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How does it sound ? - Kef LS60 W

Purité Audio

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I always feel they have more than a touch of the Kazoo about them.
Keith
 

AudioJester

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Well, I bought the Devores for my home, so it’s unsurprising that I think they sound great. Very balanced throughout the spectrum. They don’t reach the heights of clarity and neutrality of my Genelec’s, but they sound great, which is what I want for home. No boxiness or congestion in the two rooms I’ve heard them in…
If you enjoy them, thats the only thing that matters.
When looking I auditioned them as they were highly recommended locally, could not really get why at all. The worst was with complex orchestral music where everything became a congested mess.
The LS60 also come highly regarded, i do like the styling/look. Will have to listen sometime, the local dealer has them.
Are there any measurements for the Devore, curious now
 

MattHooper

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If you enjoy them, thats the only thing that matters.
When looking I auditioned them as they were highly recommended locally, could not really get why at all. The worst was with complex orchestral music where everything became a congested mess.
The LS60 also come highly regarded, i do like the styling/look. Will have to listen sometime, the local dealer has them.
Are there any measurements for the Devore, curious now

Stereophile got around to measuring the Devore O/93 speakers in 2019:


Not exactly text-book measurements. :)

But the O/93 were one of my favorite speakers I auditioned and I was seriously considering them. I did hear a bit of congestion during some more complex music though. I didn't hear it (at least to not that degree) on the larger O/96 model which I preferred.

They are completely different designs/measuring/sounding speakers than my current Thiel or Joseph speakers, but I loved the sound of the Devores nonetheless.

I still hope to hear the KEF LS60. My local store has them but the last time I was there the salesman couldn't play them for me. Basically the way they work involves, apparently, a level of complexity that playing them in the store can be difficult (something about using the same network as other things in the store?)

I'd like to be surprised by the LS60, but if they are similar enough to what I hear in the LS50 I'd probably still prefer the Devores. I like that beefy "wall of sound" from the Devore speakers.
 

Battlebeast

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Thanks, I see that option as I noted above, it’d be even better if Kef offered an optional Dirac upgrade. Eliminating the need for any additional boxes.
Some of the Martin Logan subs come with a version Anthem Room Correction. I believe there are some other brands that have some form of built in room correction.
 

HeadDoc12

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Stereophile got around to measuring the Devore O/93 speakers in 2019:


Not exactly text-book measurements. :)

But the O/93 were one of my favorite speakers I auditioned and I was seriously considering them. I did hear a bit of congestion during some more complex music though. I didn't hear it (at least to not that degree) on the larger O/96 model which I preferred.

They are completely different designs/measuring/sounding speakers than my current Thiel or Joseph speakers, but I loved the sound of the Devores nonetheless.

I still hope to hear the KEF LS60. My local store has them but the last time I was there the salesman couldn't play them for me. Basically the way they work involves, apparently, a level of complexity that playing them in the store can be difficult (something about using the same network as other things in the store?)

I'd like to be surprised by the LS60, but if they are similar enough to what I hear in the LS50 I'd probably still prefer the Devores. I like that beefy "wall of sound" from the Devore speakers.
Maybe the JBL 4329p will be closer to your taste (when it’s released, that is)?
 

MattHooper

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Maybe the JBL 4329p will be closer to your taste (when it’s released, that is)?

Not if they are powered, likely.

(Though I am intrigued by speakers using horn-loading).
 

ferrellms

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Very good writing , thanks :)
Our listening to music and what we like, are also very subjective. Only about 70% of the sound, how a loudspeaker will sound for us , can be measured . 30 % is pure subjectivity, and free for the listener to judge and have opinions about.
This should be perfectly clear for every intelligent person.
How did you get those numbers? Until I see some real research I will say "Says who?" Maybe, despite attending an Ivy League college, I am not "intelligent"? Please provide a link to an empirical study.
 
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ferrellms

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This is just one example how useless opinions are no matter how many agree or disagree. This speaker has so obvious flaws that one can even hear them in a YouTube video. Yet there a many people who claim these speakers are the best since sliced bread. No thank you.


My advice: Use measurements (objective reviews) to preselect your speakers so you don’t spent money on a dud and then listen at home for your self. If in doubt, return the speakers. But don’t listen to some blabla of internet “experts”which have different preferences and which certainly have different rooms. But hey to each it’s own.

Got it. Thanks for looking it up. Appears to me more like a rule of thumb but a scientifically derived rule. Fair enough.
No, this is Amir's opinion only. Worth considering maybe, but by no means definitive or scientific. I disagree with him :) I am waiting for empirical data, despite my stupidity.
 

Koeitje

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How did you get those numbers? Until I see some real research I will say "Says who?" Maybe, despite attending an Ivy League college, I am not "intelligent"? Please provide a link to an empirical study.
That number is probably a ballpark figure, but it is well known you cannot simply just use the preference score. For example:


Here loudspeakers P and I are pretty much equally liked. You are probably very happy with either, but I can guarantee you that you still prefer one over the other. There is also clear evidence that not everyone likes the same 'roomcurve' on in-room response. We all like a nice straight diagonal line, but the preferred slope of that line varies between people and listening situation.

Measurements are a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are so many loudspeakers out there and it really helps a lot if you can more easily create a short list of loudspeakers worth listening to. Especially if you already know what you value in a loudspeaker (low-end, wide/narrow dispersion, type of room curve, SPL etc).
 

MattHooper

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The new Stereophile is out with Kal's review of the LS60.

Not surprisingly it measures extremely well, and Kal is extremely enthusiastic.
 
OP
Tangband

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The new Stereophile is out with Kal's review of the LS60.

Not surprisingly it measures extremely well, and Kal is extremely enthusiastic.
Interesting :).
I wonder when the review will be on their homepage.
 

Purité Audio

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KEF make measurement led loudspeakers , you may not like them but it seems to me that KEF have a defined path and they are following it and that in my opinion is to be applauded.
Keith
 

Vacceo

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Some of the Martin Logan subs come with a version Anthem Room Correction. I believe there are some other brands that have some form of built in room correction.
I'd rather see KEF placing resources to keep their refinement of the UniQ or supporting the APP. Keep room correction in the dedicated hands of Dirac, Audyssey, Lyngdorff and so on.
 
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Tangband

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Just read the stereophile review and checked out the measurements.

Seems outstanding and I love that the final word in the review is “Unbeatable”
Yes , this ls 60 speakers seems really good, and my listen experience mirrors the one Kal Rubinson had.
He also compares the speaker with the much more expensive Kef blade 2 , saying they where ” surprisingly close ” in performance.



” Are they perfect?
No speakers are. However, the LS60s come close, especially when one considers their reasonable price, their discreet size, and their attractive cosmetics. As for that Phase Correction, turning it off made the LS60 sound more like its much larger sibling, the Blade Two Meta, when the two pairs of speakers were compared side by side. The Blades demonstrated an even more spacious soundstage and sounded firmer and fuller through the mid and upper bass, but the speakers were surprisingly close.

Some readers may be incredulous about my comments on the bass performance of the LS60s, which was in fact remarkable for their size and very good in absolute terms. But it's true: As well as those four small woofers performed (supported by DSP), they could not equal the Blade Two's larger drivers. Extension rivaled that of the Blade Two's, but only at lower output levels. The LS60's DSP progressively rolls off the lowest frequencies as you raise the volume, painlessly accommodating themselves to Hofmann's Iron Law, pushing it to its limits. With tracks from Tierro Band, Alison Kraus, Sara K, and, to a degree, Dead Can Dance, all cited above, the LS60s had ample bass until they were turned up too loud for musical enjoyment and neighbor comfort. With big orchestras (Mahler, Holst, etc.), organ, and—just a guess here, since I didn't listen to these genres—hard rock, techno, or electronica, a subwoofer or two would provide a simple solution.”
 
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Tangband

Tangband

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Another proof of the forcecancelling technique in the bass, that it works, is that there are NO resonances in the bass region, below 400 Hz . This is an achievement.

Seing this, this technique seems to be the right way to construct future DIY loudspeakers .

C19DCCBD-B698-49F6-818D-0C4077F3E626.jpeg
 
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subframe

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These are some astonishing measurements. I will have to go find another pair of these in another room and listen again.
 

Hans Boorsma

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Given the specs and measurements of the LS60, what do you think is preferable when used on a hard floor (concrete or flagstone): Spikes or rubber feet?
 

Purité Audio

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I sincerely doubt it would make the slightest difference.
‘Keith
 
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