Active Kef LS50

[realhifi]

Connectivity covers all the bases. I know it's heresy on this forum but a pair of these with a $349 Sonos Connect digitally lashed on and you've got a fuss free FANTASIC system for $2500. Or hookup a mini PC and run Spotify, Roon, Tidal into it for even better sound.

Wow, I want a pair!

 

[realhifi]

It would be interesting for Kef to incorporate MQA into the Dac portion. A simple small format computer with Roon and Tidal into them. Yes please.

[realhifi]

 

 

I talked to Kef technical support with some questions and they said that MQA and Roon support are coming and that alot of people have asked for both.

 

 

 

Awesome is right! What a great setup that will be! Simple, very highend sound using those two speakers, wow! Roon, MQA, Tidal into an MQA capable built in Dac in those speakers sounds like a dream. Under $2500 for everything? Crazy.

[realhifi]

Me and Toolio. Wasn't that a song?

 

Anyway, similar situation, same questions.

Is good sound quality achievable in a

larger room if listening position is close

in. My couch is on sliders.

 

Room is 25'x14'x8'. One of the long walls

is mostly glass. Could it be worse? No

treatments now or ever. Currently have

huge Salk HT3 floorstanders on the short

wall, 3 ft. out. Listening position adjustable,

usually 10 ft.

 

My wife would be ecstatic regardless of

sound quality. I would be misserable if

sound quality sucked. Any possibility my

wife, LS50s and a subwoofer, and myself

could find happiness?

 

pb-

 

Absolutely. Besides, that's not what I would call a large room.

[realhifi]

Thanks for the reply. As I noted in my post, the furniture does not exist. This was the builder's original plan that I then scribbled on, and they like to stick furniture in plans. In reality, the room is just bare walls at the moment. I haven't purchased or positioned furniture, so I'm free to do as I please. I should have made it clearer that the arrows refer to two possible positions for speaker pairs, not positions for individual speakers. Given that information, and the fact that I can position speakers or couches anywhere, which wall would you recommend for the speakers?

I would recommend having the block wall behind the speakers instead of the 2x4 and drywall construction behind speakers.

[realhifi]

On 3/12/2017 at 0:34 PM, Tait said:

Listened to these yesterday. I have the passive versions with naim amplification.

Bigger sound, more space between instruments, better decay of notes, deeper bass. Couldn't believe what I was hearing to be honest. I want!

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Which Naim amp are you using?  Does the active version have the same subtlety and naturalness that the passive with Naim has?

[realhifi]

1 hour ago, Rezseeker said:

Anybody hear if they plan on updating firmware to prevent the apparent current need to press a button on the speakers to wake them from sleep?

i'd like to recommend these speakers to a friend, but this would be a sore spot.

They simply need a "wake on lan" setting in the software. Samsing tvs resisted this for years until they finally woke up and realized what being a network controlled device really is. I find it odd that a forward thinking company like KEF doesnt have that enabled on these. 

[realhifi]

On 4/24/2017 at 5:50 PM, [email protected] said:

TWO SUBS?

 

There is only a mono out RCA for a sub.

 

i am

looking to add two SVS subs.  Anyone figured out a way to get a Stereo signal out to left/right subs?

 

I dont know of a high end processor that has stereo sub outs. Your best bet is splitter into two subs and set subs as low as you can. Haven't seen the settings for the Kefs but of course set the crossover as low as you can also. 

[realhifi]

1 hour ago, Brucemck2 said:

 

Is the analog subwoofer output active when the speakers are fed by a digital source, and, is the volume out of those outputs controlled by the volume control of the speakers (rather than the input volume)?

 

I was under the impression that the subwoofer outputs were only active when the speakers were fed by their analog inputs.

 

The sub output works with digital sources as well as analog (which gets changed into digital anyway).  The volume of the sub is increased when you change the volume of the speakers of course, just like any receiver that has a sub output would do. 

[realhifi]

They should have just made these an active version of the LS50. A decent remote for source selection and volume control and called it good until they get their software up to level of Roon or Sonos. It appears they have bitten off more than they should have with these terrific sounding speakers. 

[realhifi]

If KEF was smart they'd get some software help from Roon. Tie Roon into their superb amp/Dac/speaker combo they have produced and wham, off to the races. Of course then there would be those that complained that they wanted Spotify, Apple Music or whatever other service they are using baked into the speaker. 

 

Not sure why people aren't just using them with a good streaming source that is controllable from phone or tablet until they get things sorted out a bit more in the app side. To me they look like a stone cold bargain even if you never used the app. They probably should have just come out with these without having networked functionality. 

[realhifi]

Just now, Arcus said:

We're under the impression that they are working on Roon support although I do agree that any software support could be beneficial and Roon certainly knows how to create solid software with a nice UI.

FYI, I was using Roon with the speakers but the beta (maybe alpha) firmware that was released on 5/22 has made the speaker unusable right now. 2 1/2 weeks later and I'm not aware of any response from KEF which is starting to be a very bad sign for their ability to support this product.

Bizarre. As I said, they should have hired (or enlisted another company) for the software side of this project. I just hope that it doesn't end up putting serious egg on their faces. It would be a shame as they have come so close to a wonderful product. 

 

PS.  Was the software Beta and was it optional to join the Beta program ala Sonos?

[realhifi]

17 minutes ago, Arcus said:

I was being sarcastic when I referred to it as Beta software. It was officially released on their public site for customers.

Not good. So I assume if someone is purchasing a pair they should NOT "update" their firmware. I'm going to get a pair of these and give them a test drive, I'm intrigued. 

[realhifi]

Anyone have a link to any forums that show how many people are having major issues (beyond obvious glitches in app)?

be curious if this is a majority. 

[realhifi]

9 hours ago, [email protected] said:

I had a successful update:

 

1. Windows 7 64bit
2. The computer must be connected to the Internet (mine is hard wired by Ethernet cable to local network)
3. The speaker must be in Wi-Fi mode and connected to the internet (hard wired to my network via Ethernet cable)
4. I disabled my Norton firewall Firewall / Anti-virus

5. Ensure you use the KEF Ethernet cable between Left and Right

6. Download and run installation software:

http://us.kef.com/product-support

 

I use the iPad app.

 

P.S. I had the firewall issue.  KEF support by phone was prompt and friendly.. 

 

Good to hear. 

[realhifi]

3 hours ago, erniejade said:

Brian Heisler Thanks Please keep us updated or possibly make it a little more public so others know vs looking at audio forums. We all appreciate the help!

LikeShow more reactions

· Reply ·

1

· 4 hrs

Edit

Jack Sharkey We've had basically three issues worldwide so we're trying to gather up data and get to the root of it all. Thanks for the patience and kind words, we will definitely keep everyone posted.

Sounds about right. As I said previously, I'd like to see a forum that has numbers of problems in this area.  

[realhifi]

On 6/16/2017 at 0:00 PM, DarwinOSX said:

I posted a review on Kef Direct saying that as well as listing the usability and support issues.  Lets see if they publish it.  Al that is on there now is 5 star reviews.

Looks like you got your review posted. 

[realhifi]

I think I'd be interested in these speakers even if they weren't wifi or networked of any sort.

Powered and dac inputs (along with analog inputs) seems good enough for me.  I'd still want to get my own source for them.  They need to have a direct input selector instead of simply scrolling through inputs though.  If they get that I could see them being a terrific option.  I'm just not sure I want small speakers (and sub) instead of floor standers right now.

 

PS. That and they NEED an automatic wake sensor that turns speaker on when it detects a signal.

 

PPS.  Get on it KEF.  Get a pair of your R series active with dac built in!

[realhifi]

18 hours ago, unclepuncle said:

Just got a pair of these yesterday and happy with the sound but have a problem with the speaker losing it's network connection everytime I put it into standby, or after it goes into standby under its own steam after 20 mins of inactivity.

The only way to reconnect is to do a hard reset using the button on the back of the master speaker and then go through the whole 'add new speaker' procedure again.

This works perfectly each time but the connection is lost when the speaker goes into standby!

 

I am using an oldish Netgear modem/router DG834 so nit dual channel, 5k or whatever the latest spec is - could that be the problem.

 

The initial set-up goes perfectly and I am running Tidal through the app - nothing else is connected to the speakers. 

The app isn't perfect by any means and there are some glitches, drop-outs, track jumping etc, but I can live with that. But I can't keep going through this hard reset malarkey everytime.

 

Any ideas or suggestion?

 

 

 

 

I would take the speakers down to your router and hook them directly into it. Then see if it still disappears. If it does then I'd be sure the speakers have latest firmware updates which you want to do with speaker wired to router then delete and reinstall latest version of the app from App Store. If it still disappears then I'd call KEF about it as it could be defective. They'll probably tell you replace aging modem/router which is solid advice anyway. A separate modem and router is your best bet when you get into streaming any kind of media anyway so you may as well get that sorted out too. 

[realhifi]

I just reread and noticed something. You said wireless icon shows up on speaker and yet you have it wired to network through homeplug which means you are not wirelessly communicating with speaker and in settings should be set to wired connection. 

[realhifi]

2 hours ago, [email protected] said:

 I believe the app communicates with the LS50W  through my LAN via the wireless access point on my router.

 

Exactly. Your iPad is wireless and the kef's are wired. 

[realhifi]

Yikes. That's iOS 101. I would have thought that would have been tried before even thinking there was an issue. 

[realhifi]

18 hours ago, DarwinOSX said:

It is for some of us but I'm not surprised people don't know that. 

I suppose you're right. It just feeels like Apple is becoming so ubiquitous that I just assumed it would be one of the first things to learn. Almost like knowing that sometimes you just have to reboot a computer or unplug and replug a device.   

I do however believe that not nearly enough people that get one of Apples devices know that stunning power and just exactly what it can do.  Remarkable devices. 

[realhifi]

On 9/23/2017 at 4:11 PM, George Hincapie said:

I collected the LS50W today. Have to say that so far, I am disappointed. The bass is a bit all over the place and they seem bright to me. Feeding them WAV over WIFI at the moment...making my ears hurt. Have set them up in the KEF app with distance from wall, room size etc.

 

No where near as good as my NVA Cube 2s at the moment.

 

Is there a trick to make these sound good?

So I’m assuming you listened to these fairly extensively before purchasing them?

Not everyone likes KEF speakers you know. 

[realhifi]

1 hour ago, George Hincapie said:

 

I have no time to demo anything sadly. Busy job in London all week then family responsibilities at the weekend. And I would only ever want to listen in my system in my house; how a component sounds at a dealer is as much use to me as a chocolate fireguard...

I have never found a component to sound dramaticly different from when I heard it at a shop to when I heard it in my home. I must just have tin ears but invariably if I like the demo I like it in my home. Guess I’m just lucky.