Official Kef LS50 owners thread
- Thread starter canuckaudiog
- Start date
Special pricing on a number of other products as well, right through January 4, 2020. The Q150's in satin white, black, or tres-cool walnut w/dark grey driver for $299 a pair is a great way to get into a modern co-incident driver speaker for reasonable cost. If the wallet is bulging a bit the LS50 Wireless for $1799 is an incredible deal too, as you'd be hard pressed to get a legendary speaker with bespoke 200 watt amps for the mid-woofer and 30w/channel amps for the tweeter, a great DSP and streaming capability all for that price.
Spektre
Brit alert
$899, Where from?
cgodecke
New Member
New LS50 owner - black on black - maybe 16 hrs on them. I am extremely pleased! Yes they image and throw a big soundfield, as expected, but in my 13x14ft room they make really lovely bass - very tuneful and on-pitch, and very linear up and down scale, and almost more than enough. How these truly tiny boxes and drivers do it is some kind of KEF circumvention of the laws of physics as we know it. I have 24" Dayton Audio stands placed at sidewall and rear wall fifths (32" from front, 31" from sides).
Also surprised how easy they are to drive. I'm using an Elliott P3A, 60w into 8 Ohms, 100w into 4 Ohms. Reading the thousands of various forum comments, one would think using LS50s is a room and amplification crapshoot, one that can go very, very well or go abysmally horrible.
Now of course being an audiophile I'm already thinking about the next steps, and right now that's stands. Maybe try Herbie's Fat Dots and fill the larger support on the Dayton stands, see how that goes before looking at better stands.
Cam
Also surprised how easy they are to drive. I'm using an Elliott P3A, 60w into 8 Ohms, 100w into 4 Ohms. Reading the thousands of various forum comments, one would think using LS50s is a room and amplification crapshoot, one that can go very, very well or go abysmally horrible.
Now of course being an audiophile I'm already thinking about the next steps, and right now that's stands. Maybe try Herbie's Fat Dots and fill the larger support on the Dayton stands, see how that goes before looking at better stands.
Cam
Those Dayton stands are actually pretty good...especially if you fill them was recommended. Very similar to the KEF (Custom Design) GFS-24's I bought for mine when they were on sale. My daughter's BF bought a pair of the Dayton's and I put them together, very good construction. Put (dried) sand or steel tumbling media in plastic bags and put those in the tubes.
I love these LS50's more now that I've got the on stands and have a better amp (NAD M10) for them. You may find the soundstage isn't just well-defined, it's deep and you can move a fair bit off-center without much change. I do use a KEF Kube 10b sub to supplement because there's a fair amount of music I like that hits well below what the LS50's can do even in an ideal setup.
I love these LS50's more now that I've got the on stands and have a better amp (NAD M10) for them. You may find the soundstage isn't just well-defined, it's deep and you can move a fair bit off-center without much change. I do use a KEF Kube 10b sub to supplement because there's a fair amount of music I like that hits well below what the LS50's can do even in an ideal setup.
cgodecke
New Member
I've read conflicting comments the fillability these stands. How did you get your bags of fill in? I was thinking of sealing the lower wiring access hole, then pouring fill from the top hole.
Also, mine are on carpet, and I use a large piece of 18mm of baltic birch as a big coaster, and spikes on top of that. Sounds good and is so easy to reposition. Helps stability, since even with long, narrow spikes contacting concrete substrate there's still significant wobble. And I think decoupling sounds better anyway.
Also, mine are on carpet, and I use a large piece of 18mm of baltic birch as a big coaster, and spikes on top of that. Sounds good and is so easy to reposition. Helps stability, since even with long, narrow spikes contacting concrete substrate there's still significant wobble. And I think decoupling sounds better anyway.
Well, I'm a photographer who used to use film and process it all in my own darkroom. Leftover from those days is a roll of plastic sleeving for 120 film, and a heat sealer. I could make a few for you, only difference would be you would tie of the top rather than sealing it as I do. Postage would be reasonable.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
I used the SP-27 stands with LS50’s and the top plate was perfect. I bought them for Harbeth P3’s. In the end I do prefer a shorter stand with the LS50.
CKDC
Super Member
I don't think rice is a great idea. The rice will soak up moisture in the air. It might be overly cautious but I would be afraid of attracting insects.
FWIW, this past summer I bought some Pangea stands for my Special 40's.
I double bagged newspaper bags (bread bags) and carefully placed them into the tubes. With a funnel, I poured dried bluestone into the bags, tied a knot in the bag and let go. The tubes are not filled all the way but the ringing stopped. The added density probably helped but I was more concerned about eliminating the ringing and did not listen to the stands before filling the tubes.
FWIW, this past summer I bought some Pangea stands for my Special 40's.
I double bagged newspaper bags (bread bags) and carefully placed them into the tubes. With a funnel, I poured dried bluestone into the bags, tied a knot in the bag and let go. The tubes are not filled all the way but the ringing stopped. The added density probably helped but I was more concerned about eliminating the ringing and did not listen to the stands before filling the tubes.
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My KEF GFS-24 stands put the Uni-Q driver of my LS50's about 6" below my ear level as I sit at my desk, but they do sound much better than when the speakers were on the desk itself and pointing right at me.
