Yes absolutely they appear to be fantastic for what they do, but perhaps I misinterpret OP as looking for a set of two active speakers that won’t require dual subwoofers just to be capable of a reasonable amount of bass.The LS50 Metas seem to be pretty competitive no?
The LS50 Meta measurements I’ve seen would indicate they are very competitive when combined with at least two subwoofers, as a less expensive alternate to Genelec coaxials (if you’re okay with the KEF’s narrower beam width). But the LS50 Meta start rolling off bass heavily below 100hz, which is simply not acceptable as a self-contained system IMO since you won’t even be able to reproduce some notes of some instruments without severe attenuation. And as a result of this, you’ll have to cross over your subwoofers at 120hz or so (though some owners have even reported them straining to play loud, even when subwoofers are crossed over this high, so might require a crossover as high as 200hz). Due to such a high crossover, not only do you require two subwoofers to prevent seriously localized bass, but have essentially entered amateur speaker design territory since getting the crossover and phase perfect here is not exactly trivial.
So for example, a pair of KEF LS50 Wireless 2 costs $2500USD, which is about the same as a pair of Genelec 8040B’s. The latter has a 6.5” woofer vs the KEF LS50’s cited 5.25” one which is actually going to be closer to the displacement of a 4” since it’s concentric around the inner tweeter, of course. So by the laws of physics, there is simply no way the LS50 can play reasonably deep bass at reasonably healthy volumes (at least nowhere near the capabilities of a Genelec 8040B) without serious bass distortion issues.
The Genelec 8040B should still measure excellently (though they’re not coaxial) and better in some ways (much wider beam width), and should be able to effortlessly hit the deepest bass notes for the majority of most instruments without a subwoofer, and should be capable of doing so at reasonable levels without being overwhelmed with distortion or risk damaging the speakers.
The LS50 Wireless 2 has an EQ mode that claims to extend as deep as the Genelec 8040B, but again you cannot defy the laws of physics and the reports of these speakers straining to play loud without serious distortion and potential risk of damage is going to hold true no matter what digital EQ the LS50 Wireless uses to boost bass; hence this will only be useful at relatively low SPLs.
If we accept the addition of dual subwoofers with a very high crossover, then yes the KEF LS50 Meta + subs look fantastic and may actually be one of the best “deals” out there to get close to (but not quite as good as) Genelec coaxial quality at a fraction of the price. So I’m not trying to dismiss the LS50 Metas; they look like great speakers with a lot of potential, but without dual subs integrated expertly, Genelec (or Neumann) is likely to sound far better overall for the same or less price.
If you’re willing to add subs later and set up your own amps and DSP, yeah I think the LS50 Meta would be a fantastic starting point to build a nearly state of the art sound system for an affordable price. But it will require a fair bit of tinkering and upgrades via adding subwoofers. The LS50 Wireless II is IMO not worth the higher cost for what you get.
Last edited: