Lsx and ls50w of any kind would not have an external amplifier
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KEF LS50 Bookshelf Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
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The LS50 (the original) sounds excellent to me under the following conditions:
- Use with subwoofer (I only use one) in the small to medium size room, and Dirac Live (I use the PC standalone version).
- Use with Dirac Live, with or without subwoofer for desktop, or small room (haven't tried but I expect it will be good too).
Without using Dirac Live, it sounds great too but with it, I sounds excellent. That's of course subjective, but measurements (with Dirac) do look great to me.
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In my experience, it does not need a subwoofer in a small room. My wife has them in a small home office.
Like I said, with or without a sub is fine in a small room, but especially with DL, or Audyssey if one knows how to tweak.
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No Dirac or Audyssey in her setup. Just an Amazon Echo Link Amp and a Pro-Ject CD Box S3.
I think the effects could vary among different speakers and rooms. In my use, DL made an audible difference when the LS50's were in my living room. When used on my desktop, the difference between DL on and off is very noticeable, like having different speakers, and since I started using DL, I no longer feel the need of a subwoofer. Without DL, I do feel the LS50 can benefit significantly from having a subwoofer, even for desktop use but again, it is going to be room dependent for sure.
Ron Texas
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How does Dirac Live eliminate the need for a Sub? Bass can only be boosted around 60 or 70hz on the LS50 and not by much with the trade off being reduced dynamic range. I have 2 subs with my LS 50's crossed at a relatively high 150 Hz.
Great question, I was surprised too!
Best way to explain is to look at the REW plots:
At 40 Hz, it was down only about 2 to 3 dB. I have since use a tilted curve and am probably getting audible bass down to 35 Hz but I have not bothered to run REW, yet...
No doubt without a sub, there are nothing below 35 Hz, but for a desktop system, I don't feel the need. If I still had the LS50 in the living room I would still use a sub.
L+R channels:
Ron Texas
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That's a scientific answer. Still, that boost at 90 Hz is going to be costly in terms of dynamic range. It might not matter near field. I'm wondering what is causing that huge 90 Hz dip followed by the 130 Hz peak. Have you experimented with moving your desk relative to the walls?
The desktop system is in the corridor to my den, the speakers are 2 feet to the side wall, about 12 inches space between my monitor screen and the windows behind. The corridor is about 8 ft wide with openings on both ends and is about 5 ft to the opposite wall so there are very little flexibility to move them.
The 90 Hz dip is going to stay, no room correction software can do much about it. Dirac already managed to narrow it a lot. Audyssey would probably do better on a dip like that, based on performance comparison when I had the speakers in the living room, as I still have the AV8801 there at the time.
That graphs show the combined response, below are the left and right:
You can see that the left channel isn't too bad.
Of course, and I do use subs, just don't feel the need for my desktop. If I suddenly change my mind, it is easy to one back, under the desk.
My original point was, before I started using DL, I felt that the sub under the desk was absolutely needed, and again it was a big nice surprise for me. The sub is now used in another location.
Ron Texas
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As I previously suggested, on a desktop loss of a chunk of dynamic range is not going to be noticed. Sorry if I was a bit skeptical earlier.Of course, and I do use subs, just don't feel the need for my desktop. If I suddenly change my mind, it is easy to one back, under the desk.
Hi
In february 2017 I stumbled upon these in a big shop nearby, playing and for 900 €, which was cheap then. They sounded good and also would fit in my 'double-bike-back-bag'! Slept on it and the next day I could'nt resist buying them. As been said before, they don't go deep and sound rather 'present' because of the rise between 2k and 5khz, which, I thougt, could have something to do with the baffle step and a relatively simple crossover, so i began experimenting with dampening materials on the baffle, hoping to 'tame' this area somewhat (assuming it being in-phase relected by the baffle), reduce diffractions, and at the same time 'isolate' the uni-q a bit. Mechanical equalizing.
They ended up with a layer of a rather loose kind of wool felt covering the baffles. This make them sound more 'mature', more tranquil with a bit more of the higher treble, and , I think, better stereo-depth, and somewhat headphone-like, with this typical better (left/right) detail response.
In february 2017 I stumbled upon these in a big shop nearby, playing and for 900 €, which was cheap then. They sounded good and also would fit in my 'double-bike-back-bag'! Slept on it and the next day I could'nt resist buying them. As been said before, they don't go deep and sound rather 'present' because of the rise between 2k and 5khz, which, I thougt, could have something to do with the baffle step and a relatively simple crossover, so i began experimenting with dampening materials on the baffle, hoping to 'tame' this area somewhat (assuming it being in-phase relected by the baffle), reduce diffractions, and at the same time 'isolate' the uni-q a bit. Mechanical equalizing.
They ended up with a layer of a rather loose kind of wool felt covering the baffles. This make them sound more 'mature', more tranquil with a bit more of the higher treble, and , I think, better stereo-depth, and somewhat headphone-like, with this typical better (left/right) detail response.
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I just wan to mention that I use them with Dirac Live and enjoy the overall sound quality a lot more, with Dirac Live I don't even use a subwoofer with it, whereas before I felt it was a must.
Is this in a small room/nearby?
Yes, about 11.5X25X9 ft for a few years, then I moved it to my desktop couple years ago. The improvements in sq is much more obvious now that it is used in my desktop system.
Nice nearby-monitors, maybe with ('open-in-the-middle') foam plugs, to make them closed/tempered and lower tuned(?) and equalized. You might even tweak the ports by making them longer for that. Nearby, small woofers often can move enough air for the deeper bass, because of the low level.
Good idea, I should try the port plug and compare the response by ears as well as by REW. Can always run Dirac again and save a filter for the plugged scenario.
I hope it's a good idea (i'm not an expert). I guess it also depends on how near to walls they are placed and how loud you play. Anyhow good luck!
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