Surprisingly GREAT lifestyle speakers, BUT...
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- LS50 Wireless II kindly provided by KEF: kef.world/uw2
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Come to The Hangout!
29B Mosque Street, Level 3
Singapore 059507
goo.gl/maps/qRhMgtUBZ2FWu6gX9
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PATREON: / crinacle
TWITTER: / crinacle
DISCORD: / discord
SUBREDDIT: / inearfidelity
HOODIE: merch.crinacle.com
~~~
00:00 Intro
00:26 Disclaimers
• Why you SHOULDN'T trus...
02:08 Who are KEF?
02:39 The history of the LS50
03:39 My thoughts on the Mk1 LS50s
04:11 The setup process
05:41 Sound quality
07:47 Versus the competition
09:38 TL;DW
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CAM: Sony a7S III + FE 85mm f/1.8
MIC: Neumann TLM 102 + Motu M2 
Наука
God I missed the TLM 102s
Still Waiting for your Softears Studio 4 review…
Crin, you missed the Blessing 3 Dusk :(
Neumann 🎤?
OEM: Outside ear monitor
I’ll take that
Original equipment manufacturers: 😮
Anything is an IEM if you’re brave enough
And a headphone if you strap em to your head
Original earp*rn Machine
Oh, a shoutout for me!? Thanks man! 😊
😮
Me: Oh cool sperkers!
>3000$
Me: Oh ok no thanks I am not feeling like selling my liver.
$3000 is cheap for speakers
@@zxSwifty Yeah if your IQ is 50
@@zxSwifty It's also expensive for speakers, because Speakers go everywhere from terrible crap for a couple dollars to insane hundreds of thousands of dollars.
@@zxSwiftyif you're a business lol
What kind of dollars are that? In Europe they are EUR 1,800.- which is about USD2k
I love that the Dysons are still hanging in the background lol.
Those suckers xD
@@khoi83 Dunno if I should try them though. Crin said that they blow.
Really appreciate you reviewing these and other speakers in the future!
I always dreamed of you reviewing speakers
I have had those on my radar for years. Okay. You convinced me. Shop around I have seen these as open box to less the half MSRP.
So happy to see you sending some traction over to Erin!
Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing this video! It was exactly what I needed - so honest and informative. I was initially considering getting Kef speakers, though not the exact ones featured, but your insights led me to do some more research. After figuring out what I truly want in my audio setup, I've decided to go with a MartinLogan setup instead. Your guidance really made a difference in my decision. Cheers!
In the US, these MRSP at $2500, and you can routinely find them for ~$2000 during KEF sales. The value prop changes quite a bit at that point, so it's worth being mindful of.
They go for around 2000 eur in western europe as well, slightly overpriced maybe but definitely not outrageous.
Especially considering passive Meta's retail at about $1400. Accessories4Less have LS50 WIIs for $1599 refurbed. That's a killer deal.
I hope to see you in NYC, Crinacle!
if you can't use the speakers without an app, it's absolutely certain at some time in the future they will be unusable either because the company goes out of business, or the company decides it's too expensive to keep updating the app to support them. 100% certainty. also on the cards is some feature advertised on the box that used to work will be deliberately disabled, and maybe some features become a monthly subscription. this is all certain to happen based on it happening to so many cloud connected devices and even cars.
Very good point. Especially since a good speaker itself could easily be used for decades.
Awesome... You can review tons of other hifi products and I'd watch every one. Love your channel!
Yasss, I really hope there's more speaker reviews to come :)
I switched to Buchardt A500 after LS50 WII two years ago and I love it so far
Can you give a short review of both and mention the sound tuning difference you found in your use case scenario please?
Been waiting for speaker reviews! Glad to see it!
I bought an LSX on new years and with it and a sub, it basically killed any desire for me to buy any more headphone and IEMs, it make me rethink my priority with just how far I feel it's better than even my kilobucks IEMs and Headphones. They have way, way less usage time with the KEF around now.
If you can afford to use speakers at your home, a good speaker is the best upgrade you can get in this hobby IMO, completely different experience with comparable/ better performance to same priced cans.
I've all ways wanted to look into the speaker market but it gets quite overwhelming thanks for giving us a starting point to expand out from!
Nice shout out to Erin. He is awesome
My dad got me into KEF. Owned Kef 100 from 1994 (amazing centre channel, my parents still have the 200 as their center. I nicked his Koda 8's from 2006-2010. Flitered with B&W 803s for some years but in 2016 moved to the R300/R100's for my entire surround sound. Amazing brand.
That's my end game for now, but whenever we get a new house I'm probably switching to R3's
Title of this one is on point Crin!
Hi, I have the kef wireless 2 for around 1 year. I’m very happy and satisfied. They are pretty pricey but i didn’t regret my purchase at all.
Thanks for the review, looking forward for more speaker reviews!
I think you nailed your review, basically focusing on the lack of bass and also explaining it with the speaker's size. Owning a couple of LS50 Metasmin a home theater setup, I can agree.
What I don't get is the comparison to other setups including a subwoofer to compensate for the lack of bass. There's the KC62 subwoofer, also from KEF, which you can add to the system and it would end up in a fair comparison. Of course, it doesn't make things cheaper, but with KEF you you're not going for the bargain to begin with. It's then only fair to compare that to other 2.1 systems that are cheaper, but comparing 2.0 vs 2.1 is just... misleading?
This is so exciting. Here’s hoping for a Crinacle complete 2030 speakers ranking list! Let’s goo!!
Love to see the odd speaker review on something that is overhyped or under hyped!
For a living room, I'd go for the bigger LS60s, they are 7k normally, but I saw them for 5k last holiday season. They are towers, you don't need a sub, and from all the reviews I've heard they have a special ability to basically make anywhere you want to sit (within reason, the sweet spot is massive). I think it's much better for having others over and everyone able to listen and enjoy.
I got these a year ago and everyday is like falling in love again and again. I just don't hear sound coming out of these speakers - the music just floats in a real Soundstage in front of you. And this is me using it as a computer monitor, separated by a 57 inch g9, uncalibrated at that.. Yet the coaxial nature of the drivers are very forgiving. I have to admit, I got them for the looks but the sound makes it worth every penny.
I got the ls50 Meta’s in a bundle with the Naim Uniti Atom. That would solve all of these setup issues (and it did), and leads to a wonderful experience overall. I paid ~£3000 at the time I believe.
Specifically got them as I have a pair of Barefoot 01’s which do everything you could ask for in a near to midfield monitor, but are much harder to live with.
I wanted something that wouldn’t ask for my attention - something that would just be musical in its presentation, and not something that goes down to 8Hz or the like. It does that really well and the Naim system really makes them shine.
YOOOOOO THE ERINS AUDIO CORNER NAMEDROP LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO
Living for this scope expansion of the channel. I came here first for iem input and critique, but ive always preferred speakers for my primary listening, so I love to hear your specific critiques about speakers I've ogled for a while.
Special request: pls review Devialet Phantom IIs 🙏🏾🙏🏾 a pair is of similar price to these and they claim quite a lot (and i feel like they deliver tbh?). I would love to hear more audio quality people talking about Devialet. They've RUINED most setups for me as almost nothing can reproduce that bass below $2k, that I've heard, but unfortunately my listening experience is quite limited comparatively. Shit if you reviewed the full size phantoms too, that'd be cool. But I think the peri$2.5k price point for high end all in one stereo speakers is appropriate?
Love the channel and your approach, I wish i lived in singapore 😭
Please, more speaker content!!
7:32 Just when I thought that I couldn't respect Crinacle any more than I already do he goes and shows us that he listens to Jacob Collier. My goodness.
I love the Wireless II. The integrated digital processing might be a weakness in some aspects, but I love the amount of customization that it provides. I often adjust audio settings depending on the time of day that I'm listening. And I love that it has both low-pass and high-pass filters for the subwoofer output. It makes it a lot easier to couple them with a subwoofer, which is a necessity. There is also the built-in phase correction, which improves the time arrival characteristics of the coaxial driver for higher sound quality... It's much better than switches on the back of a speaker.
The biggest weak point ironically, though, is the lack of control when it comes to simple things like volume. The bundled remote has very poor directionality, forcing you to aim directly at the main speaker...and the volume control is painfully slow, not to mention unresponsive. It's easier to control the volume using my TV's remote via eARC. Heck, my low cost powered Klipsch speakers have a better remote control, and at least have an indicator ON THE FRONT instead of on top where you can't see it. I hate having to pull out my phone to know what volume level the speakers are at...
I definitely won't complain about the sound quality. Thanks to the class A amplification of the tweeters, there is no audible hiss from them whatsoever. They get reasonably loud, and do have some very nice, clean bass when listened to in a medium to small room. They are best used in near-field, of course. But the flat in-room response leads to them sounding neutral and clean even if you are across the room. That's the biggest advantage of the coaxial driver.
You will want to give them some toe-in, though. If you have them pointed straight forward like at 10:35 in this video, you're doing them a disservice. The treble will sound a little bit smoothed over, there will be less soundstage depth, and the center image will be diffuse. Just turn them in 10-15 degrees. And please put them on speaker stands, jeez. These aren't cheapo computer speakers from the 90's. You're going to have sound reflections from your desk messing up the frequency response. Ideally, the center of the driver should be at ear height, or aimed at ear height if they are angled. (They seem to sound better if they are angled downward slightly...I don't know why...maybe it's because of the angle of my ear canals...oh, well). I hacked some speaker wall mounts and desk-mounted computer monitor stands together to create height and angle adjustable speaker stands.
Will the Moondrop Blessing 3 Dusk x Crinacle be outdated by the time it comes out?
I've had these for almost 2 years and they've been amazing for me. 👍
They still feel brand new to me every time i listen to music.
Plus all of the built in options for audio.
Only thing i wish is they'd redo the app, mostly to do with in-app support for streaming services is just clunky and unsatisfactory and i feel like there's no point in using it unless you have no other way to get the best quality audio.
@crinacle Really excited to see this review! I am curious, with your Neumann KH120, did you use the MA-1 Microphone with it?
As an owner of KEF products myself, there's also a concern around their active speakers thats not always mentioned: not all kef products are reliable. Active speakers and some of the Q line
A good alternative for the ls50 II is also a Kef R3, which measure incredibly well but are passive
Hey Crin, Enjoyable video but as the room and placement of speakers are just as important as the speakers themselves it would be quite important to mention the listening environment you tested in. Room size, room treatment and positioning etc. are all very important. The only shot I saw was of the speakers either side of a monitor on a desk, and if this was the testing setup... it would likely sound much worse than on speaker stands, spaced further apart without a monitor or tv in between. Looking to the wider audiophile community, I've not seen anyone recommending these as desk speakers.
agree speakers setup is far harder than any headphone, iem, etc. even reading and experimenting on speaker locations can take weeks as each speaker responds differently to the listening room. The needs also be treated as in most people's home the listenign room is full of hard surfaces which create a very reflective room. hearing reflections isnt ideal. even some youtube reviewers have next to no treatments.
I loved these!
lmao I haven't had this issue with setup on iPhone. Just downloaded KEF app and did the pairing process. It was probably easier than setting up homepods lol.
Yooooo, shout out for Erin! Hell Yeah. I have been watching his reviews for a long time now and his objective data is amazing.
Have these in my living room and they are aesthetically much easier on the eyes than a sound bar, fill the room with sound (12' ceilings), as mentioned in the comments no need to switch seats for the best listening spot; the entire couch is the best listening spot. I only miss the bass on some movies but it is more than adequate for our purposes. The cost and the DREADFUL remote it comes with are the only drawbacks for me.
I absolutely hate the kef remote the ir blaster is so bad.
@@myengacademia at least the phone app works decently
Wow. I’m glad you did this. I liked these bookshelf speakers, but settled for Aurum Cantus leisure 2 SE mkII. With TEAC AX501 integrated amp and Fiio r7 as my streamer. I use AQ River Red XLR and I feel they sound better. Pls let me know your thought if you get to review my set up. Symphony metal and a lot of classical music is what I listen to.
If you ever get a pair of the Genelec The Ones, i think you can safely say to yourself that you reached the endgame in the speaker world. I recently was able to hear a pair of 8351b in near-field and far-field listening positions, calibrated with the GLM kit, and the sound was just drool worthy. If you can swing a subwoofer from them aswell, i think you are set for years to come.
GLM changes everything. You can cal your speakers and optimize your listening room.
For near field yes, Genelec if state of the art.
But far field lol, they can't compete with Neumann KH420. These thing will shake your entire house with reference sound.
@@hypnoz78718381A has entered the chat.
@@KernelFault nothing amazing about that software except that its in the speaker itself, it locks you in to their overpriced subwoofers and is worse than Dirac BC and the new dirac ART
Hurray! More speaker reviews! Triangle, Dali, all the big players
Crin, loudspeakers are a blast to explore. I use those Genelecs at work nearly daily. I would advise you to explore DIY loudspeaker options, though. Not only is it a wonderful learning opportunity and a fun project, but it also offers some wonderful price to performance advantages. My most recent 2-way build based on ScanSpeak drivers achieve a response of +/-0.6dB from 70Hz to 28kHz (70Hz is where they cross over to my sub). They only cost me $1000 to make as well. Worth considering!
I am rockig the Nubert NuPro SP-500 together woth the Nusub-XW-1200 for music, gaming and movies at home. Sounds great.
Moarrrrr Mooaaaaarr Speaker reviews! Damn we should get together and to buy Crin a Klippel NFS.
A slight correction. The original ls50 from 2012 are passive speakers, and they continue to be passive unless specified otherwise IE 'wireless' you can use active/wireless interchangeably but KEF refers to them as wireless.
2012 LS50 passive
2017 LS50 wireless
2020 LS50 meta passive
2020 LS50 meta wireless
I'm only pointing this out just in case someone makes the mistake of purchasing the passive versions.
I think most that are into headphones amd iem's, are possibly into speakers due to just being int sound.
Personally running focal shape 50s on my desktop, with the matching sub.
Absolutely fantastic set up.
Can’t wait for him to review the Neumann
I already have the iloud but want to upgrade to the best desk speakers
I've owned the KEF R300 for over a decade now. Back then, I bought them with my then-girlfriend who was a professional orchestra violinist. We went to the hifi store to listen to a bunch of different KEF and B&W speakers on a Denon setup close to the one I had at home. The original LS50 were among them, brand-new at the time, and even I found them to sound worse at a similar price to the R300.
But these new LS50W and esp the II with the wireless features and being active and all, it sure is kind of tempting... ok just heard the MSRP lol, sticking with the R300 and my setup for sure.
Oh and while they were british, aren't they chinese owned for a while now?
I've got the R300, amazing speakers for the price/size. The upgraded R3's are cheaper & measure pretty well too.
Would love a look at the Klipsch active speaker and sub series like the Fives and Sevens. Please more Speaker reviews!
I owned a pair that were taken out by a power surge due to a lightning strike. The good is that when they were working they sounded great and when paired with a sub they were even better. The bad is that when they go you have some really expensive paperweights. I switched to the R3 metas and even those hooked up to an inexpensive amp sound better and I don't have to worry that a power surge will take them out.
Ever heared something about a surge protector? xDD
Who uses Electronic which costs thousands of dollars without one?
I am so impressed with you as you start to review bookshelf speakers, please keep it up.
Speaker Reviews ?!?!?! LESS GOO
Yes finally. Now do more speaker reviews.
For the money I honestly prefer the LS50 Metas. You can also get a pretty good discount on them during the holiday season which makes them even more appealing.
Good review, but the ls50s and speakers like it are meant to fill a room and not really serve as near field monitors. A better comparison for your studio monitors would be the kef lsx.
I do agree that it is pricey. In the kef line I prefer the Kef R3 meta with a rel t9x. Powered by a paradigms hint 6
KEF ls50 metas were $999 this past Christmas. I purchased them with a subwoofer and they’re fantastic at my PC desk.
I hope you didnt test em like shown in 10:37, sitting plain on the desk at this height. When got my pair decent stands and some iso acoustic pucks - magic happened. :)
Hey, Erin! We like that guy!
Please review the Genelec ones!
9:15 They are $2500 in the USA, so pricing does vary.
Used to have the original ls50 wireless, awesome speakers. Yes they had a lack of bass, however that was 0erfect for the neighbours who poved to complain. However what bass there was, was very good quality.i got the blessing 2 dusk after gwtting rid of my ls50 and what i missed the most was the bass texture and tone
Yes. Do more speakers.
Really interesting video.
Would love to see more speaker reviews. Especially would love to see you talk about Sonos.
That's my boy Erin
I have the metas (passive) and yeah adding a separate sub definitely helps fill out the bass that I could consider anemic (especially the sub bass)
Personally I've paired it up with a ls310 that I had previously been using with my 305s before I moved the JBLs to a different room
I have a silly setup......KEF LSX + KC62...on my desk..... The KC62 goes deep though.
Can you please do some sound bar reviews as well ? Thanks !
Also buying speakers second hand is not really an issue. so there's a better and cheaper value out there always.
KEF offers a subwoofer you can use with the LS50IIs.
Have Klipsch the Fives with sub. Sounds great via aptx from my Sony dap, when not listening on my B2D.
Still waiting for Softears Studio 4 review…
Crin, u have any plans for the review of dunu talos?
I did see that u rank the iem pretty highly, so wanna know more about how u feel about it
I'm glad my ears are already satisfied with my Edifier R1280DBs, it even has bluetooth connectivity
Jacob Collier mentioned! (in some footage)
Vol. 4 finally dropped and it's polished as hell
im not sure if you are looking at the wrong place but LS50 Wireless II are $2500 USD retail at locations such as Best Buy and frequently run 2k on sale. IDK why kef's website have them at 3k.
I have a pair of q350s hooked up to a WIIM Amp in my second listening room which sound great and I bought for less than $1000. I like to think of this as the poor man's LS50 wireless with extra bass.
What about the jbl 306 vs the 305 is it worth the upgrade if they were the same price? And whats the difference between them?
I've had them and found them fatiguing. Replaced with dynaudio focus xd 20 and MUCH happier. They had less features but sounded so much bettter. The LSX on the other is pretty dang good for the money, especially in the 2nd hand market.
For the casuals, subwoofer is like boobs. Any boob is better than no boob. So I always recommend 2.1 system for the casuals. just pick one you can afford and you'll be a happy man.
Once you get ANYTHING from The Ones line of Genelec monitors, everything else will be ruined for you. Period. The 8361s are my dream speakers, because they basically disappear.
That's why the LS50 design is so cool. It has almost zero baffle reflections AND it's a point source design. The Genelec Ones take that design a step further in cast aluminum. That's nuts.
A minor nitpick, but there are woofers can actually get down to 30hz territory w/ 5-6" cones nowadays, some 4" woofers can get down into the high 30s nowadays as well. They are harder to drive but they will go low w/ fairly minimal distortion. Kef's implementation w/ their speakers do sacrifice some excursion for a smoother edge diffraction through which is a good tradeoff for response & imaging. Id rec even the normal LS50 Meta, you dont really need the EQ and it has good flat response out of the box.
Crinacle could you share your thoughts about soundpeats engine 4?
🔥🔥
Do you think you can review the KRK Rokit 8, so many producers these days use those for making music and id be curious to know your opinion on them.
Cool IEMs
I want to try a set of these…
please advise me on what speakers to buy you were so useful for headphones for me. i loved the audiotechnica ath rtx 70
These are good speakers and you can get them a lot cheaper than the $3k you mentioned. I’d recommend Philharmonic BMRs plus subwoofer (although I don’t even run a sub with mine) at this price point.
I've always wanted to hear a set of ls50's since i got my q150's, just don't have access to any stores 😭
Worth noting in the value calculus, these go on sale for $2000 regularly these days. For a grand under MSRP the value’s a lot more appealing.
I have 2 Prosonus E7 XT and 2 10" Sony subs for my computer/monitor setup...700 dollars all in on speakers, plus 200 for Fiio dac and the sound quality is amazing. Volume, dynamics, technical performance while shaking my house if I want it to...everything you do not get with those for less than half the price...I am ok with that if all im missing is better numbers on test sheet you couldnt hear in a blind test.
I have to double check that thumbnail for a sec 👀
Would love to see a Devialet Phantom I review
Do Genelec ones next!
What are your thoughts on making iems wireless with some bluetooth adapters for iem? And can you maybe make a video about?
Well, if you have 3000 for the speakers, you probably have another 1000 or 2000 for a sub (like a KEF KC62 for 1.5K)
I don't have the wireless, just the LS50 meta (because they are front for the atmos setup and integrating LS50 wireless into multichannel is kinda pain). So here is why yes, beside the obvious look:
1. Once paired and properly integrated with a decent sub (or 2), they do the job at least as good as anything in the price range. Separate subs allow much more flexible speaker placement and way better sound.
2. They are much easier to fit into any space due to the compact form factor.
3. The sound stage ...
4. Of axis performance (coaxial drivers).
5. The separation ...
6, The details ...
If you want a full range without sub and don't mind the size of the speakers, there is a LS60 Wireless for just 5K :)
Something you missed with your review is that the demographic buying this speaker probably cares a lot about aesthetic more than sound and that's where these really shine. Being conveniently wireless and beautiful, these are probably a great option for premium living room and desk setups. Also it would have made a lot more sense to test them with a sub, as anyone who cares about sound would factor in using a sub with their bookshelf speakers, and you compared it to other options with subs.
7:23
9:56
As for adding a sub, the whole point was that you could get cheaper options that come bundled with a sub. Sure, I could compare the LS50W2 with a sub against the competition, but then the MSRP of that setup would be closer to $5,000... in which case it gets SEVERELY outclassed by similarly priced 3-ways or even towers.
@@crinThanks for the reply, I understand your reasoning but it still would have been nice to get your thoughts on the kef's with a sub for those in the market.