KEF LS50 Meta

[sphinxsix]

The legend seems to live on.

 

 

KEF LS50 Meta Loudspeaker - John Atkinson

 

 

[mitchco]

Very nice! But I see they suffer the same fate as the LS 50's with no bass response. Bass is already shelved 5 dB down from 125 Hz on down relative to the rest of the response and drops like a rock at 40 Hz.

 

I had the LS 50's and really wanted to like these speakers as no doubt they have excellent sonic qualities, but the lack of bass response drove me to sell them. I even tried them with smaller subwoofers (12" inch Rythmik subs), but the discontinuity between the subs and the 5" or whatever midrange driver was too much... What these speakers need is the addition of a real woofer!

 

Aside from that the measurements are excellent and I am sure even a step up from the LS 50's that I spent a great deal of time with. But the lack of bass is a deal breaker for me.

[R1200CL]

47 minutes ago, mitchco said:

What these speakers need is the addition of a real woofer!

Any particular in mind ?

 

Interested to know what woofer(s) in general one should look for with small speakers. 

[ShawnC]

KEF should build a floor stander to compete with the Buchardt A700.  Built in room correction would be must.  They have the resources to create a killer product in 5-10K range.  As long as the can dip low or have some sort of matching sub that would work with room correction.  

[asdf1000]

9 hours ago, mitchco said:

What these speakers need is the addition of a real woofer!

 

The KEF R3!

[firedog]

2 hours ago, ShawnC said:

KEF should build a floor stander to compete with the Buchardt A700.  Built in room correction would be must.  They have the resources to create a killer product in 5-10K range.  As long as the can dip low or have some sort of matching sub that would work with room correction.  

Who's actually heard the Buchardt A700? On paper it looks good, but how good is it really?

[botrytis]

12 hours ago, mitchco said:

Very nice! But I see they suffer the same fate as the LS 50's with no bass response. Bass is already shelved 5 dB down from 125 Hz on down relative to the rest of the response and drops like a rock at 40 Hz.

 

I had the LS 50's and really wanted to like these speakers as no doubt they have excellent sonic qualities, but the lack of bass response drove me to sell them. I even tried them with smaller subwoofers (12" inch Rythmik subs), but the discontinuity between the subs and the 5" or whatever midrange driver was too much... What these speakers need is the addition of a real woofer!

 

Aside from that the measurements are excellent and I am sure even a step up from the LS 50's that I spent a great deal of time with. But the lack of bass is a deal breaker for me.

 

They are bookshelves. No one said they bookshelves have deep bass. They have proper 'British' bass. which means quick and very tuneful (I don't know how else to describe it). I have a pair of LS50's and they are amazing for what they do. I got rid of other smaller speakers because the LS50's do things better than the others and that includes a pair of S-F Venere 1.5's (which are the were the same price).

[ShawnC]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

Who's actually heard the Buchardt A700? On paper it looks good, but how good is it really?

There just being released.  So I’m hoping in a few months to see reviews or better availability for purchase. I’m also basing my excitement on paper specs. Never heard them. Only reviews on the passive and bookshelf active speakers. But I’ve always wanted KEF to make a floor standing LS version. 

[mitchco]

2 hours ago, botrytis said:

 

They are bookshelves. No one said they bookshelves have deep bass. They have proper 'British' bass. which means quick and very tuneful (I don't know how else to describe it). I have a pair of LS50's and they are amazing for what they do. I got rid of other smaller speakers because the LS50's do things better than the others and that includes a pair of S-F Venere 1.5's (which are the were the same price).

 

I did not say they anything about deep bass, I said no bass :-) I had a pair of LS50's and agreed, above 125 Hz awesome, below that not so much. 

 

14 hours ago, R1200CL said:

Any particular in mind ?

 

Interested to know what woofer(s) in general one should look for with small speakers. 

 

As @asdf1000pointed out, the KEF R3 or for a driver, the Purifi PTT6.5 that I reviewed: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/purifi-ptt65-woofer-and-1et400a-amplifier-technology-review-r866/   Has real bass output to 32 Hz in a bookshelf package.

 

[botrytis]

I can measure easily down to 50 Hz from my LS50's in a large room (they are currently in my Family room system because towers would interfere with our Christmas tree :D ).

 

As I said, the bass is tight accurate  and quick. Many people think that bass should be more like Acoustic suspension speakers which can be a little tubby and inflated.

 

There is no right or wrong in this hobby.