Active Kef LS50

[DarwinOSX]

On 3/12/2017 at 11:26 AM, Toolio said:

 

Roon integration would solve that problem, and allow easy NAS connectivity. I sincerely hope this is under consideration.

 

I asked Kef support about Roon and Tidal/MQA integration and they claimed both were under consideration.

I also bitched about the app and remote and asked if could use another remote like a Logitech harmony and they said I could but I haven't tried it yet.

I did do a direct connect Tidal/MQA with a Meridian Explorer 2 attached to the RCA ports and it sounded amazing. I'm pretty much all in on MQA and hope it becomes a thing with streaming etc.

 

[Tait]

On 22/03/2017 at 10:53 PM, wgb113 said:

My pair in the wild...these things rock!

 

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?

[Rezseeker]

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.

[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. 

[DarwinOSX]

1 hour ago, realhifi said:

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. 

 

It is incredibly annoying along with the inability to detect and switch sources.

[[email protected]]

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?

[erniejade]

It depends on a few things. If your talking about the built in wireless or usb or toslink into the speaker, no idea but, if your using the rca in, a Schiit sys would do the trick. Its bi-directional so instead of using it 2 in and one out,  

[hionhifi]

2 hours ago, [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 don't see why a regular splitter out of the LS50W wouldn't work. 

 

 

[tmtomh]

1 hour ago, hionhifi said:

I don't see why a regular splitter out of the LS50W wouldn't work. 

 

 

It will indeed deliver sound to two subs, but it will be dual mono, rather than separate L and R information.

[[email protected]]

21 hours ago, tmtomh said:

An RCA splitter will indeed deliver sound to two subs, but it will be dual mono, rather than separate L and R information.

Exactly. 

 

One solution under consideration is a DAC that has both Optical and RCA out.  For example the  iFi micro iDSD.

Optical out to the LS50W, and RCA out to the left/right sub.  This puts two DACs into play however (external and internal in the LS50W).   Ideas?

 

 

[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. 

[Rezseeker]

On 2017-04-22 at 8:25 AM, realhifi said:

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. 

KEF says they're working on improving the speakers, but won't say what specifically they'll  address in any future updates. This seems like an absolute no-brainer (though it should have been a no-brainer during development).

[DarwinOSX]

3 minutes ago, Rezseeker said:

KEF says they're working on improving the speakers, but won't say what specifically they'll  address in any future updates. This seems like an absolute no-brainer (though it should have been a no-brainer during development).

 

There is plenty of room for improvement. The speakers sound amazing but they need to keep this going with improving functionality.

Wake up on lan and auto switching of sources re basic and much needed.

MQA and Roon would be awesome..and would spur me to buy another set or two.

[Brucemck2]

Adding an analog subwoofer out that's volume controlled and active even with a digital in would make them a home run for me. 

[erniejade]

They do have a subwoofer out and the app has a volume and crossover built into it. One thing I like about this is the settings are in 5hz instead of 20 like a lot of HT receivers. 

[Brucemck2]

6 minutes ago, erniejade said:

They do have a subwoofer out and the app has a volume and crossover built into it. One thing I like about this is the settings are in 5hz instead of 20 like a lot of HT receivers. 

 

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.

[erniejade]

You can only change the settings when on the wireless portion is activated but, once you set it, it will keep the settings and work with the USB, Optical, rca and Bluetooth inputs. I have expressed this before in other threads or forums but, I WISH you could still control the sub and treble settings when using the other inputs to help compensate for poor recordings.

 

To me, the speakers really have a great sound to them and even though it is the same driver as the LS50, they don't sound like the regular LS50's! They do have a lot of the same qualities but, much more bloom and not ringy when pushed like the regular ones get.

[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. 

[Arcus]

For those with subs, what settings did you find the best? This is one area where I've always struggled a bit and I've been going back and forth between the basic and expert settings. Currently, I have the LS50W's set to less bass and sub out set to 80 HZ.

[erniejade]

Don't be afraid to mess around with the advanced settings including the distance.   As far as the high and low pass settings,  every room is different so there isn't a good answer   play around with it and see where it sounds the most balanced to you.    Mine I have on normal for the bass setrings and 75hz.   

[gbryant]

I just picked up a pair of the black LS50W.... didn't like them until I plugged in a NHT sub. These rock! 

[Arcus]

Congrats on the purchase! I'm going in the opposite direction right now as I just unplugged my sub and started listening to them without it for the first time. My room is just under 20 sq. metres so I may not need the sub as the bass from these speakers in my room is impressive. Will have to continue to experiment.

[erniejade]

My room is 10x11 feet. I also prefer the subwoofer with them.    Congrats on thespeaker.   Nht subs are very mmusical 

[Arcus]

That's interesting as my room is 12 x 17 feet. I bought a Sumiko S.9 to go with the LS50W's and it seems overkill right now. 

[gbryant]

16 hours ago, gbryant said:

I just picked up a pair of the black LS50W.... didn't like them until I plugged in a NHT sub. These rock! 

I should add .... I currently listen to KEF LS50 passive... which may be for sale..;)