Active Kef LS50

[Arcus]

I bought a white Sumiko S.9 to match my LS50W's and then decided it wasn't needed for my modest sized music room so I sold it to keep things simplified. These speakers go surprisingly deep; in fact, they are as good as the Harbeth C7's I had which are about twice the size.

[DarwinOSX]

I preferred them without my SVS sub and it’s one less thing. 

[Pinnacle]

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?

 

Currently, using usb cable from the speaker to my MC. Any other cable connection such as Toslink, high end aux cable (from mac to kef instead) to transmit better sound quality (besides using Meridian explorer 2)? Any alternative to meridian explorer 2? 

 

Sorry for these noob questions but appreciate your assistance. Thanks!!

[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.

[Pinnacle]

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/

[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. 

[Pinnacle]

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.

[DarwinOSX]

6 hours ago, firedog said:

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

 

What would that be?

[firedog]

Just now, DarwinOSX said:

 

What would that be?

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

[DarwinOSX]

Just now, firedog said:

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

 

Just now, firedog said:

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

 

I'm sure there are but it doesn't sound like a very good idea.

[DarwinOSX]

2 hours ago, firedog said:

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. 

 

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?

[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. 

[DarwinOSX]

Just now, firedog said:

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. 

 

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.

[DarwinOSX]

5 minutes ago, firedog said:

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. 

 

Blue Jeans Cables

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

 

They are also on Amazon

[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.

[DarwinOSX]

I understand that the Kef DAC doesn't do MQA.

I'll try the Meridian again. it would be very nice to do MQA without a direct connection though.  I'm loving MQA through headphones which is my normal way of slitting to it.

[erniejade]

My lumen D1 does full MQA. Before they were MQA certified, Tidal had the masters tab and I can defiantly hear a difference between Full MQA though the Lumen via Tida and only Tidal doing the 1st part of MQA and not the hardware decoding. 

[Pinnacle]

In order to get the full deployment of Tidal MQA playlists, I connect Meridian Explorer 2 to the Mac via usb cable (as provided in the package), and connect Meridian Explorer 2 to KEF via BJC MSA-1 Audio Cable (presume this is the right cable selection). Thank all!!

[DarwinOSX]

Just now, Pinnacle said:

In order to get the full deployment of Tidal MQA playlists, I connect Meridian Explorer 2 to the Mac via usb cable (as provided in the package), and connect Meridian Explorer 2 to KEF via BJC MSA-1 Audio Cable (presume this is the right cable selection). Thank all!!

 

Yes that's what I did too. I haven't done it in awhile so am going to try it again.

[Pinnacle]

Oh, what is the configuration you are using to achieve full Tidal MQA deployment currently?

[DarwinOSX]

Just now, Pinnacle said:

Oh, what is the configuration you are using to achieve full Tidal MQA deployment currently?

 

Nothing right now.  It sure would be nice if the Kef's did it natively.  

[Pinnacle]

Do you just play Tidal MQA through normal input via KEF?