[honeyjjack]

I've heard the LS50W and it's great if you like that digital solid state sound. I've auditioned the LS50 (non amplified version) with a tube amplifier and vinyl setup and it had an enjoyable great organic analog sound. I assure you the "wireless" version would NOT sound that warm and organic!!!!!! Feeding an external dac to the wireless LS50 is unlikely going to be as responsive as a DAC/Preamp/AMP setup.

I think most hifi enthusiast like to mix and match to achieve a combo with synergy. I've often appreciated usb to spdif conversion fed to an preamp when I'm using my solid state dac setup. There is just way more flexibility with a non amplified LS50. Not sure if a 30W class AB is anything to get excited about dedicated for high frequencies. Class D for the rest........

What music genre you typically listen too or the size of the room you have?

If you like the warmth and darker sound, the older Kef R300 or newer R3 kef speaker IMO sound more full/meat to the bones setup compared to the LS50 or R100 passive speaker. This is also determined with your room setup.

I almost purchased a pre owned Devialet amp $$$$$ for my home system. I decided to pass as it also has the extreme limitation of ADDA conversion that strips me the opportunity to tweak.

Just warning you the Kef LS50 speaker/woofer suspension needs to get some hours on it. In the beginning the LS50 wired or wireless sounds congested and restricted. Put hours on it and it will become more effortless. Breaking in speakers is very noticeable with the ls50. My R300 sounded muffled and it took some hours to open up........

I listen to a variety of music from jazz and classical to pop and hip hop. Im stuck to a very small room as i am a student living in a studio and will be using them nearfield. Currently i have the musical parasdise mp-d2 tube dac and audio gd master 9 hp amp/preamp running a pair of abyss ab-1266 headphones and a18 ciems. Ive also heard good things about r300/r3 but i feel i might be overkill for my use. I would like warm over bright as both my headphone and earphone are slightly bright. Maybe tube integrated like WA5 or tube preamp with ss monoblocks with the ls50 might suit me better but then ive also heard the Elac Navis has more body than the kef.

 

[AlanU]

I listen to a variety of music from jazz and classical to pop and hip hop. Im stuck to a very small room as i am a student living in a studio and will be using them nearfield. Currently i have the musical parasdise mp-d2 tube dac and audio gd master 9 hp amp/preamp running a pair of abyss ab-1266 headphones and a18 ciems. Ive also heard good things about r300/r3 but i feel i might be overkill for my use. I would like warm over bright as both my headphone and earphone are slightly bright. Maybe tube integrated like WA5 or tube preamp with ss monoblocks with the ls50 might suit me better but then ive also heard the Elac Navis has more body than the kef.

Appears you really have some nice stuff!

The Elac Navis sounds like a nice set of speakers with Class AB amplification. The 4 inch drivers would probably need some decent run in time to perform the best.

The LS50W you auditioned hopefully had several hundreds of hours on them to open up. The suspension on the Kef driver do seem rather tight straight out of box. One local shop even said in the evenings they had to run the speakers rather loud to add more breakin time while the shop was closed. Very big noticeable difference once they break in.

I would bank on a Primaluna dialogue integrated (awards from Stereophile and hifipig) using the sweet/open goodness of Even harmonics from a KT150 tube would be an insane ear pleaser with a wide variety of wired monitors. This is where the wireless speaker (Elac, Kef) would not even come close using the onboard amplifier. This is also based on budget...….

I'll say the sound dispersion and imaging in the Kef LS50 or even the gloss black R100 is excellent for sub 1000 speaker. You know you're opening up a can of worms if you start looking for higher end gear.

The LS50 with good amplification typically has a nice refined high frequency range and not shrill. If you are using these speakers for near field (for your desk??????) I think the imaging will be very impressive. Not sure how hardcore you are but for a small room with the speakers 5-7 feet apart to fill the room you'd still appreciate a sub just to fill in the lower frequencies. But if you're happy with decent/good fill bass, sweet mids and smooth high's the price point of the wired LS50 is a nice deal.

I'd be certain a good quality integrated tube amp would blow away a digital amp found internally in the ls50w for many music genre's for holographic imaging unlike the typical solid state "sound". This is where people select their gear based on their needs. I'm the sort that really loves the hobby and love tweaking.

 

[honeyjjack]

Appears you really have some nice stuff!

The Elac Navis sounds like a nice set of speakers with Class AB amplification. The 4 inch drivers would probably need some decent run in time to perform the best.

The LS50W you auditioned hopefully had several hundreds of hours on them to open up. The suspension on the Kef driver do seem rather tight straight out of box. One local shop even said in the evenings they had to run the speakers rather loud to add more breakin time while the shop was closed. Very big noticeable difference once they break in.

I would bank on a Primaluna dialogue integrated (awards from Stereophile and hifipig) using the sweet/open goodness of Even harmonics from a KT150 tube would be an insane ear pleaser with a wide variety of wired monitors. This is where the wireless speaker (Elac, Kef) would not even come close using the onboard amplifier. This is also based on budget...….

I'll say the sound dispersion and imaging in the Kef LS50 or even the gloss black R100 is excellent for sub 1000 speaker. You know you're opening up a can of worms if you start looking for higher end gear.

The LS50 with good amplification typically has a nice refined high frequency range and not shrill. If you are using these speakers for near field (for your desk??????) I think the imaging will be very impressive. Not sure how hardcore you are but for a small room with the speakers 5-7 feet apart to fill the room you'd still appreciate a sub just to fill in the lower frequencies. But if you're happy with decent/good fill bass, sweet mids and smooth high's the price point of the wired LS50 is a nice deal.

I'd be certain a good quality integrated tube amp would blow away a digital amp found internally in the ls50w for many music genre's for holographic imaging unlike the typical solid state "sound". This is where people select their gear based on their needs. I'm the sort that really loves the hobby and love tweaking.

Yup it will be on my desk. Maybe ill put a cinderblock between the speaker and the desk to stop my desk from becoming a giant vibrator. It would probably be 3ft apart. Like you said i think a tube amp like the dialogue would work great with the ls50. Now im leaning between the navis and ls50 with amp. Since i will have to buy new for the navis while ls50 and amp is easy to find used, the total price would not be too different. Either way i love tweaking my gear too and will proably dip my toes into upgrading the crossover components.

 

[greenkiwi]

I am on the verge of buying a set of ls50w for nearfield use, but the fact that it always uses it's dac bothers me as i already have dacs worth more than it. Does anyone know if theres any way to bypass the dac even if it means opening up and doing some diy? Thanks.

I have a pair for near field listening and have been really enjoying them. I do have DACs that are worth just about as much, but I have really enjoyed the simplicity of the system. I believe that having DSP specifically designed for the LS50 is a plus.

At their current price on Amazon $1799, they present quite a good value.

 

[AlanU]

Yup it will be on my desk. Maybe ill put a cinderblock between the speaker and the desk to stop my desk from becoming a giant vibrator. It would probably be 3ft apart. Like you said i think a tube amp like the dialogue would work great with the ls50. Now im leaning between the navis and ls50 with amp. Since i will have to buy new for the navis while ls50 and amp is easy to find used, the total price would not be too different. Either way i love tweaking my gear too and will proably dip my toes into upgrading the crossover components.

Auralek foam pads will be a good isolation solutions for inexpensive desktop simplicity. Some even use high density yoga foam pads.

The Navis does look like a ultra clean solution if you desire such configuration. LS50W is starting to pop up more often in the preowned sections but dramatically reduces your tweaking capabilities.

Good to see that you're experimenting and open to ideas.....

 

[jologskyblues]

In the almost two years of owning the KEF LS50W for use in a near-field application, I've never had the urge to get into tweaking with different hardware for synergy or any of that stuff. I only felt the need to tweak the DSP settings, the sub integration, speaker positioning and room acoustics to get what I want out of it. After that, it's all about enjoying the music.

I've heard the LSX though, it sounded warmer and more organic than the LS50W although the latter has more detail and room-filling power.

 

[greenmac]

Arrived yesterday and loving them

 

[greenkiwi]

They look great.

 

[ridhoyudi]

I just installed wifi at home and want to use LS50W in wifi mode. But there is a problem where my LS50W is connected to the internet (white solid) but can't be found in the kef stream app and spotify on the smartphone.

LS50W with latest firmware, My router is Huawei HG8245H5 2,4 GHz only , smartphone is Galaxy Note 8 Android 9.

I tried changing the settings on the router, I found that if my wifi uses b/g mode then the problem is solved. But when I use b/g/n mode, the LS50W can't be found in the kef stream app. I want to use b/g/n mode.

If I use 4G mobile data tethering to smartphone and LS50W, kef stream app and spotify can see the speaker.

Is there something wrong with my router settings?

 

[jologskyblues]

...

 

[dbkwall]

Any word on KEF LS60s?

 

[robi20064]

Does anyone still have LS50W_FW_UpgradeTool_V4.0.0 or LS50_Wireless_Firmware_Up date_Tool_V4.0.0 and would mind sharing? Seems KEF removed all their original LS50 Wireless related content from their site.

 

[peterinvan]

Does anyone still have LS50W_FW_UpgradeTool_V4.0.0 or LS50_Wireless_Firmware_Up date_Tool_V4.0.0 and would mind sharing? Seems KEF removed all their original LS50 Wireless related content from their site.

PM me with your email address. I will forward the file to you.

 

[greenkiwi]

Any word on KEF LS60s?

I saw some reviews, I think that they will be pretty amazing. I'd love to get a pair when they finally go on sale