KEF LS50 Wireless Active Speaker System Preview

gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
If you had a product as successful as KEF's LS50, how would you improve upon it? How about making it a fully active speaker system, adding dual mono amps and dual DACs to each channel, and a killer streaming preamp in a footprint that isn't much larger than the original. KEF's new LS50 all-in-one wireless speaker system is all this and more. Designed to celebrate the company's 55th anniversary, we think the LS50 Wireless Speaker is going to be a real winner.

Read on for our in-depth preview.



Read: KEF LS50 Wireless Active Speaker System Preview
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Really interesting product I must say. Have to go test these out when they are released and they come to my local audio store. These could find a place in my home someday if they are as good as the original LS50 and the price difference in europe is similar than in US market.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Yes, a really interesting product.

Salk offers a similar speaker, the PowerPlay, for a similar price. I'm not sure if it has all the same connectivity features as the KEF, but they're similar:

Fully Active
No preamp, amp, or DAC required. Plug in your sources and you're ready to go!

Flexible Inputs
Features analog, coaxial S/PDIF and USB inputs. Plug in a TV, CD player, or computer and switch between them at will.​

If either of these speakers get noticeable sales, it may signal the beginning of the end of receivers as we know them.
 
D

Dennis Murphy

Audioholic General
Yes, a really interesting product.

Salk offers a similar speaker, the PowerPlay, for a similar price. I'm not sure if it has all the same connectivity features as the KEF, but they're similar:

Fully Active
No preamp, amp, or DAC required. Plug in your sources and you're ready to go!

Flexible Inputs
Features analog, coaxial S/PDIF and USB inputs. Plug in a TV, CD player, or computer and switch between them at will.​

If either of these speakers get noticeable sales, it may signal the beginning of the end of receivers as we know them.
And the end of passive crossover designers.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
And the end of passive crossover designers.
Don't rush to judgment – yet.

That's like saying the advent of self-driving cars will be the end of steering wheels. If they build a nice smart phone holder into the steering wheel, it will around for a long time.

Maybe Samsung could integrate it's phone with those exploding Takata air bags.
 
J

Jared J. Crandall

Enthusiast
Crazy....The ls50s are amazing, and I am sure the company won't degrade that performance, so this unit can be the audiophile all-in-one that keeps things simple. Good work on their part.
 
Montucky

Montucky

Full Audioholic
I just got to listen to the passive LS50s this week. A fantastic speaker in many regards, so this active version really has me excited. I believe I may have just found my dream desktop computer speakers since their near-field performance is superb.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
That's like saying the advent of self-driving cars will be the end of steering wheels. If they build a nice combo holster & beer-holder into the steering wheel, it will around for a long time.
Fixed it!
Obviously, you don't live in the south!!!
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
No worries Mr. Murphy. Not everyone wants a powerful amplifier stuffed into a $2200 speaker pair, so there will always be a big market for passives with a good crossover.

Admittedly, I like what I see though and will audition a pair as soon as they become available. The cost savings they actually represent in not having to buy a lot of separate components, for the sound quality you get, could prove to be rather enticing.

I like the idea of a truly minimalist system. I could picture a pair in my office with a Bluesound Node 2 feeding Tidal Hi-Fi, perhaps a modest, effective sub in a corner somewhere. Nice.
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Boy, was I ahead of my time. These are built by someone who read all my threads.:cool:

It is good to see demands are heard. Obviously a lot of people want their digital archives to sound as good as possible.

For some reason KEF decided to rate these 1db less than the passive ones (106/107). But, what really amazes me is that they decided to build a 230W amp inside after recommending a 20 - 100W/channel for the passive LS50’s. And I don’t really understand two DAC’s per channel. Doing what? Converting highs separately from mid’s and low’s? Would this mean they come after the crossover?

I wouldn’t change mine, though. I still like the idea of a central all-in-one unit plus passive fronts and an active sub.
 
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S

Stephen Owades

Audiophyte
I don’t really understand two DAC’s per channel. Doing what? Converting highs separately from mid’s and low’s? Would this mean they come after the crossover?
KEF is doing this speaker the right way: incoming digital signal to DSP module that implements the crossover (plus equalization and subwoofer crossover as well) in the digital domain, then to two separate D-to-A converters and power amplifiers. A digital crossover has all kinds of advantages, as do separate amps directly coupled to (and tailored for) each driver.
 
S

snbeall

Enthusiast
Anyone heard them yet? Seems like an awesome product (except for the need for the interconnecting cable - aren't they called wireless??). Dying for a real world review...
 
J

John Daddabbo

Audioholic Intern
The KEF LS50 wireless do not appear to have a DSP adjustable Time Delay for the main speakers when used with a Subwoofer. They do seem to have everything else that is needed though - Crossover High & Low pass, Volume, and Phase adjustments (along with some tailored EQ... very nice). Am I just not seeing Digital Delay adjustment to the Mains, or has it really been left out? What an unbelievable shame if it has. For implementing any Subwoofer / Satellite speaker setup without adjustable Time Delay for the mains is simply wrong (Sorry! I'm sure that I have just offended the many who have implemented a Subwoofer / Satellite speaker system without Time Delay to their mains, however if you have... I'm sorry to say, buy you can do better...)
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Can do better with...what? Please educate me, as I now feel my system is so inadequate and I simply must fix this. And of course I now have to dismiss any notion of buying a pair of LS50 active as they must be virtually unlistenable without the digital time delay feature.

I have so much to learn!
 
S

snbeall

Enthusiast
Can I assume that you have some to play with and are discovering these features? I must plead ignorance of the DSP time delay for sub - would this be equivalent to analogue phase control? Although I think I understand the point of phase control, I've never understood how one set it in the real world anyway. Not to take things off topic onto that tangent, tho. I'm more interested in your impressions of their performance otherwise. And what sort of tailored EQ? For the Sub or otherwise?
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The KEF LS50 wireless do not appear to have a DSP adjustable Time Delay for the main speakers when used with a Subwoofer. They do seem to have everything else that is needed though - Crossover High & Low pass, Volume, and Phase adjustments (along with some tailored EQ... very nice). Am I just not seeing Digital Delay adjustment to the Mains, or has it really been left out? What an unbelievable shame if it has. For implementing any Subwoofer / Satellite speaker setup without adjustable Time Delay for the mains is simply wrong (Sorry! I'm sure that I have just offended the many who have implemented a Subwoofer / Satellite speaker system without Time Delay to their mains, however if you have... I'm sorry to say, buy you can do better...)
I don't see any reason the timing of the subwoofers would be off from the mains as long as they were all about the same distance from the listening position.
I agree that a automated time delay/phase measurement/adjustment like most AVR's have is nice, but it doesn't seem like a showstopper to me. Am I missing something? It would definitely add to cost to include a measurement system for this.
 
J

John Daddabbo

Audioholic Intern
I don't see any reason the timing of the subwoofers would be off from the mains as long as they were all about the same distance from the listening position.
I agree that a automated time delay/phase measurement/adjustment like most AVR's have is nice, but it doesn't seem like a showstopper to me. Am I missing something? It would definitely add to cost to include a measurement system for this.
Most subwoofers placed the same distance from the primary listening position will still exhibit a small amount of additional delay over the main speakers. And then of course the Phase control can only 'add' further delay to the Subwoofer, so therefore not fixing or even helping for that matter. Then there is the fact that an ideally placed Subwoofer is often not going to end up at the location of the main speakers, and instead often somewhat further away, and in this case a Delay applied to the main speakers is essential. Now, there are a few Subwoofers that exhibit a minimal amount of Latency (not to be confused with Group Delay), and for these few subwoofers one could place the subwoofer(s) slightly closer than the mains in order to correct for any small amount of Latency that the Subwoofer may have. Ideally placing the Subwoofer 'closer' (in a pure Timing sense) so that one could then use the Phase control on the Subwoofer in order to fine tune to the mains at the crossover point. But again, very few subwoofers exhibit very low Latency, and even for the Subwoofers that do, the ideal placement is likely to be away from the mains. As well I personally always implement two Subwoofers in order to improve things further (assuming careful placement of course) and in this setup a Delay will need to be applied to the main speakers, and then by way of Subwoofer placement and the Phase controls on each Subwoofer, things can be dialed-in to near perfection. I hope this helps explain where I was coming from. It need not be automated, and instead the sophisticated DSP already included in the LS50 Wireless should be able to include Digital Delay to the main speakers for very little cost, which would then allow implementing a Subwoofer with the LS50 Wireless every bit as good as the LS50 itself has been designed to be... which of course is exceptionally good :)
 
J

John Daddabbo

Audioholic Intern
Can do better with...what? Please educate me, as I now feel my system is so inadequate and I simply must fix this. And of course I now have to dismiss any notion of buying a pair of LS50 active as they must be virtually unlistenable without the digital time delay feature.

I have so much to learn!
Sorry, however if you (or anyone) intends on doing as you yourself state - "effective sub in a corner somewhere", then you will absolutely need to implement some form of Delay to the main speakers in order to Time Align them with the Subwoofer (placed farther away then the mains / in a corner).
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Perhaps your ears and measuring equipment are far more sensitive than mine. I'm still a neophyte and of the opinion that if it sounds good to me in my home that's all that matters.
 

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