo and didn’t feel 3-D like or holographic. Everything was happening in the space between the speakers.

Granted, I only had about an hour to play around with them. I tried the different switches of the EQ to represent the room and the physical setup but eventually, weirdly, preferred the default setting.

I’m trying to understand if the fault is with the placement of the speakers and the room (can the difference be that big?), my expectations (coming from a really good headphone setup), or the speakers themselves.
I have found 2 examples online, one of them on Amazon, of people who received speakers that didn’t sound faulty but also didn’t sound very good. They compared them to passive LS50’s that sounded better. These people had their LS50W’s replaced and the new ones sounded a lot better.

Reading through this thread, I didn’t see anyone having a problem with the sound of the speakers, just with various defects.

Could it be that I was sold one of those not so great sounding pairs? I would hate to think so…
I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter from experienced people like you

i posted some ideas for you over there.

 

[jologskyblues]

Hi Everyone,

I'm copying this post from the one I just made at the Roon forums as you might also be able to help me.

Today I bought a pair LS50W’s second hand from a local guy (sadly they are not sold in my country).
Now, I have zero experience with loudspeakers, as thus far I have been into headphones exclusively. My reference setup is currently Audeze LCD-3 headphones connected to a Chord Hugo 2.
I brought the speakers home and hooked them up, and I put them on my IKEA TV cabinet (this one, if it matters: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60239715/) as I have no speaker stands yet. I reckon the distance between the speakers was 1.2-1.3 meters. And the cabinet is 50 cm high. The speakers were maybe 15-20 cm from the wall (>30cm is recommended, I know).

After reading all of the rave reviews I expected to be blown away by these speakers… but I wasn’t.
The bass felt one-note at times and uneven, the treble didn’t sparkle as I imagined it would… it just didn’t feel “hifi” enough. The sound was rather smooth though, pretty cohesive, and vocals stood out rather nicely. Sound stage wasn’t very good imo and didn’t feel 3-D like or holographic. Everything was happening in the space between the speakers.

Granted, I only had about an hour to play around with them. I tried the different switches of the EQ to represent the room and the physical setup but eventually, weirdly, preferred the default setting.

I’m trying to understand if the fault is with the placement of the speakers and the room (can the difference be that big?), my expectations (coming from a really good headphone setup), or the speakers themselves.
I have found 2 examples online, one of them on Amazon, of people who received speakers that didn’t sound faulty but also didn’t sound very good. They compared them to passive LS50’s that sounded better. These people had their LS50W’s replaced and the new ones sounded a lot better.

Reading through this thread, I didn’t see anyone having a problem with the sound of the speakers, just with various defects.

Could it be that I was sold one of those not so great sounding pairs? I would hate to think so…
I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter from experienced people like you

One note bass from a good speaker is a sign that the room acoustics may be major issue in your case that even the built in room correction cannot compensate for. Experiment with positioning, get stands and perhaps invest in bass traps.

On th other hand, it may be that the sound is simply not in line with your preferences and expectations. At worst, the LS50W speakers you got are defective. In any case, a proper audition would have been more prudent prior to making that purchase decision.

 

[Chikolad]

@Chikolad

I can tell you that 1.3m distance apart is not enough. Try at least 2 meters. It really depends on your room but youre going to want to pull them at least 2 feet away from the wall and at least 6 feet apart. From the sounds of your descriptions on they sound its a room and placement issue.

Thank you! I sure hope that it's just the room acoustics

 

[Chikolad]

i posted some ideas for you over there.

Thanks! I replied to you over there

 

[Chikolad]

One note bass from a good speaker is a sign that the room acoustics may be major issue in your case that even the built in room correction cannot compensate for. Experiment with positioning, get stands and perhaps invest in bass traps.

On th other hand, it may be that the sound is simply not in line with your preferences and expectations. At worst, the LS50W speakers you got are defective. In any case, a proper audition would have been more prudent prior to making that purchase decision.

I actually paid after I listened to them in my house. At that time I couldn't imagine that they can be defective but sound "normal", i.e. no obvious signs of something being broken. Only later I read about those cases where defective sets just didn't sound impressive enough.
With the reviews I read they seemed like the perfect choice for me because I have no amp and didn't want to invest in a new DAC. I will use these in the living room for more casual listening with the family and to connect to the TV.
I will try to play around with the room and hopefully reach something I'm satisfied with.

 

[AlanU]

How many hours of breakin??? Some may not believe breakin but for the LS50 the suspension needs to work in a bit for the speakers to open up. I spoke to a local high end shop and they told me the LS50 wireless sounded HORRIBLE when they first unboxed the units. It took them weeks and weeks of playing the speakers non stop after hours when the shop was closed for the night.

I take my easy listening Kef R300 bookshelves over my Kef R100 (very similar to the LS50 non amplified). R300 is Warmer, marginally less transparent but much more enjoyable to listen too. Bass response is much deeper than the LS50.

The only way I would listen to the LS50 is using a tube amp for more analog sound that is less critical. This is just my taste so everyone is different.

If you want to have critical listening I think the wireless LS50 is a good one package deal. Less tweaking capabilities but "it is what it is" and in the hifi world that's not accepted with open arms in most cases.

The price of non amplified LS50 is an extremely inexpensive bargain for what you get. Matching that with a capable amp and vinyl or tube dac would sound much better than a digital wireless in my views.

Just my take on the speaker world.....

 

[Chikolad]

How many hours of breakin??? Some may not believe breakin but for the LS50 the suspension needs to work in a bit for the speakers to open up. I spoke to a local high end shop and they told me the LS50 wireless sounded HORRIBLE when they first unboxed the units. It took them weeks and weeks of playing the speakers non stop after hours when the shop was closed for the night.

I take my easy listening Kef R300 bookshelves over my Kef R100 (very similar to the LS50 non amplified). R300 is Warmer, marginally less transparent but much more enjoyable to listen too. Bass response is much deeper than the LS50.

The only way I would listen to the LS50 is using a tube amp for more analog sound that is less critical. This is just my taste so everyone is different.

If you want to have critical listening I think the wireless LS50 is a good one package deal. Less tweaking capabilities but "it is what it is" and in the hifi world that's not accepted with open arms in most cases.

The price of non amplified LS50 is an extremely inexpensive bargain for what you get. Matching that with a capable amp and vinyl or tube dac would sound much better than a digital wireless in my views.

Just my take on the speaker world.....

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.

 

[JohannLiebert]

Well they are on the smoother side. They won't throw details on you like Adam Monitors for example would or any headphones.
Still it is all a preference game. I think they are wonderful at what they are doing.

 

[Chikolad]

Well they are on the smoother side. They won't throw details on you like Adam Monitors for example would or any headphones.
Still it is all a preference game. I think they are wonderful at what they are doing.

Well that's comforting I guess
Like I said I have no speaker experience so I don't know what a system at that price should sound like.

 

[guido]

I tested he analog RCA inputs vs the PC inputs again.

The analog RCA inputs fed by my Aries Femto streamer > Yulong D8 [highly modified] DAC sound way better than the Aries straight into the PC [USB] inputs or using the KEF app as a streamer.

It is not even close....there is so much more warmth, realism ...everything improves through the analog inputs even though I know the analog signal is resampled by the KEFs DAC .

Obviously this analog signal I am sending the KEFs is of a much higher quality then the one decoded by only the KEFs DAC.....

Just sharing my experience....

 

[jologskyblues]

How many hours of breakin??? Some may not believe breakin but for the LS50 the suspension needs to work in a bit for the speakers to open up. I spoke to a local high end shop and they told me the LS50 wireless sounded HORRIBLE when they first unboxed the units. It took them weeks and weeks of playing the speakers non stop after hours when the shop was closed for the night.

The only way I would listen to the LS50 is using a tube amp for more analog sound that is less critical. This is just my taste so everyone is different.

If you want to have critical listening I think the wireless LS50 is a good one package deal. Less tweaking capabilities but "it is what it is" and in the hifi world that's not accepted with open arms in most cases.

The price of non amplified LS50 is an extremely inexpensive bargain for what you get. Matching that with a capable amp and vinyl or tube dac would sound much better than a digital wireless in my views.

Just my take on the speaker world.....

That's strange, my experience with my own LS50W was quite the contrary. Like so many others, when I got this pair of actives, out of the box, it was anything but horrible and I was actually impressed with the detail and mainly, the quality (and quantity) bass response that these compact actives were able to deliver. This was before they were even broken in.

Another good thing about them is that they come with settings that allow the user to tweak and tune its sound and the firmware and control app updates have also improved the software package which by now, pretty much resolved the bugs they had when the model launched. The sub out management section of the sound settings app of the LS50W is a godsend, especially now that I have a dual sub setup. Along with my miniDSP UMIK-1 mic and REW, the subwoofer management really made integration a breeze to do to make sure the subs only step in to handle the lowest of the low frequencies whilst minimizing overlapping frequency issues between the mains and the subs. The only thing it needs now is a distance (time alignment) setting which hopefully could be introduced in a future firmware/app update.

I previously owned the passive LS50 and while it was great overall, particularly with the sound stage and holographic quality of the sound courtesy of the Uni-Q array, it's main weakness was that the bass was quite bloated and uncontrolled. I had to fully plug the ports to run it sealed and set my SVS SB12NSD sub to take over the bass duties at around 100~110Hz on the LPF to make them sound perfect. Also, it's quite well known that the LS50's also need powerful and (expensive) amps to do them justice. Something that I don't have to worry about anymore with the Wireless version.

Sound-wise and feature-wise, the LS50W totally blows the passive LS50 out of the water at least in my experience. There was no comparison.

I tested he analog RCA inputs vs the PC inputs again.

The analog RCA inputs fed by my Aries Femto streamer > Yulong D8 [highly modified] DAC sound way better than the Aries straight into the PC [USB] inputs or using the KEF app as a streamer.

It is not even close....there is so much more warmth, realism ...everything improves through the analog inputs even though I know the analog signal is resampled by the KEFs DAC .

Obviously this analog signal I am sending the KEFs is of a much higher quality then the one decoded by only the KEFs DAC.....

Just sharing my experience....

I also noticed that the ADC converter of the KEF is the most transparent I've ever heard. I tried using an outboard HRT DAC connected to the AUX inputs and while that may seem counter intuitive with the double conversion happening, I still heard the familiar warm sound signature of that DAC through the LS50W's ADC. The only difference was the output volume is slightly lower. I have since connected my Rega Planar 3 turntable and again, the analog sound of vinyl was fully resolved by the ADC.