KEF – LS50 5-1/4″ 2-Way Studio Monitors (Pair) – High Gloss Piano Black

I’m downsizing, and bought these as a more compact replacement for some classic KEF Reference…

This is actually my third pair of KEF LS50 speakers, as I’m slowly building out my home theater system. This pair brings me to a 6.1 surround sound system, and I hope to add a pair of front elevation (Atmos) speakers later this year. I bought my first pair the year after they came out, and they’re still going strong. KEF introduced the LS50 as a special anniversary, limited edition speaker, priced well below their lowest-priced R-series speaker. They did so by placing their award-winning Uni-Q 2-way driver inside a svelte, curvy cabinet that was a significant contrast to their usual, boxy designs. It sold so well that KEF was forced to continue offering it, and it’s still available nearly a decade later at a lower price and often on sale for under $1k per pair. They’ve since introduced an amplified, wireless version for $1k more per pair, and a smaller version, the LSX, for about the same price as the passive LS50. Obviously, there are tradeoffs. The LS50 is cheaper than the recently-updated R3 ‘reference-series’ speaker because it lacks a separate bass reflex speaker that extends the frequency range and adds a low end to the sound profile that the LS50s lack. The R5 adds two bass reflex speakers, making them suitable for use without a subwoofer. The LS50 absolutely must be used with a sub if used for hi-fi, but it is still a true audiophile speaker and paired with a decent sub such as the SVS SB2000, is suitable for use in any mid-priced audiophile stereo or home theater setup. What it lacks at the low end, it has in spades at the high end of the frequency spectrum. Other than the Blade speakers, priced at $25k per pair, Most of KEF’s speakers are not fashionable. The Q and R series speakers are very conventional boxes, and even though the R-series speakers sound superb, they aren’t very stylish. The LS50 with its distinctive curved front and brilliantly-colored speaker cones are among the most stylish speakers one can place in their living room. Not only do they have a flat frequency response (±3db) from 79Hz to 28kHz – subs typically cover frequencies below 80Hz anyway – but they have one of the best stereo soundstage of any speaker I’ve heard. Placed appropriately, separated by no more than 50% of the width of the room, they have an exceptionally broad sound stage with a very large sweet spot. The speakers themselves recede into the background, becoming truly transparent. Close your eyes and the speakers disappear, providing pinpoint localization of each sound source in the original recording. Used in a surround sound setup, the sound is truly three-dimensional and the speakers disappear. Of course no speaker comes without drawbacks. The speakers are relatively heavy – which they need to be to provide more sound than vibration – but that makes them more suitable for use as stand speakers than as bookshelf speakers. KEF recommends using the amplified LSX in bookshelf applications, but the LSX has a much higher bass cutoff frequency that makes them unsuitable by themselves in the living room. The LS50 does make for a superb bookshelf speaker, provided your bookshelves are solid oak or heavy tempered glass. The LS50 is not a particularly efficient speaker. KEF recommends 25-100 watts per channel to drive them, but they exhibit much fuller sound with a more powerful amp. I drive mine with 125 watt per channel Parasound Halo A23s, the very same amp used by KEF to demo these speakers. It’s no wonder KEF has brought out an amplified, wireless version of the LS50. If you only listen to digital sources, the wireless version should be a serious consideration. With a home theater, if the room is big enough to need a center channel, the room is probably too big for these speakers.

I’m downsizing, and bought these as a more compact replacement for some classic KEF Reference 104/2 speakers from the 80s. I’m using the Sonos AMP as the amplifier/music streamer, which provides 125W/channel of Class D power, which is taking the place of my older 100W/channel ADCOM GFA-545. The LS50s are actually more demanding in terms of power than the 104/2 speakers; the Sonos AMP drives the 104/2s nicely, but with the LS50s, it struggles to make a clear distinction between forte and mezzo forte, indicating that it just can’t deliver enough juice to make the speakers happy. The ADCOM GFA-545 did better powering the LS50s in that respect, probably due to its substantially beefier power supply. Lack of sensitivity is a common complaint about the LS50s, and I can say that the issue is real. You need to be able to give them MOUNTAINS of power to get the best performance. That said, the LS50s are super neutral and clean-sounding; the imaging is good, and for their size, I haven’t heard anything that sounded even close to them. Their low-end can be a little weak; it helps to use a subwoofer with them if you need room-shaking bass (or to hear the Moog Taurus bass pedals on your famous prog rock album) but it’s not strictly necessary.