Active Kef LS50

[firedog]

That sounds like a really interesting device - especially as they anticipated people mating it with sub(s) and included digital crossovers and DSP. I bet a pair of those with some good sub(s ) would give some very high end speakers a run for their money for a fraction of the cost.

[firedog]

Product of the year for DARKO, he loves them:

KEF LS50 Wireless review & DAR's Product of the Year 2016 | DAR__KO

[firedog]

Hm.. I think what the (passive) KEF LS50s need is a good sub-woofer (filtered at ~80Hz), not bi-amping and DSP. And I'm quite sure I'll miss my Schiit multibit DAC..

 

How do those things hurt?

 

Internal amplifiers each one designed to match it's driver; DSP in this case means the drivers are controlled so the don't distort, and have more extended performance.

 

As far as a sub, in the Wireless you get a built in digital crossover to the sub.

 

All of the above means optimal performance of the speaker and better integration with the sub.

 

What you wrote sounds like old fashioned audiophile prejudice.

 

Note that Darko directly compared the two models and said the wireless sounds better.

 

Audiophiles need to listen with their ears, and not prejudge equipment based on some set of "laws" about what "must" sound good and what "must" not.

[firedog]

I need to downsize my stereo system as I move into another house and need something out of the way and smaller than my dual mono amps, dac, computer, and floor standing speakers. These look ideal. Does KEF make a sub to use with them?

 

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

AFAIK, no special sub for them. Ask the dealer. Barring that there are lots to choose from.

[firedog]

If they make them Roon Ready it will be pretty much an unbeateable setup at anywhere near the price.

[firedog]

2 hours ago, jaspal kallar said:

 

 

Thanks for that information, having heard the Kit Three's (at a dealer) I was wondering if the Kef LS50W could come close to the Kii's (at a price much closer to my wallet).  I will at some point of course, at a dealer, demo the Kef LS50W.

Obviously the Kiis are better, especially in bass reproduction. As always, there is clearly a diminishing returns curve as you go up in price. The question is how much you are willing to pay to get to the top of the curve. Take into account that with the Kefs you will also need to buy one or two subs to make a fair comparison to the Kiis. 

[firedog]

8 hours ago, DarwinOSX said:

The Kefs only connect to one sub. 

yes, but if you wanted two you could do a workaround. 

[firedog]

5 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

Hi All,

 

I am new to this whole high-end audio system but was blown by KEF LS50 wireless at a retail shop so i bought one recently. Been doing a lot of research to get the best out of it in terms of sound quality. Understand that heaps of people are using Tidal MQA which I will sign up for it too. But why are people using Meridian Explorer 2 (DAC?), if the ls50w has built-in DAC. Does Meridian explorer 2 gives a higher sound quality?

 

To get the full MQA experience ("second unfold" + "special sauce" MQA filters) you need an MQA DAC.

 

If you feed the Kef wireless Tidal/MQA  directly to a digital input on the KEF (no MQA DAC in the middle) you can play back the MQA files with only the first unfold. It isn't the full MQA experience.

 

If you have the KEFs, no reason to use the Meridian Explorer2 except for full scale MQA playback. 

 

I guess it is possible the Kefs could be made fully MQA compatible in the future (firmware update), but until/if that happens, something like the Meridian Explorer2 is necessary for full deployment of MQA playback.

[firedog]

2 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

Thanks for the info. Better picture of how things works now. Is there any other alternative MQA filter to the Meridian Explorer 2 at a lower costs? 

 

Does digital input refers to USB cable? Also, will toslink to 3.5mm jack offer better quality than the USB cable? My mac and laptop does not support a toslink plug-in. 

 

Was reading up digitaltrend site, is there a need to get a A/C receiver to have an optimal control of the audio system? https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/best-av-receivers/

There's an Audioquest Dragonfly Black that is  less expensive than the Meridian, but it doesn't sound as good. You can find the Meridian Explorer2 for about $130 if you look hard on the Net. Look internationally. It's such a small item that sending it in the mail is a negligible cost.

 

Digital input: both USB and toslink are digital inputs. Doubtful the Toslink is better. I wouldn't worry about it. USB has the advantage of supporting higher sample rate material. 

 

Optimal control: I don't think anything else is needed. The Kefs have an app that enables you to control just about everything from a phone or tablet.

 

Don't overthink this. The whole point of the Kefs is that they are basically a plug and play system - just connect a source. If you like the sound and the price, get them. The only other thing to consider is to think about all the different scenarios in which you might use them, and be sure there is a way to do it. If in doubt, ask a dealer. 

[firedog]

Just now, DarwinOSX said:

 

What would that be?

there are ways to split the signal into two and attach a subwoofer to each.

[firedog]

2 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

This is great info. Just putting it in a 5m x 7m living room. Source referring to meridian explorer 2? 

 

Managed to find it at 109 pounds, cheapest I have seen. How do you connect meridian explored 2 to the speakers? Using a RCA or can I use the Kef usb cable? 

 

Is this RCA cable good enough:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-iXCC-Shielded-Gold-Plated-Stereo/dp/B019D048XC/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1506508749&sr=1-8&keywords=rca+cable?

 

THanks.

Source means whatever your source is, analog or digital.

The Meridian only has RCA analog outs. 

Any non defective RCA cable is "good enough". How much you want to spend on "good enough" and how much better it is than some other cable is something you need to decide. It's not something I can tell you. The only advice I would give is don't get some super cheap one that might actually be defective in some way.  Even a few dollars more goes a long way in this area. 

[firedog]

1 minute ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

I have connected my Meridian Explorer 2 from laptop to the RCA ports.  It sounded good but I don't think you can get MQA this way because for any of the ports it is going through a Kef day which doesn't do MQA correct?

No. The Meridian does all the MQA processing you need in digital and then converts the signal to analog. The analog feed from the Meridian has all the MQA result "built in" to it's analog output. Sending it to the KEF doesn't make it disappear. The Kef will reproduce what it is fed. 

[firedog]

10 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

Thats why I did it in the first place but several people have said the Kef DAC does it's own conversion and doesn't pass it through.  If I send it to the Kef RCA it converts it back to digital is my understanding.

The Kef DAC isn't set up for MQA, so it can't process a digital MQA stream and convert using the MQA instructions. It ignores them. It will convert a digital stream with MQA to analog, but without using MQA filtering, etc. 

 

If you feed it an analog signal from an MQA DAC, the MQA DAC has already done the MQA processing and the effect of MQA on the sound is part of the analog output from the MQA DAC. At that point it is just part of the analog signal and there is no separate "MQA" information.

 

There is just an analog signal that has the MQA sound built into it. It can't be separated out by the Kef. The Kef will digitize the RCA signal from the Meridian and then produce it's own analog output that includes the sound of the MQA processing done by the Meridian, and that is what you will hear from the speakers.

[firedog]

10 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

Blue Jeans Cables

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

 

They are also on Amazon

Excellent recommendation.

[firedog]

2 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

 

No. Despite help from other forum members I just couldn't position these in a place where they delivered consistant results. I took them back in the end and am still looking. Considering auditioning some PMC floor standers next.

Like PMC floorstanders. Even the smaller ones are very good. Larger ones - very impressive, if you have the budget and the room size. Overall, they are a good speaker value.

[firedog]

1 hour ago, No Disc said:

I'm considering the Kef LS50 Wireless II, the only thing holding me back is I really like the sound of my Chord DAC and I am not sure the result I would have feeing my Chord into the Analog inputs of the LS50 WII.  From my understanding Kef will convert that signal to digital to be able to use DSP on that.   Anyone with the LS50 Wireless try something like that before, and how did that work out for you?

 

There are lots of Kef dealers, maybe you can find one who will let you bring in your Chord at an audition.