KEF LS60 Wireless Just Announced

[AOR]

If I were to guess I'd say ADC to DSP with FIR and IIR filtering to DACs to amps out. The in app option 'phase correction' can be turned off to bypass the FIR filtering (but still keeping the IIR filtering and nice frequency response) and allows for less latency and less video/audio lip sync issues.

Hi McFly,

You're absolutely correct about the signal flow and the phase correction. With the phase correction disabled, the latency will reduce and the magnitude response will stay the same. The FIR filters have been designed to have an all-pass behaviour, altering only the phase response.

 

[Laserjock]

Not sure if this is late to the conversation but just got the email this morning.

LS60 Wireless

The Future of Wireless HiFi Celebrating 60 years of acoustic innovation, LS60 Wireless is our vision of high-fidelity sound for the future. An all-in-one speaker system that allows you to stream from any source and connect to any home audio devices with audiophile-grade power. The iconic slim...

us.kef.com

 

[retro]

Yes, with most multichannel setups + receivers RCA input will be your only option. But it should work fine.

No, not the only option. Get a HDMI extractor that provides 7.1 digital out and you can keep the signal in the digital domain.
Beyond 7.1, say with immersive set-ups, it becomes more tricky, but can also be done all-digital. A full Atmos 7.1.4 or beyond with only Kef Wireless is entirely doable. Question is though, if using existing analog in with the A/D conversion, will it be audibly worse? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[pablolie]

Not sure if this is late to the conversation but just got the email this morning.

LS60 Wireless

The Future of Wireless HiFi Celebrating 60 years of acoustic innovation, LS60 Wireless is our vision of high-fidelity sound for the future. An all-in-one speaker system that allows you to stream from any source and connect to any home audio devices with audiophile-grade power. The iconic slim...

us.kef.com

And WhatHifi already have their review out. It's British, so of course they give it yet another best-of-the-bestest 6 stars etc. I have no doubt it's pretty brilliant though. It's very pretty (shame not in red, though). Adding room correction - awesome! Those who claim it doesn't have enough low-end extension must want to attract a mate-seeking blue whale into their living rooms... 26Hz @ -6dB... come on. And you won't have anybody telling you "you need to pair this with $30k, 400W monoblocks!".

I was on the market for 1st gen (red! :-D) Blades, but this definitely deserves consideration...

 

[voodooless]

A full Atmos 7.1.4 with only Kef Wireless is entirely possible. Question is though, if using existing analog in with the A/D conversion, will it be audibly worse? Maybe, maybe not.

Not with just a relatively simple extractor. None of them do Atmos decoding, set delays, and crossovers. You'll need a serious AVP with digital out's to make that work, costing northwards of €$ 10K.

 

[retro]

Not with just a relatively simple extractor. None of them do Atmos decoding, set delays, and crossovers. You'll need a serious AVP with digital out's to make that work, costing northwards of €$ 10K.

You didn't read properly what I wrote..

 

[voodooless]

Those who claim it doesn't have enough low-end extension must want to attract a mate-seeking blue whale into their living rooms... 26Hz @ -6dB... come on.

The 26 Hz can only do about 92~94 dB before running out of steam (before room gain). It's nice for low-volume listening, nothing else.

 

[Vacceo]

I discussed with their engineering team about the possibility of adding in the future PEQ or maybe auto EQ....but those are only discussions so far. Time will tell.

As much as I like this new speaker, what really keeps me excited is a similar design applied to a whole HT range of speakers in passive.

 

[Gil]

View attachment 206242

Same energy as:

 

[quattro98]

And WhatHifi already have their review out. It's British, so of course they give it yet another best-of-the-bestest 6 stars etc. I have no doubt it's pretty brilliant though. It's very pretty (shame not in red, though). Adding room correction - awesome! Those who claim it doesn't have enough low-end extension must want to attract a mate-seeking blue whale into their living rooms... 26Hz @ -6dB... come on. And you won't have anybody telling you "you need to pair this with $30k, 400W monoblocks!".

I was on the market for 1st gen (red! :-D) Blades, but this definitely deserves consideration...

Thanks for the heads up. Links to the review and an interview with Jack Oclee-Brown.

https://www.whathifi.com/us/feature...antages-blade-influence-and-the-next-60-years

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/kef-ls60-wireless

 

[retro]

Not with just a relatively simple extractor. None of them do Atmos decoding, set delays, and crossovers. You'll need a serious AVP with digital out's to make that work, costing northwards of €$ 10K.

And no, u don't neccesarilly need a serious AVP with digital out's in the $$ category to do this. There are, in fact, several other options.

 

[pablolie]

The 26 Hz can only do about 92~94 dB before running out of steam (before room gain). It's nice for low-volume listening, nothing else.

It's debatable whether you'll "hear" 26Hz anyhow. You kinda "feel" it. And something may rattle... :-D

 

[voodooless]

And no, u don't neccesarilly need a serious AVP with digital out's in the $$ category to do this. There are, in fact, several other options.

So which one gives multichannel digital output with Atmos?

 

[voodooless]

It's debatable whether you'll "hear" 26Hz anyhow. You kinda "feel" it. And something may rattle... :-D

Well, equal-loudness contour curve to the rescue:

The lower the volume, the louder the bass needs to be in relation to the rest. If you turn up the volume, it balanced out a bit more. This also means that the compression will be not so noticeable. I still would not expect much meaningful output below 40 Hz.

 

[retro]

So which one gives multichannel digital output with Atmos?

Glad u asked..
No, a simple HDMI extractor wont do. I wrote, "Beyond 7.1, say with immersive set-ups, it becomes more tricky, but can also be done all-digital. "
So, if all u want, or need, max out at 7.1, then a HDMI to 8ch digital out extractor is all u need. Amir just reviewed an expensive one. Cheaper ones can be found.

Immersive is another thing entirely. Two methods/options to get the digital outs:

1: Mod an existing AVR or AVP to get spdif out, before the dac's, on all channels. Perfectly doable for a solder wizard.. Get a cheaper older Atmos/Auro AVR and get going.

2: Use your computer, PC or Mac. There are now solutions to decode and play both Atmos and Auro within your PC/Mac. With all the benefits that brings, unlimited channels, EQ, DRC etc etc. It's hasn't been around more than a month or so, and I wrote about it on this forum a few times, not much response strangely. No, it's not perfect, not for everyone, not plug-and-play, but in time...

As for myself, I intend to combine the two methods above..

 

[Daka]

It's debatable whether you'll "hear" 26Hz anyhow. You kinda "feel" it. And something may rattle... :-D

Down to around 20Hz humans can hear lower you can only pretty much feel

 

[voodooless]

Glad u asked..
No, a simple HDMI extractor wont do. I wrote, "Beyond 7.1, say with immersive set-ups, it becomes more tricky, but can also be done all-digital. "
So, if all u want, or need, max out at 7.1, then a HDMI to 8ch digital out extractor is all u need. Amir just reviewed an expensive one. Cheaper ones can be found.

Again: how does that give you Atmos? Or anything other than multichannel LPCM for that matter. You’ll need a media player that does the decoding for you.

Immersive is another thing entirely. Two methods/options to get the digital outs:

1: Mod an existing AVR or AVP to get spdif out, before the dac's, on all channels. Perfectly doable for a solder wizard.. Get a cheaper older Atmos/Auro AVR and get going.

In most cases: no volume control, because that is analog via digitally controlled chips.

2: Use your computer, PC or Mac. There are now solutions to decode and play both Atmos and Auro within your PC/Mac. With all the benefits that brings, unlimited channels, EQ, DRC etc etc. It's hasn't been around more than a month or so, and I wrote about it on this forum a few times, not much response strangely. No, it's not perfect, not for everyone, not plug-and-play, but in time...

That seems to be the only halfway viable option at the moment. Time will be needed to make that widely usable. Probably not even a handful LS60 buyer will consider this option though

As for myself, I intend to combine the two methods above..

Good luck! You’ll need it!

Anyway, this is probably a discussion for another topic

 

[MattHooper]

This is an intriguing looking product to be sure...but I'm sort of scratching my head a little over the point of the design.

It seems to be trying to combine a "lifestyle" product, deliberately targeting reducing the profile and size while at the same time asking "audiophile" pricing.

In other words: the aesthetic design goals seem to target people who aren't in to the gear (hence making it more lifestyle diminutive), yet the people most likely to be interested in paying that much money are audiophiles, people in to the gear, who would generally have less problem with a larger design.

Don't get me wrong, I personally really care about aesthetics and don't want monster speakers dominating my room. But all the excitement about these speakers is coming from the audiophile community who would pay these type of significant sums for speakers. In that context, the amount of effort that went in to squeezing these new LS60s to such a diminutive profile seems almost a bit odd. Most are excited about the potential performance of these speakers "a smaller, more affordable active version of the Blade." Seems to me the audience willing to pay for such an item would mostly have been fine with a somewhat wider baffle or somewhat larger cabinet size, for instance.

But, hey, wuddoiknow? Kef no doubt has done their marketing research.

 

[nothingman]

Sorta how I feel about the KC62. It’s great they went to such extreme lengths to make it as small as possible, but… wouldn’t it have been cooler to scale it up just a smidge to 8in drivers? Wouldn’t that still have been ground-breakingly small?

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

The only weird thing is why they just don't use the standard 5'' UNIQ? XD