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How does it sound ? - Kef LS60 W

HarmonicTHD

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Personally , I think measurements can tell you about 70 % of how a loudspeaker will sound . Not more.
It’s futile to argue about opinions and beliefs. Yes it is not 100%, but no one knows objectively an exact number either. As I said. Rule of Thumb. Good enough for the purpose.
 

Kal Rubinson

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I view that somewhat differently. I would say, "One has to listen to it at home to really know how it sounds at home." What you're exploring is the home environment more than the speaker.
!!! Exactly. OTOH, the significance is that at home (including the home's acoustical influence) is where one actually uses a loudspeaker.
 
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Tangband

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I view that somewhat differently. I would say, "One has to listen to it at home to really know how it sounds at home." What you're exploring is the home environment more than the speaker.

As for " .... good enough ....", that is determined by tests and measurements. Although the absolute worst deficiencies of speaker performance can be ferreted out by humans listening to it, the better speakers have characteristics that are beyond the ability of humans to analyze.

Although ..... perhaps you meant "good enough" in the sense of "acceptable to me personally"?

Jim
Yes. One example is If you must place the loudspeaker close to the frontwall at home - such a speaker cant have full baffle step correction + 6 dB to sound good. In Amirms reviews, no such attention to this important detail is done in the measurements because the measurements with the klippel system asume that the speaker will be free standing.

So , the klippel reviews will favour loudspeakers constructed for free standing use.
 
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Tangband

Tangband

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!!! Exactly. OTOH, the significance is that at home (including the home's acoustical influence) is where one actually uses a loudspeaker.
Not only this, you also use two of them !!:)
 

Butter

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On the blind assumption this thread's title might be used by a potential LS60 purchaser in future, I'll say I got my replacement LS60's a couple weeks ago. I applied the same KEF connect EQ settings as before, which I developed manually using REW. And.. now they're Roon ready, so I could also use the Roon EQ to parametrically attack the mid-bass issues of my room and MLP placement.
Disclosure, I did not replicate the REW "after" situation, but that's basically cause I don't know how to feed a pink noise "track" into Roon. But I am very happy with how the sound. I only made small changes in Roon, so I still have nice sound from the HDMI watching TV, but I definitely enjoy the (partially placebo?) benefit playing from Roon.

And building off others comments above, I agree only part of the story (idk 70%) of how you will enjoy a speaker can be divined from measurements, but 100% for sure I feel more confident when buying a speaker sight-unseen, like the LS60, it helps to review the KEF whitepaper, compare previous whitepapers to Erins and Amirs data, and judge what could the data possibly not be telling me e.g. impulse performance or dispersion of distortion, and do I think my 50yr old ears can tell the difference.

tl;dr - love the LS60s and measurements matter most but other factors also matter.
 
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Tangband

Tangband

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The measured response with Kef ls 60 W on axis, and 30 degrees off axis ( blue ). Very smooth off axis curve .
BDEF06AA-9246-462C-BA5F-D1D145712EB3.jpeg
 

squarewave

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I have listened to KEF LS60 and I was really disappointed. They sounded boxy like hand over mouth. I hope it was just the setup or bad loudspeaker settings.
 

Purité Audio

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They are the very opposite, tonally they sound pretty much like the Kiis, they have super imaging, just as their measurements would suggest.
Keith
 

Danaxus

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I have listened to KEF LS60 and I was really disappointed. They sounded boxy like hand over mouth. I hope it was just the setup or bad loudspeaker settings.
Could also be the room. If it's poorly treated or you were sitting in some bad room modes, nothing will sound good.
 
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Tangband

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symphara

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Maybe old news, but its a review from november 2022.

Inoffensive I think is the operative word. I’ve seen these KEFs, they are small and have have tiny drivers. I resonate with the reviewer’s comments about push-pull bass - my SVS 3000 Micro has much larger drivers and still fails to convince, but at least it has some PEQ.
 

Purité Audio

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Tangband

Tangband

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Review with MTD testing .


EA813FB9-5F19-44AE-99FB-FF360B86171F.png


” I was more than excited to see the comparison between the KEF LS60 Wireless and the Genelec 8351B in the listening test. Are these constructions so similar in terms of point sound source and yet so different designs.

It quickly became apparent that there were indeed differences between the two subjects. While the KEF tended to keep singers at a distance and placed them at speaker level, the Genelec allowed the listener to get closer to the artists. That is, you could literally see the mouth movements, while the KEF presented the performers more as a "whole". This is where opinions can actually differ. It's a matter of taste whether you like the monitor character more, which reveals small details like an "acoustic zoom", or whether you would like to see the music happening at a reasonable distance, but lack small details. And this basic character of the two exceptional loudspeakers should continue in the further listening test.

Tonally, the LS60 Wireless initially showed a slightly darker timbre in the basic setting. In my rather well-damped listening room, thanks to the EQ setting options, the KEF tolerated 1.5 decibels more highs in order to play on the tonal balance of the Genelec. In the bass, on the other hand, the "Standard" setting was sufficient to achieve the subjectively same depth and punch of the Genelec.”
 
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subframe

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I had an interesting experience with LS60 this week. For context, I own 8351Bs and have used them in a pro studio, 3 semi-treated home studios and my untreated living room. I also have Devore O93s in my home system, and have heard many many pro and hifi speakers in various environments.

Anyway, I'm setting up a new system for the family room, and when I found the LS60s I was very excited. They are very very appealing - they look nice, offer a simple solution to modern music listening, and come with the legacy of KEF. I found a place nearby to listen to them, and went to check them out, fully intending to buy them. The space was lightly treated, but pretty large - a better listening environment than the average living room, but not as good as a dedicated listening room or studio.

Much to my surprise, they didn't sound very good. Well, the highs actually sounded very good, lovely in fact. The mids however, were quite congested. The midrange lacked clarity on modern electronic and pop tracks, making it difficult to separate sounds where compression and EQ were employed heavily, which is a lot of modern stuff. Reverbs and delay tails were pretty difficult to discern at the level I'd expect for the cost. With jazz, both sax and trumpet sounded hard and boxy. This reflected a general trend towards over-emphasized lower mids. This could be attributed to the room, but was consistent as I walked around the space, so it wasn't room modes specifically causing the problem. So some improvement could be had here with room treatment or EQ, but I'd still be concerned about their ability to resolve layered music

The bass range was rather inconsistent. With rock music, some of the texture was there, but overall lacked weight. That said, what bass there was on the rock recordings I listened to was tight and 'tuneful' as we like to say. Switching to various electronic tracks, the bottom end exploded - suddenly I was swamped in bass. It still sounded pretty good in terms of texture and musicality, but the subbass was just too much. Again, I walked around to room to sniff out modes, but the effect remained the same.

To be honest, I assumed that the speakers had been EQd in some weird way, but was assured that was not the case. There was another guy in the room listening along, and my wife later told me he'd been introduced to her as the dealer's KEF rep. So I assume he thought they sounded somewhat as they were supposed to, or he would have stepped in to help make a sale to an interested customer.

Ultimately, I found the LS60 lacking in too many important ways, and will have to continue my search for a simple system for home. And I am pretty confident in saying that these do not even come close to 8351s or any of the Ones family. Not even close.

I do think these present a really great option for people who are looking for better sound and have a relatively large budget, but whose eyes glaze over when we start talking about streamers and preamps and speaker cables. I think we all have friends like that - they ask for recommendations, we do our best to provide simple clear suggestions, but they still get overwhelmed and go back to their $25 bluetooth speaker from Amazon. For them, I think these would be a really wonderful solution - simple, clean, sounds a lot better than what most people have.

edit: clarified my comment about budget above.
 
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MAB

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Ultimately, I found the LS60 lacking in too many important ways, and will have to continue my search for a simple system for home. And I am pretty confident in saying that these do not even come close to 8351s or any of the Ones family. Not even close.

I do think these present a really great option for people who are looking for better sound and have a budget
Very strange advice. You seem to not like the sound of these $7000 KEF compared to a $7000 pair of Genelec. But go on to say they are a good option for better sound for people on a budget.

Neither is budget. Neither is well described by the subjective descriptions here.
 
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