Active Kef LS50

[bunno77]

Yes there are import taxes etc but still the local distributors/wholesalers put a fair mark up. Quite a lot of new and used products are imported privately from the USA, Singapore etc for less than buying locally.

[Toolio]

8 hours ago, bunno77 said:

 

 

In Australia these speakers are $3,800 rrp and the first pair used (secondhand) has just been advertised for $3,000. Even considering exchange rates we get stooged here. 

$3,000 in Canada, plus 13% tax. Not quite as bad (C$ and Australian dollar are just about par now), but still bad.

[bunno77]

10 minutes ago, Toolio said:

$3,000 in Canada, plus 13% tax. Not quite as bad (C$ and Australian dollar are just about par now), but still bad.

Still the reality of a good speaker/amp/dac/streamer/simple dsp for that price is hard to beat. A sub or 2 and it's all you really need so if you think of it that way it is pretty good.

 

Here Darko says a full PS audio setup with the passives is only slightly better/different.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/3x1_2/1.html

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/03/one-more-time-with-feeling-the-kef-ls50-wireless-at-6moons/

[DarwinOSX]

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/05/tidal-spotify-connect-coming-to-kef-ls50-wireless/

 

Tidal and Spotify connect coming :-)

Tidal will be great and if there were MQA too that would be perfect.

Some rumors of Roon as well.

I don't care about Spotify, Apple Music made it superfluous for me but I use Tidal a lot too.

I assume a firmware update would include other fixes too.  Auto-switching would be really great but not expecting it.

[Tait]

So I borrowed a pair of my uncle's Russ Andrews 500 Series Powerkords to power the KEFs and....very impressed! Currently using Russ Andrews Classic series powerkords (2 below the 500 series) but the difference was startling!
More separation, tighter bass, improved details/dynamics. Just a greater sense of being involved with the music.
Stevie Ray Vaughan 9 minute epic Tin Pan Alley was a real eye opener!

One problem.....the price. At £500 each they aren't cheap! Ha!

What's the going rate for a kidney these days!?

[Tait]

Great news regarding the upcoming Tidal update.

Time will tell if my Blusound Node 2 is eventually made redundant!

[firedog]

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

[TubeLover]

17 hours ago, firedog said:

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

Completely agreed. Amazing value and quality for the dollar!

 

JC

[DarwinOSX]

It's a pretty good sign they intend to keep improving them.

 

[Tait]

The update that includes Tidal integration as well as the ability to change speaker settings under any input, not just Wi-Fi is now available in the Google Play store!

[Arcus]

1 hour ago, Tait said:

The update that includes Tidal integration as well as the ability to change speaker settings under any input, not just Wi-Fi is now available in the Google Play store!

 

That's great news! Now we just need the Apple App Store update.

[DarwinOSX]

2 minutes ago, Arcus said:

 

That's great news! Now we just need the Apple App Store update.

 

2 minutes ago, Arcus said:

 

That's great news! Now we just need the Apple App Store update.

Hopefully the iOS update is done and its just that Apple's process takes a little longer.

[erniejade]

Agree! IOS as of last night on my ipad has not said they have an upgrade this.

 

[erniejade]

On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 4:21 AM, Tait said:

So I borrowed a pair of my uncle's Russ Andrews 500 Series Powerkords to power the KEFs and....very impressed! Currently using Russ Andrews Classic series powerkords (2 below the 500 series) but the difference was startling!
More separation, tighter bass, improved details/dynamics. Just a greater sense of being involved with the music.
Stevie Ray Vaughan 9 minute epic Tin Pan Alley was a real eye opener!

One problem.....the price. At £500 each they aren't cheap! Ha!

What's the going rate for a kidney these days!?

 

I tried a set of wireworld Electra cords  on the Kef and actually wound up with Cullen cords and liked them better. They seemed to hug the plug better and not as loose feeling. Both were a noticeable difference over the stock cords.

 

Anyone try using this via Ethernet instead of wifi?  I normally use a Lumin D1 going to the RCA but, I was thinking how it might sound or if the app would be less glitch using Ethernet.

 

Speaking of Ethernet, anyone change out the stock cat6 between speakers?  Any improvement?  I have been on the fence on changing this because I don't want the speakers to sound different from each other.

[gbryant]

I have mine wired through wall plugs all Cat6 .... no audible difference. In my opinion...

[DarwinOSX]

21 minutes ago, erniejade said:

 

I tried a set of wireworld Electra cords  on the Kef and actually wound up with Cullen cords and liked them better. They seemed to hug the plug better and not as loose feeling. Both were a noticeable difference over the stock cords.

 

Anyone try using this via Ethernet instead of wifi?  I normally use a Lumin D1 going to the RCA but, I was thinking how it might sound or if the app would be less glitch using Ethernet.

 

Speaking of Ethernet, anyone change out the stock cat6 between speakers?  Any improvement?  I have been on the fence on changing this because I don't want the speakers to sound different from each other.

 

You guys have me thinking about getting new power cords but I really doubt different ethernet cable is going to matter.  These are pretty high quality.

I never really use the app because its been a piece of junk for awhile but with Tidal integration I should take another look at it.  I'm connected by both wifi and ethernet.  But also via optical to my Samsung TV one connect box and I airplay to the speakers or use apps on Apple TV.  Plus Plex for FLAC.

[DarwinOSX]

31 minutes ago, erniejade said:

Agree! IOS as of last night on my ipad has not said they have an upgrade this.

 

Google slaps any old thing not he Play some but Apple takes a little Rome time to check the app which is OK with me.  Far less chance of malware or spyware this way.

[erniejade]

The Cullen Cables I am using we not expensive and build quality is excellent. When I emailed Patrick about what I had, he recommended his Gold series cable but, instead of using the 10 gauge,12. I think they were something like $139 each.

 

I am tempted to put the app on my cell since its a droid and see how it does or what it looks like.

[DarwinOSX]

7 hours ago, DarwinOSX said:

Google slaps any old thing not he Play some but Apple takes a little Rome time to check the app which is OK with me.  Far less chance of malware or spyware this way.

 

The iOS app is out. Tidal and lots of fixes.

Control speaker settings from sources other than wifi

improved playback

improved speaker connections

fixed unable to find speaker

various crashes and bug fixes.

[[email protected]]

34 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

The iOS app is out. Tidal and lots of fixes.

Control speaker settings from sources other than wifi

improved playback

improved speaker connections

fixed unable to find speaker

various crashes and bug fixes.

Tidal is working over WiFi.  However the GUI is limited (e.g. missing sorting on albums). 

MASTERS decoding is not included (yet?)

 

Sitting back and listening via my iPad app

 

[[email protected]]

1 hour ago, [email protected] said:

Tidal is working over WiFi.  However the GUI is limited (e.g. missing sorting on albums). 

MASTERS decoding is not included (yet?)

 

Sitting back and listening via my iPad app

 

GUI can't set favorites.  Can't get from the track to the artist or album.

[tuan209]

Hey Guys!

 

I just picked up the LS50s and loving them!  However, I got one problem and cant seem to figure it out.  

 

I have the LS50s connected to my television, Lg OLED55b6p, via optical and a Nvidia Shield TV via HDMI to the television.  In this setup, I constantly get the audio cutting in and out.  

 

When I just connect the LS50s via optical and just watch OTA channels, I dont get any cutting in and out of the audio.  

 

I have tried swapping out the optical cables, HDMI cables, etc and nothing seems to work.  

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

Tuan

[DarwinOSX]

52 minutes ago, tuan209 said:

Hey Guys!

 

I just picked up the LS50s and loving them!  However, I got one problem and cant seem to figure it out.  

 

I have the LS50s connected to my television, Lg OLED55b6p, via optical and a Nvidia Shield TV via HDMI to the television.  In this setup, I constantly get the audio cutting in and out.  

 

When I just connect the LS50s via optical and just watch OTA channels, I dont get any cutting in and out of the audio.  

 

I have tried swapping out the optical cables, HDMI cables, etc and nothing seems to work.  

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

Tuan

 

I have a Samsung JS9000 with the Kefs attached by optical and a Roku and Apple TV connected to the Samsung one connect box by HDMI with no issues since last December.

Obviously a different TV and HDMI device, have you considered trying a different optical cable?  Mine is from Blue Jeans cable.

Have you tried another HDMI device?

 

[erniejade]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 5:54 PM, [email protected] said:

Tidal is working over WiFi.  However the GUI is limited (e.g. missing sorting on albums). 

MASTERS decoding is not included (yet?)

 

Sitting back and listening via my iPad app

 

I took a look last night and I did not see it. I hit the updates or show updates available and it didn't come up for me on IOS.

[DarwinOSX]

So far I'm not seeing a reason to use Tidal in the Kef app rather than airplaying it via Apple tv.

I switched inputs to see what would happen and it dropped and also the speaker disconnected from the app and I haven't been able to get it to reconnect.

Kef obviously isn't putting much effort into the app.  I bet they are using cheap developers from wherever rather than hiring their own.

I also sent an e-mail to their support a week ago and no reply.