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Can you beat my option? KEF LS50 Wireless II + SVS SB-2000 Pro

Vahidhm

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I am new here, a noob/beginner in Audio world and had near to zero experience with audio systems. However, I enjoy reading forums and researching any product before buying it. I can say audio systems are one of the most challenging products to buy and it is not easy to make a solid decision.o_O

I think I have spent enough time reading this forum and other resources and I am about to pull the trigger and buy my first system :eek:. I would greatly appreciate if you can share your experience with me or let me know what you think.

Here are what I am looking for or needed features and the conditions to consider.
  • My setup would be for a large room around 3000 CF (living room connected to kitchen with typical furniture)
  • Budget is around $3000 USD (Living in US)
  • I only stream (Apps) or play music over a network. No CD player or turn table or ...
  • I do not have a plan to use Roon at the moment (I know it sounds strange but next line will explain the reason)
  • The richest sources for the music that I am listening to are typically the lossy apps [Youtube music, Sound cloud, Spotify, Amazon, and some weird radio apps] that are not supported in Roon.
  • I would love to have the lossless options in Tidal or Deezer or Qobuz but because of limited sources, they will be my second priority. Also most of these major streaming apps are supported in streamer DAC devices.
    • A Chromecast built in streamer is perfect for me (Even those weird radio apps have cast via Chromecast option) but there might be other ways to cover all of these apps.
  • I'd like to have a good audio quality for movies and video games. HDMI input is very important because of CEC and Volume control via TV remote (Laziness :facepalm:)
  • IMO Subwoofer is a must for the TV and Video games experience and it would help the speakers too.
Initially I wanted to buy an AVR (3.1 with upgrade in future) but down the road I realized that I appreciate a better music quality over the surround features for the movies so I passed the AVR + Speakers options and started to look at the Streamer , DAC, Amp + Speakers options. [A reasonable priced AVR (e.g. Denon X-3700H) technically cover all those features but seems that AVRs do not have a good sound quality (General Audiophile opinion):rolleyes:

With all that said and considering the tight budget I choose KEF LS50 Wireless II + SVS SB-2000 Pro ($3300: $2500+$800)

To me it ticks all boxes. The only negative point or missing item about this option is lack of room correction (I don't know how important is that. I can do some parametric EQ for the Subwoofer via the SVS app and REW but not much after the crossover and I don't know if that is enough or not)

Is there any better option for me to have all my needed features and provide better sound quality end result in my room?

Here are the items that I liked/considered.

Speakers: KEF LS50 Meta, KEF LS50 Wireless II , ELAC DBR6.2
Sub: SVS SB-2000 Pro, SVS-SB-1000 Pro
All in ones: NAD M10, Naim unity atom, Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, Bluesound POWERNODE, Sonos Amp
Power Amp: Buckeye Hypex Ncore nc252
Streamer DAC: Bluesound NODE, Sonos Port, Raspberry pie based products
Stereo Receiver: Marantz NR1200

As I said, I am a beginner and have not listened to any of these products (It is basically impossible to do so) so all I can do is just decide based on the information that I gathered and utilize your experience ;).

Thanks
 

HooStat

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One consideration is to find a way to get two subs instead of 1. Two SVS SB 1000 or similar options from Rythmik. There are other good options too that are less expensive ($400 ea) to stay at your budget. The RSL 10" Speedwoofer gets good objective reviews at $400 each, for example.
This will give you more even bass in your room and potentially more headroom for the KEFs. Not sure if you can set the cross over in the active KEFS, but you might be able to go to 100 Hz or higher and see how it sounds.
 

FrantzM

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Just to shake the tree a bit and see what comes off it :

Pair of JBL 708p $3600
Pair of SVS SB1000 $1000

Okto DAC 8 Stereo ... $1300 (maybe less)
REW (Free) miniDSP Umik-1 $100

Lot of sweat, research, despair but in the end a stupendous system? Yes.

Peace
 

Koeitje

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LS50's and a large room are not a great combination, simply doesn't have the power. Plus if you want to use a sub for movies and tv, make sure you can actually process the LFE channel and send it to the subs only.
 
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Vahidhm

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One consideration is to find a way to get two subs instead of 1. Two SVS SB 1000 or similar options from Rythmik. There are other good options too that are less expensive ($400 ea) to stay at your budget. The RSL 10" Speedwoofer gets good objective reviews at $400 each, for example.
This will give you more even bass in your room and potentially more headroom for the KEFs. Not sure if you can set the cross over in the active KEFS, but you might be able to go to 100 Hz or higher and see how it sounds.

The SB-1000 won't be powerful enough for my room size. Also it is substantially weaker than 2000 pro in lower frequencies (similar to RSL and Rythmik around 400-500 price range). I would do two 2000pro if I had the money. (It is also very hard to fit them in my room). I rather SVS over the other brands because of their app and ability of parametric EQ
 
OP
V

Vahidhm

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Just to shake the tree a bit and see what comes off it :

Pair of JBL 708p $3600
Pair of SVS SB1000 $1000

Okto DAC 8 Stereo ... $1300 (maybe less)
REW (Free) miniDSP Umik-1 $100

Lot of sweat, research, despair but in the end a stupendous system? Yes.

Peace
Thank you for the comment. I have almost doubled my target price since the time I decided to buy a system. Increasing the price target is not a good option for me.
 

fieldcar

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While this setup should work well for music, the convenience of using a good AVR will fix issues with timing and room modes. For example, my svs sb2000pro has about 6ms of latency, so audyssey sees this as 13ft away despite it being right behind my couch where I take the measurements. As someone else also said, LFE effects handled by these speakers could be a pain to deal with. Just go with the KEF R3's and a good denon/marantz reciever with the SB2000PRO if you plan to do any movie watching. The other cool feature is that most AVR's have ATMOS simulated with any speaker configuration using HRTF. Denon calls this "speaker virtualizer".

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/kef-r3-speaker-review.12021/
 
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Vahidhm

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I would take the R3 because of distortion issues the LS50 will have at higher level, even if crossed very high. I also remember that KEF's coaxial units used in woofer and midrange roles are quite different.
I know R3 is a better speaker but I can not put together a system with that speaker that sounds better than my option within the price rage
 

phoenixdogfan

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I am new here, a noob/beginner in Audio world and had near to zero experience with audio systems. However, I enjoy reading forums and researching any product before buying it. I can say audio systems are one of the most challenging products to buy and it is not easy to make a solid decision.o_O

I think I have spent enough time reading this forum and other resources and I am about to pull the trigger and buy my first system :eek:. I would greatly appreciate if you can share your experience with me or let me know what you think.

Here are what I am looking for or needed features and the conditions to consider.
  • My setup would be for a large room around 3000 CF (living room connected to kitchen with typical furniture)
  • Budget is around $3000 USD (Living in US)
  • I only stream (Apps) or play music over a network. No CD player or turn table or ...
  • I do not have a plan to use Roon at the moment (I know it sounds strange but next line will explain the reason)
  • The richest sources for the music that I am listening to are typically the lossy apps [Youtube music, Sound cloud, Spotify, Amazon, and some weird radio apps] that are not supported in Roon.
  • I would love to have the lossless options in Tidal or Deezer or Qobuz but because of limited sources, they will be my second priority. Also most of these major streaming apps are supported in streamer DAC devices.
    • A Chromecast built in streamer is perfect for me (Even those weird radio apps have cast via Chromecast option) but there might be other ways to cover all of these apps.
  • I'd like to have a good audio quality for movies and video games. HDMI input is very important because of CEC and Volume control via TV remote (Laziness :facepalm:)
  • IMO Subwoofer is a must for the TV and Video games experience and it would help the speakers too.
Initially I wanted to buy an AVR (3.1 with upgrade in future) but down the road I realized that I appreciate a better music quality over the surround features for the movies so I passed the AVR + Speakers options and started to look at the Streamer , DAC, Amp + Speakers options. [A reasonable priced AVR (e.g. Denon X-3700H) technically cover all those features but seems that AVRs do not have a good sound quality (General Audiophile opinion):rolleyes:

With all that said and considering the tight budget I choose KEF LS50 Wireless II + SVS SB-2000 Pro ($3300: $2500+$800)

To me it ticks all boxes. The only negative point or missing item about this option is lack of room correction (I don't know how important is that. I can do some parametric EQ for the Subwoofer via the SVS app and REW but not much after the crossover and I don't know if that is enough or not)

Is there any better option for me to have all my needed features and provide better sound quality end result in my room?

Here are the items that I liked/considered.

Speakers: KEF LS50 Meta, KEF LS50 Wireless II , ELAC DBR6.2
Sub: SVS SB-2000 Pro, SVS-SB-1000 Pro
All in ones: NAD M10, Naim unity atom, Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, Bluesound POWERNODE, Sonos Amp
Power Amp: Buckeye Hypex Ncore nc252
Streamer DAC: Bluesound NODE, Sonos Port, Raspberry pie based products
Stereo Receiver: Marantz NR1200

As I said, I am a beginner and have not listened to any of these products (It is basically impossible to do so) so all I can do is just decide based on the information that I gathered and utilize your experience ;).

Thanks
I'm very similar to you. I have LS 50 Metas + and SB 2000 + a Purifi Eigentact + and Octo 8 Pro + PC with Dirac Live Multichannel + LS 50 (original) surrounds. Personally, I prefer the stand alone speakers b/c I don't have to worry about electronic failure taking the whole system down plus my DSP will be better with PC based multi channel Dirac Live which I consider to be one of the gold standard DSP systems.

Additionally, having stand alone speakers more readily allows the system do double duty as both a two channel music reproducer, and a multi channel home theater. Having put that out there, I wouldn't feel comfortable using LS 50s if I had a larger room. My room is only 12 X 12 x 8, so the smaller monitor type speakers fit my use case. YMMV.
 
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Vahidhm

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LS50's and a large room are not a great combination, simply doesn't have the power. Plus if you want to use a sub for movies and tv, make sure you can actually process the LFE channel and send it to the subs only.
I am not 100% sure about the LFE process in KEF speakers and I don't have enough knowledge about it. But I found this file that explains about the subwoofer integration. I am going to read and see what can I understand. Thank you so much for the point
 
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Vahidhm

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While this setup should work well for music, the convenience of using a good AVR will fix issues with timing and room modes. For example, my svs sb2000pro has about 6ms of latency, so audyssey sees this as 13ft away despite it being right behind my couch where I take the measurements. As someone else also said, LFE effects handled by these speakers could be a pain to deal with. Just go with the KEF R3's and a good denon/marantz reciever with the SB2000PRO if you plan to do any movie watching. The other cool feature is that most AVR's have ATMOS simulated with any speaker configuration using HRTF. Denon calls this "speaker virtualizer".

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/kef-r3-speaker-review.12021/
I am not sure about if there would be any subwoofer issues with KEF speakers subwoofer out. I am going to get more information about that. in terms of getting an AVR instead of my option, I really have no idea about which system would have better sound quality, I'll wait to see the other's opinion here in in thread. But very good point about the timing and latency. Thanks
 

HooStat

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The SB-1000 won't be powerful enough for my room size. Also it is substantially weaker than 2000 pro in lower frequencies (similar to RSL and Rythmik around 400-500 price range). I would do two 2000pro if I had the money. (It is also very hard to fit them in my room). I rather SVS over the other brands because of their app and ability of parametric EQ
I would be surprised if 2 12" subs are not better in your room than 1 12" (but more powerful) sub. I could be wrong, of course. And it depends on placement and your room size.
 

jstownse

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I was in a very similar situation as you, except needed an analogue source. I ended up going with the KEF WII, I spent a lot of time researching separates and they were appealing, but WII seemed like a great value compared to $1,500 passive metas then finding sufficient amplification, streaming, etc. within a similar budget.


They sound great, but be warned, you may have some frustrating times with connectivity and the app. I have a Samsung tv, it's ARC function worked with Klisph the Fives, but not with my WII's. They had a firmware update to improve ARC connectivity with LG and Sony tvs, maybe Samsung is in the pipeline.

If you're prepared to occasionally reset your speakers, app, and router, and fiddle with that stuff, you'll probably be fine. But just be aware.


The new Bluesound NODE which now had HDMI eARC paired with some powered/active speakers might be a nice alternative as well.
 

bo_knows

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I am not 100% sure about the LFE process in KEF speakers and I don't have enough knowledge about it. But I found this file that explains about the subwoofer integration. I am going to read and see what can I understand. Thank you so much for the point
KEF LS50W II has a phone app that will help you with the subwoofer integration. Just use LFE input on the sub. They will go loud enough with the sub if you don't have a lot of furniture, drapes, and carpet all over the place. Maybe not loud for the party but loud enough for normal listening. :)
 
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garbulky

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I'm biased and no hate for anybody that uses the LS50 and love it. The KEF LS50's I heard (not the wireless version) sounded like mediocre speakers to me. Rolled off treble, congested sound, muddy bass. Not necessarily the worst I've heard, but definitely near the bottom tier. To be honest, if somebody paid me, I wouldn't use them. For instance I thought the (vastly cheaper but discontinued) Emotiva airmotiv 5s sounded so much better and did about the same volume wise. For subs, if you can go dual subs. I like the PSA subs I've heard. SVS is probably fine too :)
 
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Vahidhm

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I would be surprised if 2 12" subs are not better in your room than 1 12" (but more powerful) sub. I could be wrong, of course. And it depends on placement and your room size.
I think you are right, I may not said it correctly. Two sb1000 in placed correctly most likely outperform one sb2000. The overall bass experience would be more smooth and uniform, however the 2000 would be better for lower frequencies that can not be produced by the 1000s
Sub.JPG
 

FrantzM

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The SB-1000 won't be powerful enough for my room size. Also it is substantially weaker than 2000 pro in lower frequencies (similar to RSL and Rythmik around 400-500 price range). I would do two 2000pro if I had the money. (It is also very hard to fit them in my room). I rather SVS over the other brands because of their app and ability of parametric EQ
Debatable ... where the differences are substantial is the very low bass under 30 Hz... Notwithstanding the real differences in output, for smoothness and extension ,two are better than one …
 
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