Dynaudio Xeo 20 vs. Elac Navis ARB-51 vs KEF LS50 Wireless

Spooky Electric

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As things stand, I’ve narrowed my choice of new bookshelf speakers to the three options in the thread title.

I would therefore, be keen to hear peoples’ thoughts and experiences with any, or all of the above.

Similarly, if anyone recommends an alternate option in the same price bracket, please share.

Look forward to hearing opinions!
 
Navis ARB-51 is the best choice if you want your speaker to scale well with High-end Preamp/DAC's. KEF LS50W is preferred if you want an All-in-one Solution and don't want to add High-end Seperates in future. Also, Navis ARB-51 is a good choice if you want to integrate it with HT as front Channels. Subwoofer integration is also relatively easier as it has crossover switch with three options (Flat, 60Hz & 80Hz).
 
Thanks for the summary.

How do the Navis’s sound unpaired with a Preamp/DAC versus the Kef’s?

I am hoping to do a listening test sooner rather than later, but would be good to get others’ thoughts in the meantime.
 
KEF LS50W is a combo of Speaker/Power-Amp/Pre-amp/DAC/ADC/Streamer. LS50W is the best choice for HiFi Minimalist who don't want to add seperates like Preamp/DAC in future. Even if you connect a High-end DAC to LS50W, you will hear a improved Sound Quality for sure but will never reach that High-end DAC's potential because once the Analog signal reaches to LS50W it will convert into digital signal, does the DSP processing and then again converts it into analog using LS50W inbulit DAC. So, LS50W inbuilt DAC is the Limiting factor we need to live with.

On the other hand, Navis is a combo of just Speaker/Power-Amp. Thats all. To make Navis to work, we need "Preamp & DAC" or atleast a DAC with voume control. Connecting a Preamp/DAC/Streamer combo like "Bluesound Node-2i" or "Cambridge Audo CXN V2" with Navis will give a better sound quality than LS50W.

LS50W ==> Very Clean & Crisp. Bright sounding.
Navis ARB-51 ==> Slightly Rolled-off Highs, Warm sounding. non-fatiguing.

Please listen to the speakers and then take a decision.
 
Thanks for the summary. Good points of note for reference, ahead of me testing each option.
 
Having heard all of these, I'd vacillate between Elac and Xeo. The Xeo 20 tuning takes away the Xeo 4's somewhat recessed mids and rolled off top end. Xeo 20 is a steal from Dynaudio, nearly the quality of Focus 20 XD, which for city dwellers looking for minimalism is almost an end-game set. I'd be curious to know which one you ended up with.
 
I
Having heard all of these, I'd vacillate between Elac and Xeo. The Xeo 20 tuning takes away the Xeo 4's somewhat recessed mids and rolled off top end. Xeo 20 is a steal from Dynaudio, nearly the quality of Focus 20 XD, which for city dwellers looking for minimalism is almost an end-game set. I'd be curious to know which one you ended up with.
I actually ended up with none of them and instead went with a pair of Buchardt Audio A500’s.

Very happy with my choice! 👍
 
Super. I hear they’re a bit forward and lack some of the transparent honesty of Dynaudio but they dig deep and I’m sure at this level we are splitting hairs in terms of quality. Great choice!
 
Super. I hear they’re a bit forward and lack some of the transparent honesty of Dynaudio but they dig deep and I’m sure at this level we are splitting hairs in terms of quality. Great choice!
Thanks!

I can’t say I’ve personally found them to be too forward, but certainly the bass digs deep (in a good way), plus, if you don’t care for a particular aspect of the sound, you can download and install one of Buchardt’s alternate A500 ‘Master Tuning’ options via the USB input on the back of each speaker (to give more mid-range focus to the sound, for one such example).

A very flexible speaker as a result! 👌
 
Thanks!

I can’t say I’ve personally found them to be too forward, but certainly the bass digs deep (in a good way), plus, if you don’t care for a particular aspect of the sound, you can download and install one of Buchardt’s alternate A500 ‘Master Tuning’ options via the USB input on the back of each speaker (to give more mid-range focus to the sound, for one such example).

A very flexible speaker as a result! 👌

Sounds pretty good. Different price range though when one adds their remote/hub.
 

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