Advice please for the next step from Rotel Arcam Wiim Elac from confused newbie?

[terryforsythe]

I have spent too much time looking into this upgrade so I almost decided on PSB T65 speakers at ex-display offer of £899 but that was after an online chat with a sales guy putting me off Monitor Audio studio 89 at offer price 1299. Then I had an enjoyable listen to my rotel/elac/wiim but then Dark side Of the Moon spoilt it as it sounded poor but then maybe the recording was never very good. Hifi can be Hi stress. Confused.
Are the Kef Ls60's really good?

I have Elac UniFi Reference UBR62 bookshelf speakers and the KEF LS60s.

Out of the box they both image and sound stage very, very well. Both have wide dispersion and both are neutral, though the LS60s have a little bit smoother predicted in-room frequency response.

The LS60s have lower harmonic distortion throughout most of the range, though the UBR62s best them between about 800Hz - 5kHz.

The LS60 does a better job at controlling diffraction of the tweeter's output signal. The UBR62 experiences more diffraction due to the tweeter/midrange interface and the midrange surround, which is apparent when comparing their on-axis frequency response graphs - look at 3.1kHz and 6kHz-10kHz.

The enclsores of the LS60s vibrate a LOT LESS than the UBR62s; the LS60 enclosure is very stout.

There is no comparison between the bass response:

1. Each LS60 includes four 5.25" woofers vs. the UBR62's one 6.5" woofer, which is a bit over 2.5x the driver surface area. The LS60's woofers have 6.5mm max excursion, but I don't know what is the max excursion of the UBR62's woofer.

2. The LS60 uses a hybrid control system, similar to a servo control system, giving it very good control over the woofers.

3. The LS60 is specified to go down to 31Hz at -3dB. Using CamillaDSP externally I have them going down to 20Hz. -3dB for the UBR62 is around 58Hz.

4. The LS60 is a sealed enclosure. The UBR62 is ported. I prefer a sealed enclosure with DSP over a ported encosure.

Subjectively speaking, the LS60 has very good bass impact. I felt like the UBR62 is lacking in that regard, to the point I felt the desire to address the issue by going all active: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-fi-reference-ubr62-bookshelf-speakers.51780/

 

[terryforsythe]

One more note on the LS60s:

I have them in my office, which is 4.2m x 3.6m x 3.7m (13.8' x 11.8' x 12.2'). I sit about 2m from the speakers. They play louder in that room, at that listening distance, than I ever would want to listen to them, without need for a subwoofer.

In a larger room, at further listening distance, they would benefit from a subwoofer. KEF's speaker protection circuitry rolls off the bass when they are played above 80dB:

 

[Needorwant]

Update - firstly thanks for your time spent replying and your advice. The Elac speakers have been replaced with PSB floorstanders and now the Rotel is replaced today with the Wiim Vibelink. First impressions are the Wiim sounded a little lightweight but it's growing on me, perhaps the Rotel is a bit less detailed/warm? There are the some inconveniences with the less equipped amp but I am enjoying the music and not constantly moving the speakers around. I had some concerns swapping to a less expensive amplifier and I was attracted to the higher power. Should I buy a more expensive optical cable or will that have no benefit? I have my CD player into the RCA inputs (the only pair of inputs available!).

 

[Marin]

Hello bro
So you went for more power, that is always the right path and the only one that makes more sense to me(More headroom).It will make it easier to move the towers. What model are they and are you happy with them?
I had Elac uni fi and it felt like they were yelling at me when I turned them up to 85db SPL.
It's like the midrange couldn't keep up with the tweeters.
In the end I gave up on the concentric design and went with the debut f5 series of mini towers.I couldn't be happier with them, but only the first series. I think they tortured the designer to throw out so many lines that the designs of some of the speakers are simply wrong, flawed.
Otherwise I really appreciate Mr. Jones and I love his work.
Just look at the Adante model and everything will be clear to you. Armim measured it.
Basically if you don't need that input for another component like a record player and the like and if you don't hear any hum and noise, I wouldn't bother with it .