Active Kef LS50

[feelingears]

1 hour ago, DarwinOSX said:

Why would my post not be legit...

 

Because on the net nobody knows if you're a dog? Kidding. No offense. 

 

I don't own the product so I have no experience with it. And I know this isn't Amazon, so I wrote that only to imply that I'm accepting your opinion despite the very small chance you have a conflict of interest. 

 

My experience with technological products and my observations suggest you're legit, and that companies tend to care about the sale but not the support. Even big ones like Nikon. This just represents their budget and their people. No great insight there. Other readers have to judge for themselves. I posted because I want companies to be more like Schiit and Uptone. One must have hope...some hope anyway. 

[Arcus]

18 hours ago, Arcus said:

I've done both the firmware update and the app update. No problems playing via optical w/ Apple Airport using AirPlay.

UPDATE: I am now experiencing the same stupid crackling or hiss that others are experiencing. Get your sh**t together KEF!

[erniejade]

 @ArcusAre you on the facebook forum? If so I am the one on the little trike. 

 

I am sorry this is happening to you. I hope they get a fix quick for the firmware. I am not a bit scared to update the firmware. I will keep using the Lumin D1 for now.

[Arcus]

1 minute ago, erniejade said:

 @ArcusAre you on the facebook forum? If so I am the one on the little trike. 

 

I am sorry this is happening to you. I hope they get a fix quick for the firmware. I am not a bit scared to update the firmware. I will keep using the Lumin D1 for now.

LOL. Yes, I just posted there. I hate to be the one to tell you this but I think you are a little big for that trike

[erniejade]

LOL   A while ago when my Goddaughter was little, she told me the same thing. I had to prove her wrong and it became my facebook avatar ever since. She is 17 now and still loves that I still have that up.

[Toolio]

I'm sorry to hear people are having problems. I've been coveting these speakers, but now I'm going to hold off until matters are resolved. I ws pretty much on hold waiting for full Roon compatibility, anyway.

[Arcus]

1 minute ago, Toolio said:

I'm sorry to hear people are having problems. I've been coveting these speakers, but now I'm going to hold off until matters are resolved. I ws pretty much on hold waiting for full Roon compatibility, anyway.

Yeah, I guess this illustrates how dependent we become on the vendor when the speakers have their own CPU. Not sure if KEF outsources this part of if they have their own programmers but they definitely need to dramatically improve software quality assurance.

[DarwinOSX]

21 minutes ago, Arcus said:

Yeah, I guess this illustrates how dependent we become on the vendor when the speakers have their own CPU. Not sure if KEF outsources this part of if they have their own programmers but they definitely need to dramatically improve software quality assurance.

 

I would bet anything they outsource their development.  This smells like cheap Indian or Chinese programmers.

[DarwinOSX]

43 minutes ago, Arcus said:

UPDATE: I am now experiencing the same stupid crackling or hiss that others are experiencing. Get your sh**t together KEF!

 

Oh man....sorry to hear that.

Why they put a forum on Facebook is beyond me.  Not everyone has Facebook.  E-mails to their tech support go unanswered.

[Arcus]

2 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

I would bet anything they outsource their development.  This smells like cheap Indian or Chinese programmers.

I would assume Chinese programmers since the speakers are manufactured in China.

[DarwinOSX]

6 hours ago, feelingears said:

 

Because on the net nobody knows if you're a dog? Kidding. No offense. 

 

I don't own the product so I have no experience with it. And I know this isn't Amazon, so I wrote that only to imply that I'm accepting your opinion despite the very small chance you have a conflict of interest. 

 

My experience with technological products and my observations suggest you're legit, and that companies tend to care about the sale but not the support. Even big ones like Nikon. This just represents their budget and their people. No great insight there. Other readers have to judge for themselves. I posted because I want companies to be more like Schiit and Uptone. One must have hope...some hope anyway. 

 

I bought these based on the Dar Ko review and got them last December so have had them longer than most.

Like everyone else I talked about their sound quality but was annoyed by the crummy remote and no auto switching or auto on of sources.

I replaced the remote with a Logitech 650.

Given the poor quality of the firmware and app updates all the new things they are promising are falling flat. 

I'm thinking of replacing them with a receiver and ELAC Uni-fi UF5 Floorstanding Speakers.

I connect the Kefs to my TV by optical but that does not give me full bit rate.

It's a sad commentary all the way around.

[DarwinOSX]

30 minutes ago, Arcus said:

I would assume Chinese programmers since the speakers are manufactured in China.

 

These days that is probably true.

Def should be embarrassed to see such a half baked product.  I'm seriously wondering if I can sell them.

[james45974]

1 hour ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

Oh man....sorry to hear that.

Why they put a forum on Facebook is beyond me.  Not everyone has Facebook.  E-mails to their tech support go unanswered.

Not being on Facebook, this type of policy has bother me on more than one occasion!  I guess I don't see Facebook as a valid tech support pipeline.

[erniejade]

So far on Facebook,  KEF has not responded.   

[Arcus]

1 hour ago, DarwinOSX said:

 

These days that is probably true.

Def should be embarrassed to see such a half baked product.  I'm seriously wondering if I can sell them.

I have my Harbeth C7's sitting in boxes in the same room as the LS50W's but I'm going to wait it out a little longer before I get tempted to unbox them. If we don't see another firmware update in the next few days, my state of mind may change as the current buggy update came out on May 22nd.

[feelingears]

This is all really a shame because like many people, I'm intrigued with the concept and the product. When I see half-a** service, I run the other way. 

 

I had budgeted for these a couple months ago. Now I'll watch and set my sights on Dynaudio instead. Maybe some Adams will be fun in the meantime. Ugly, I'll admit, but software headaches and brick wall support instead? NFW. 

 

To end positively: thanks all for posting here and warning the rest of us. This is audio; there are plenty of outstanding substitutes (whether Darko says so or not) to get excited about. 

[DarwinOSX]

3 minutes ago, feelingears said:

This is all really a shame because like many people, I'm intrigued with the concept and the product. When I see half-a** service, I run the other way. 

 

I had budgeted for these a couple months ago. Now I'll watch and set my sights on Dynaudio instead. Maybe some Adams will be fun in the meantime. Ugly, I'll admit, but software headaches and brick wall support instead? NFW. 

 

To end positively: thanks all for posting here and warning the rest of us. This is audio; there are plenty of outstanding substitutes (whether Darko says so or not) to get excited about. 

I've been thinking of looking into Dynaudio too. 

[erniejade]

I am curious on the klipsch fifteen when

When they come out    

[erniejade]

I hope they get the firmware fix quick.  Have you called support? On the phone when I called them backin January,  they were great.  

[wgb113]

Man, been away a while.  Stopped in to check on the updates - glad I haven't updated anything yet!

 

Sorry to hear you guys are experiencing issues.  It's as if they didn't beta test the updates at all/long enough.  I was looking forward to the part about being able to manipulate sound settings without stopping the music and going over to WiFi.

 

I'm still loving the sound of the speakers and my usability issues are nil

due to only using them with hard-wired sources.  

 

I'm working on some DIY power cords and interconnects for them and will post pics when done.

[wgb113]

On 4/16/2017 at 7:15 AM, Tait said:

Nice setup! Always got time for a Rega CD player! ❤

I note your speakers are angled in quite a bit compared to mine, mine only have a slight tow in, did you experiment with positioning before settling on their final resting spot?

Sorry for the delayed response!  Yes, I did start with them firing straight out, and slightly closer together.  I found that I like this version a little further apart but still prefer them on-axis.

[wgb113]

On 4/15/2017 at 2:23 PM, peter27 said:

 

Can you expand on the similarities/differernces between the KEF LS50w and AKG K812. I own the former and have been eying the K812.

I think the AKGs sound very similar in the mids and highs to the KEFs - natural, open and airy is how I'd describe both.

 

The bass is difficult to compare, simply because speakers give you that visceral impact that headphones can't.

[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. 

[Arcus]

12 minutes ago, realhifi said:

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. 

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.

[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?