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KEF LS50 META!

RoyB

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"Hold my beer! I'm going in deep!".....Although my entire HiFi quest has been Low Price / Big bang for bucks equipment, and I've bought a number of pairs of speakers, all under $500 a pair (Second Hand and New).....I've decided to step up the game and ordered a pair of KEF LS50 Meta speakers......The various reviews are just too good and too consistent to ignore......I have to see how much better they are to the speakers I currently have.....Magnapan MMG, KEF 103.2, Klipsch RP600m, ELAC 6.5/2.0/ B&W DM601, Jamo S803, Kanto YU6....I'll be driving them with multiple amplifiers...VTA Dynaco ST120 Tube, Sound Artist 200i, Cambridge Audio 840 Azur, Yamaha M45.......Should be fun!
 

Chromatischism

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Lack of meaningful bass extension keeps me from being interested in these otherwise good speakers. You have to cross them way too high and they are somewhat SPL limited. For the money it's a tough sell, for me.
 
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RoyB

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Lack of meaningful bass extension keeps me from being interested in these otherwise good speakers. You have to cross them way too high and they are somewhat SPL limited. For the money it's a tough sell, for me.
I just picked them up this afternoon. After listening to them now for a few hours, you might be mistaken on all accounts....The bass is simply amazing! I have an SVS subwoofer to use with them and I've not turned it on. And SPL is more than enough to fill a 12 X 24 X 8 heavily carpeted room with over stuffed furniture. Driving them with 100w/ch Sound Artist SA-20ia Integrated amplifier with a Node2i and Quobuz...
 

steve59

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Congrats! It's a substantial investment and i'm glad it worked for you. Kef has come quite a way with the uniq since the first version.
 

Descartes

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Glad you are enjoying them did you ever hear the original?
 

thewas

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I guess our definition of bass is different, and that's fine :)
Also rooms can be very different in bass response, in my previous house I didn't necessarily need a sub for many of my loudspeakers but in my current one a sub is with most a must.
 

thewas

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I would need subs no matter where I live because my content goes down to the 20's.
Yes, depending on content subs are almost always unavoidable, on the other hand sometimes you can get surprisingly low also with loudspeakers which drop much earlier anechoically, for example my LS50 Anniversary desktop setup has its -3dB point at the listening position around 33 Hz without any positive filters. Funnily in the same room my LS50 Meta classic listening stereo setup drops much earlier so I use a sub with it.
 

Ataraxia

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In near field the LS50 are amazing, the issue is 12 feet away they really can’t play very loud
Exactly, that's what I'm finding out as I've been comparing them to my R3's.

Smallish room best for Metas 3' to 6-7' equilateral triangle.

R3's were amazing in my original apartment: 9' equilateral.


But soundstage is quite a bit collapsed but still really good in my current small apartment: 6' apart, maybe 7 feet to my head.

 
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thewas

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In near field the LS50 are amazing, the issue is 12 feet away they really can’t play very loud
Very true, on the other hand I personally wouldn't use most Hifi loudpeakers at 12 feet listening distance even if they can go louder as due to their usually limited beaming the direct sound percentage at the listening position is usually too low for "immersive" listening as in nearfield like Ataraxia also writes:
But soundstage is quite a bit collapsed but still really good in my current small apartment: 6' apart, maybe 7 feet to my head.
 
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killdozzer

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@RoyB Congrats, man! Enjoy and have a blast!! I'm sure this weekend will be fun at your place!

I'll give you a recomm; I can't stand the song and think it's rather silly, but the low end seems to excite the part of the FQ band where LS50s excel, so, don't mind how silly it is, use it as a tour de force, as a vulgar display of power! ;) Start at 02:10 and go 90dB:

Very true, on the other hand I personally wouldn't use most Hifi loudpeakers at 12 feet listening distance even if they can go louder as due to their usually limited beaming the direct sound percentage at the listening position is usually too low for "immersive" listening as in nearfield like Ataraxia also writes:
And both bass and loud are very room dependent. My distance is 9feet, but my listening room is small. I can't stand going much higher than 90dB on my SPL-meter, it just makes you wanna run out and all walls and floors are vibrating. I don't mind. I see it as a longer life-span. If you can get really loud and not push your speakers too hard, I'm all for that.

I would bet @Descartes and @Chromatischism have larger listening rooms than me (and probably different wall materials).
 

killdozzer

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@RoyB I perfectly understand if you can't stand the song, another recomm for the same thing is the intro to this Madonna song (if you're into classical music :D:D:D:D ):
 
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RoyB

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I don't understand the whole issue about volume potential. I'm using the speakers in a heavily damped living room that is 12 ft by 24 ft by 8 ft high and they play at extreme volume if I want to with 100 w solid state integrated amplifier. They easily play as loud as my Klipsch RP600m speakers. Do far, way more than enough room filling volume for me.
 
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