Kef LS50 Review and Demo - Z Reviews

BlueWizard

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Z Reviews is an American Reviewer of Audio Equipment, and he currently has a very good review of the Kef LS50, and probably one of the best Sound Demo's I've heard.

Even on my Q Acoustic 3020, I can hear how sweet the LS50 sounds, it is really impressive, as I always knew, but this sound demo makes it crystal clear.

For what it is worth to those interested.



In the first video above, the music you hear is recorded on a MONO Go-Pro Camera, in the video below, the music is recorded with quality microphones, and a digital recorder.



Amazingly life-like.

Steve/bluewizard
 
I subscribe to Z Reviews, I see he is using two Behringer A500's (probably in bridged mode) to power the LS50s ;)

By the way, shouldn't this be in the speaker forum?
 
Love the LS50’s, definitely my all time favourite speaker.
 
Still want to give the active LS50’s a try supposed to be superb!!
 
Probably should have been in the Speaker forum.

I've heard on line demos of the LS50 before, but the recordings were not that great. These recording are very good, as good as YouTube will allow, and I think these speakers sound very impressive even on my computer.

Big sound stage, depth of field, impressive clarity.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Surely what you are hearing is how good your own speakers sound... not how good the speakers in the video sound!
 
When I watch You Tube videos of speakers I always use the search on my Pioneer and run through the Denon and ultimately the R300s. I've never taken them as a serious interpretation of how any speaker sounds as ultimately you are listening to them from at best from R300s, at worse on a tablet. The reviewer's remarks and findings are of interest, just as are written reviews but in reality video comparisons of actual sound is of little value. The LS50s are good speakers yet I preferred the mid range punch of the R300s in a back to back audition. (Besides that the wife thought they were 'bug eyed'!)
 
Hello All,

Interesting review. Can I ask your opinions on small quality amps' ability to drive the LS 50s?
I'm thinking of putting together a simple to use system with something like the Marantz Hd amp1, the quad Vena or the Cyrus one to drive the LS 50s. Would I be wasting my time, in a technical sense, auditioning any of these amps with those speakers or do you think they have the necessary grunt and control?

Thanks

David
 
Ps. I've just seen Ed Selley' s comments in his Cyrus One review about the Cyrus One and the LS 50s so I guess that answers my question re that amp...
 
The Cyrus One is the main sub £1,000 amplifier I recommend to use with the passive LS50s. I do know someone who bought the HD Amp1 to pair with his LS50s, but felt it lacked a little, and wasn't quite what he was looking for.
 
Leema works exceptionally well with Kef ls50’s.
 
Thanks for suggestions both. Let the auditions commence!
 
The best I heard my LS50s was with an emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 (300W, I think)

They were loud, detailed and punchy. I ended up swapping the Emotiva for the LS50s so they were never mated again.

Since then, I've run them on a 50W Marantz 1506 slimline receiver (50W) and they were average at best. More recently, they've been on my Marantz SR7010 and while they benefit from the extra power, they still haven't reached the quality I initially perceived.

I have a parasound A23 on the way and I'm curious to hear if this makes any difference.
 
I looked into Emotiva. Is there an importer in the UK or is it a direct sale from the company?
 
Recently this company has been stocking in the UK;
Emotiva - AudioVisual Online - UK Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

There may be others, I'm not sure. The above compay has representation here on the forms if you have any questions.

I've not purchased from them but they were quite responsive and helpful when I submitted some queries recently.
 
Surely what you are hearing is how good your own speakers sound... not how good the speakers in the video sound!

Yes, of course, but I also can't tell the difference between Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon because they both sound like my speakers. (sarcasm).

If you can't hear the difference fine, but I can. However, I can not say I've heard the speakers, as in heard them in person, but the video certainly gives me a good sense of the speakers.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Yes, of course, but I also can't tell the difference between Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon because they both sound like my speakers. (sarcasm).

If you can't hear the difference fine, but I can. However, I can not say I've heard the speakers, as in heard them in person, but the video certainly gives me a good sense of the speakers.

Steve/bluewizard

I think the best you can hope for is some kind of basic comparative analysis between speakers recorded by the same youtuber assuming;

1. Environment remains the same
2. Recording equipment remains the same and is used in the same way each time
3. Recording equipment is correctly and consistently calibrated
4. Ideally, the same upstream components are used.
5. The viewers listening environment and equipment is equally consistent

Then, you could listen for differences. However, you can't hope to identify specific speaker characteristics as these could be masked by your own playback equipment or any inherent anomalies in the recording equipment.

Trying to gauge speakers across multiple youtubers with some recording on not more than their mobile phone is a fools errand.
 
With regard to amplifiers to power these, the wireless versions come with a total of 230 watts internal amplification for each speaker, that is 200 watts of Class D for the LF and mid, and 30 watts of Class A for the HF. I guess that is a steer from Kef as to what sort of power the speakers need for optimal operation.

The Z review guy looks like he was using a Behringer A500 for each speaker, so presumably bridged, which is able to output up to 375 watts into 8 ohms.
 
I think the best you can hope for is some kind of basic comparative analysis between speakers recorded by the same youtuber assuming;

1. Environment remains the same
2. Recording equipment remains the same and is used in the same way each time
3. Recording equipment is correctly and consistently calibrated
4. Ideally, the same upstream components are used.
5. The viewers listening environment and equipment is equally consistent

....

Z-REVIEWS has reviewed and demo'd DOZENS of speakers, all with the same quality mics, all in the same room, all with the same Digital Audio Recorder. You can hear a difference in the speakers, and you can hear a difference in the quality of the speakers. Or ...at least... most of us can.









In my assessment, the Kef LS50 sound very natural and life-like.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Z-REVIEWS has reviewed and demo'd DOZENS of speakers, all with the same quality mics, all in the same room, all with the same Digital Audio Recorder. You can hear a difference in the speakers, and you can hear a difference in the quality of the speakers. Or ...at least... most of us can.

Steve/bluewizard

That's kind of the of the point I'm making

Where the recording is consistent and professional, you can comparatively analyse some aspects of different speakers, on the understanding that they will all be (equally) coloured by the characteristics of the recording devices, compression of the audio portion of the video file* and your own playback equipment.

The thing I don't understand is the YouTubers who record audio on low quality devices and present it as awesome and, worse, those who view and agree.**

*this aspect alone should worry anyone seriously evaluating audio or audio equipment on YouTube - it's 128kbs AAC I believe.

**In other news, I'm planning to do some kind of comparison between my Marantz SR7010, a Parasound A23 and a Behringer A500 driving my LS50s. This will probably end up as a blog post and YouTube video which kind of goes against everything I've just said, but there you go. I've got to decide between these options somehow and I guess a shootout is one way to go!
 
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Isn't listening to a pair of hifi speakers on youtube via your pc speakers just like trying to evaluate the picture quality of a top of the range OLED from a youtube video on your old TN panel monitor?

You'll be bound by the limitations of your speakers and monitor.

I'm going to evaluate what it's like to drive an FI car around Silverstone by driving my Hyundai i30.
 
enough reading, back to listening my ls50 :p
 
If you like Zreviews speaker reviews, you'll also like Youtube contributor "Tharbamar"'s reviews. He's demoed LS50s, several Wharfedales, Q Acoustics, Klipsch etc. etc. Each speaker is demoed with an identical set of pieces of music representing several genres.

It's a high quality setup, and the differences between the speakers are very nicely demonstrated.
 

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