KEF LS50 Active Wireless Speakers!

HO. LEE. CRAP. I know some will not like this. They want to choose their own components and they want pretty gear/boxes to look at. Others will say the DAC will be outdated in no time. But this could be an amazing option for some! I'd sure love to hear them. I know I sometimes "worry" that I'm not using the best amp for mine, so this would eliminate all that "choice anxiety" as well (even though us audiophiles seem to WANT to have choice anxiety..lol).

Cool!
 
That is exciting. Looks like there's already some competition too:

http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=PowerPlay Monitors

Edit: though, the Salk's don't have built-in wifi

There's already tons of active monitors on the market. The exciting thing is that these are active KEF LS50's. I've owned Salk Songtowers right after owning LS50's and now I have Dennis Murphy's (who designed the Salk Songtower's) Philharmonic 3's. So needless to say, I'm a fan of Salks. But the LS50 is very special. And having a speaker that well regarded, with amplification custom tailored to it from the factory without all the question of matching/synergy, cables and lots of source options and features... well... pretty exciting.

- Woody
 
I knew it would happen it was just a matter of time since they already made the x300aw. This was the next logical step for the ls line.
 
Awesome. I'd run those over ANY other powered, wireless setup in a heartbeat. (I'm looking at you, Devialet Phantom.)
 
I got these speakers on Monday. I have played all sorts of music through them and they sound amazing. Here are some of the things I have tired;
1. Pandora on "high-res".
2. Airplayed music from multiple sources. The speakers are attached to my TV by the optical cable and there is an Apple TV on one of the HDMI ports so that is what I airplay to.
3. FLAC files via DLNA using the Kef mobile ap. Sounds really great.
4. Tidal Hi-Fi and also Tidal MQA by direct connect usb from my MacBook Pro. Really astonishing quality sound here.
5. Bluetooth direct to the speakers which I will never use after trying it once. I would much rather use Airplay and it should be part of the speakers.

I replaced an entire receiver and surround sound speaker with these and Im loving it. I have an SVS PB 1000 sub which I have not tried with these speakers yet.
 
Might seem like a strange question for such a technologically advanced speaker but is there any sort of MONO setting? I have a lot of albums in Mono and am hoping that I can play them back correctly.

Also - is there any way to reverse the balance and make the Right the Left and vice-versa? The way my room is laid out I'd like to have the speaker with all of the connections (the Right) closest to the equipment rack and save $ on the extra 2 meters of cable.
 
Listening to them right now

They are stellar in my opinion (headphones heavy user)

Played some Radiohead, Daughter, Pink Floyd and really liked it

Cant upload photos from phone though...
 
I had a conversation with support at Kef this morning. They were kind enough to offer a phone call in response to my e-mailed questions.
He said both MQA and Roon are definitely coming to these speakers. :). I also asked about the ability to use another remote like a universal remote and he said others have asked for that and it is coming too. :)
I also asked why I can play DLNA Plex FLAC files on the Kef app but not my Apple Music which shows up but won't play. He said you have to download the Apple Music to your device to play it through the Kef app. Of course you could bypass the app entirely for all sorts of things.
 
Not to be a Luddite and all but, one year warranty? There's an awful lot of electronics in those speakers. Are powered speakers reliable? I haven't a clue. Anyone know?

Also, question of the aged: will it sound like my SET amp/full-range speaker combo? :naughty:
 
I don't like the one year warranty but I used a credit card that adds another year to any warranty so I'll have to live with two years.
 
I emailed them regarding my questions above and the answer to both was no. They "added the request to their list and was submitting them to engineering for consideration" whatever that means...
 
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