What source and amplification would you use to drive KEF LS50 speakers?

[徐中銳]

I mentioned it back at #30

 

New Zealand importer's order not yet delivered. Someone, in a country that has both, should try auditioning at a dealer...

 

Is that enough oomph for those? Haven't heard that combo.

 

Marantz US | HD-AMP1

 

 

[crenca]

That's part of what I'm interested in' date=' « expectations » are nebulous unless defined ? And you had other loudspeakers before purchasing ? What would people [i']expect[/i] of speakers (and indeed Hi-Fi) if they've never owned any before ? Are you surprised by the many confessions of 'new to audiophile [mindset, equipment selection]' in the forums ? And some of the advice they get...

 

All good questions and each one is probably worth a thread all on its own.

 

For me and my blind purchase of my B6's, I had "restrained" expectations based on auditioning otherwise well thought of equipment that I thought was not very good. Still, the B6's turned out to be better than not only I "expected", but even as good as all the hype around them would indicate. Still, If they had cost significantly more I would not have purchased them blind, so the low cost helped me over the edge. But it was nice that they sound as good as they do - their reputation is deserved.

 

Can't say I am all that surprised by the advice given. Folks usually just go off of what they know, so they tend to recomened what they know and own. Despite how the OP's often get an overwhelming flood of advice, that can be a good thing in that they can consider more than what they had thought of before. When it comes to some of what I read around the "computer" part of "computer audiophile" I see some things that are a bit stretched (so to speak), but I have the advantage of an actual career spent in systems administration so again I am not surprised all that much...

[徐中銳]

You know, these public conversations...

 

It's 11:21 NZDT and there are tasks, rather than CA discourse, I should focus on.

 

 

A quick couple of links, first (11m16s) :

 

Secondly, Johan Coorg « KEF’s head of brand development » hosted Stereophile's Three Days in England with KEF

 

 

Will write you better another time

[Mordikai]

Currently using emotiva dc-1 dac and diy Hypex ncore 400's to drive the Ls50's. All told about $2k. I'm very satisfied. I only wish the dc-1 had sub out and bass management.

[徐中銳]

Incidentally, 11.2 MHz DSD＆384 kHz 32 bit PCM (¥140,000) HD-AMP1 too uses Hypex UcD, has « sub out and bass management » plus other features...

 

MSRP : $1,099 in America

 

 

 

Currently using emotiva dc-1 dac and diy Hypex ncore 400's to drive the Ls50's. All told about $2k. I'm very satisfied. I only wish the dc-1 had sub out and bass management.

[Mordikai]

I kinda like the all in one approach the marantz takes and I kinda don't at the same time. I'm an audio electronics roller, so things come and go all the time. It does make for a cleaner install. I wish they would have used Hypex amps with a little more juice though.

[AudioDoctor]

Is that enough oomph for those? Haven't heard that combo.

 

I really don't know, it does go to 70watts at 4ohms. I am considering sticking one on my desktop with a pair of these and a sub:

 

http://www.blumensteinaudio.com/all-products/marlin-3-inch-fullrange-pair

 

http://www.blumensteinaudio.com/all-products/benthic-bass-unit-65-inch-passive-woofer

 

http://www.blumensteinaudio.com/all-products/dayton-outboard-subwoofer-amplifier

[realhifi]

I really don't know, it does go to 70watts at 4ohms. I am considering sticking one on my desktop with a pair of these and a sub:

 

Marlin 3" Fullrange Pair All Products

 

Benthic Bass Unit 6.5" Passive Woofer All Products

 

Modular Outboard Subwoofer Amplifier All Products

 

Thanks for the heads up on that company. Crazy cheap pricing for what looks like solid products.

[AudioDoctor]

Thanks for the heads up on that company. Crazy cheap pricing for what looks like solid products.

 

No problem, I have heard that set up above in a near field situation before and was suitably impressed.

[徐中銳]

Quickly commenting on your last sentence (will return to others when I've more time) :

I wish they would have used Hypex amps with a little more juice though.

 

How's your German ? What one can definitely hear is « Class D... Oktober... » :

 

And a couple of photos :

 

[Ajax]

Hi Wilhelm,

 

I don't know if you would call what we did "a leap of faith".

 

My nephew and I first heard the LS50s in a audio shop powered by a NAD 50W amp prior to purchase. We were both very taken with the sound. I was actually considering the NAD 7050 due to the excellent connectivity when I think alligatorman & firedog suggested the Ida-8. I did some research and summarised that based on the 50W NAD's performance with the LS50s the 100W Nuprime Ida-8 would have plenty of power.

 

I also summarised that if a mid range NAD amp (don't know what model but it was about $US500), sounded great then based on the rave reviews in the audio press and the complementary comments here at CA about both Nuforce and Nuprime amps, the Ida-8 would certainly be the equal of the NAD, but most likely much better. Also the Ida 8 ticked all our boxes for connectivity and being very compact and user friendly.

 

If it was a risk then IMO a very small and calculated one. I'm heading over to my nephews this afternoon to do some serious listening, and maybe drink a few beers!

 

All the best,

 

 

Ajax

[徐中銳]

I merely quoted your exact words. See #55 :

I have read so many good things about Nuforce on this site (now Nuprime) and their amplification technology so we decided to take a leap of faith.

 

What I might conclusively « call » what you two did will have to wait. You gild-so-long. Plus, there's no urgency for me to rush the reply.

 

Hi Wilhelm,

 

I don't know if you would call what we did "a leap of faith".

 

My nephew and I first heard the LS50s in a audio shop powered by a NAD 50W amp prior to purchase. We were both very taken with the sound. I was actually considering the NAD 7050 due to the excellent connectivity when I think alligatorman & firedog suggested the Ida-8. I did some research and summarised that based on the 50W NAD's performance with the LS50s the 100W Nuprime Ida-8 would have plenty of power.

 

I also summarised that if a mid range NAD amp (don't know what model but it was about $US500), sounded great then based on the rave reviews in the audio press and the complementary comments here at CA about both Nuforce and Nuprime amps, the Ida-8 would certainly be the equal of the NAD, but most likely much better. Also the Ida 8 ticked all our boxes for connectivity and being very compact and user friendly.

 

If it was a risk then IMO a very small and calculated one. I'm heading over to my nephews this afternoon to do some serious listening, and maybe drink a few beers!

 

All the best,

 

 

Ajax

[Ajax]

I merely quoted your exact words. See #55 :

 

Fair enough.

 

Just so there is no confusion my post was not meant to be a criticism of you, the point I was making was that we had already heard the LS50 speakers and that there had been a lot of positive media reviews and CA members' comments about the ida-8 amp. The "leap of faith" was not hearing them hooked up together.

 

Anyway, I had another listen today playing Jack Johnson "In between dreams" (CD quality) and Diana Krall "The girl in the other room" (24/96) and was really impressed with the system's resolution and transparency. The midrange is outstanding with voices sounding very natural and if you closed your eyes you could "picture" the musicians being in the room with you.

 

Unfortunately there were tradesmen still in the house so listening properly was not really possible but overall impression was very good, even though the speakers have only had a few hours burn in. The important thing is my nephew and his partner are very happy.

[徐中銳]

As you're writing publicly, it's very naive to say :

The important thing is my nephew and his partner are very happy.

 

Are readers' things unimportant ?

 

In short, you provided an inept example of how to purchase.

 

Your end does not justifies the means (of buying Hi-Fi without auditioning).

After some shopping around the total cost of the system was $A3,000

 

Well, everyone, let's discuss the role of specialist dealers, should we pay for their expertise—in-store and after-sales services ?

[Ajax]

Hey Wilhelm,

 

I have endeavoured to tolerate your nonsense in the hope that you would eventually come to see what you currently can't. I originally felt others were being disingenuous towards you and that a lot of your issues were due to your poor english and general lack of knowledge. But it goes deeper than that. You miss the point nearly every time. You don't know what you don't know and you don't know you don't know.

 

Please add me to you ignore list because after 7 years as a member of this site you will be the very first on mine.

[徐中銳]

Ah, already « 7 years » masquerading as Ajax...

 

My English is preferably old, but so's « criticism » ; as Pope wrote (but you'll likely miss the irony) in his An Essay on Criticism :

« Nay, fly to Altars ; there they'll talk you dead ;

For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread. »

 

And as to your reflexive verbosity, I'll help you recall :

Yorick is as good as theirs.

 

"He who knows not and knows not that he knows not' date=' he is a fool".

[/i']

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW AND YOU DON'T KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW"

[徐中銳]

Folks usually just go off of what they know, so they tend to recomened what they know and own. Despite how the OP...

 

Ajax, who doesn't « own » (nor, subsequently, will he really « know » well) the IDA-8, said « we decided to take a leap of faith. »

 

Well, the rest of us shouldn't leap unnecessarily, remember proverbial lemmings...

 

Incidentally, from Alaska Department of Fish and Game :

« Lemmings can swim and will cross bodies of water in their quest for greener pastures. Sometimes they drown. Dispersal and accidental death is a far cry from the instinctive, deliberate mass suicide depicted in "White Wilderness," but Hibbler explains that life is tough in the lemmings' "weird world of frozen chaos." The voice-over implies that lemmings take the plunge every seven to ten years... »

[damguz]

I just wanted to check if you had any new comments on your nephew's system and sound quality? Any incline on adding a bass?

 

Hey Wilhelm,

 

I have endeavoured to tolerate your nonsense in the hope that you would eventually come to see what you currently can't. I originally felt others were being disingenuous towards you and that a lot of your issues were due to your poor english and general lack of knowledge. But it goes deeper than that. You miss the point nearly every time. You don't know what you don't know and you don't know you don't know.

 

Please add me to you ignore list because after 7 years as a member of this site you will be the very first on mine.

[Rallye666]

I'm still really enjoying my LS50's. I cant see me ever getting rid of them to be honest.

 

I've gone a similar amplifier path to you but with a NAD c390DD - I think it uses similar PWM tech as the Nuforce Ida-8 with added benefit of some basic EQ features (and a setting to change the amp to match the impedance of the speakers)

 

With regards to all the discussion on amps to partner LS50's. I've tried 3 SS amps with mine

 

Roksan Kandy L3 - 120W into 8ohms

Creek Destiny 2 - 120w into 8ohms

NAD c390DD - 150w into 8ohms

 

So all around 100 - 150w. All sounded different, so you cant judge an amps compatibility with these speakers by rated output.

 

By far the worst was a Jolida tube amp a friend brought round to test. Slow, muffled and woolly come to mind.

 

Cheers, James