KEF LS60 Wireless Just Announced

[brandall10]

I never saw picture of ls50w dsp options before.

So thats my bad, but my opinions on future updates are still the same.

Left and right need different modes, one wall/one corner, so they can do their jobs in awkward placements as sound interior.(I like the looks of them, more than salon 2 actually.)

That would be amazing, but unfortunately I'm talking about the 1st gen. Kef has had years to add features and they haven't - the stability of the app itself certainly has improved though in the newer gens, so I understand.

Personally, I created a convolution filter w/ REW and added that to Roon to handle that duty that I never felt sounded quite correct, but that's probably on my lack of ability to dial that in.

 

[SDC]

That would be amazing, but unfortunately I'm talking about the 1st gen. Kef has had years to add features and they haven't - the stability of the app itself certainly has improved though in the newer gens, so I understand.

Personally, I created a convolution filter w/ REW and added that to Roon to handle that duty that I never felt sounded quite correct, but that's probably on my lack of ability to dial that in.

I'm using it for TV sound through arc and bluetooth so no option unless KEF allows me...

Well if they add multi-channel option one day, channel specific control will be possible I hope.

 

[SDC]

I uploaded mdat data on anonfiles, links can be fonud in DCinside. Two sites are full of ADs so no direct link sorry for that.

You have to search [정보/자료] ls60.mdat in google and find it if interested. Pointing out errors are in the measurements are always welcome.

 

[electrokardiogram]

Oh is that what you want?

I have only heard them in one room so far. It's a big room, so I want to move them to another room to make sure I have a better idea of their true performance. They image extremely well. Nothing about them is fatiguing at all. Very open soundstage like the Reference 3 Meta we have. I'd say in some ways I like these more than the Reference 3 Meta, and in some ways the Reference 3 Meta more. Keep in mind, this is in a big room.

The Reference 3 Meta have pretty impressive bass in this room, where most speakers don't do well (there is huge black hole right around 50hz from the right speaker no matter what we do -- so we like to run two subs in mono down here ideally crossed over around 70-80hz, which helps get rid of that). For whatever reason, the Reference 3 do a great job overcoming / minimizing that issue down here. I'm sure the Blade Meta we ordered months and months ago will do great down here as well, once we finally get our pair in 2027.

The LS60 bass is good. This is the main part I'm reserving judgement on. I want to get these speakers on a long wall in a spot where bookshelf speakers sound hefty, and I think these will sound relatively full sized (I hesitate to use full range, because obviously they will never be). I will say this -- it's 11:26pm now and I've been listening to them for the last two hours or so now that the noise floor is dramatically lower. I've been enjoying them a LOT in this time. I find myself just listening (to be fair, I'm on and off my phone/laptop while listening) and not changing songs much at all. That's huge for me. If I'm constantly changing songs seeking out that feeling of satisfaction, that's a terrible sign. I don't get that with these at all.

Tomorrow, we will move these into a spot where bookshelf speakers even sound like bass monsters, and see what we can get.

Once they come back downstairs, I'm going to add two little subs to them (probably REL T9X) in mono and see how they without having to worry about much bass below 80hz or so. I do notice some issues with the streaming occasionally (using Tidal via KEF app) letting out a small pop sound at the beginning of some songs about a half second in. Something that could be our network, or easily fixed with firmware.

I'll post more impressions soon. As of now, this is an awesome package for $7,000 -- it's a lot of return for the money if you factor in the extremely slim unobtrusive design, the very very good imaging/soundstage, in app sound tuning ability, and more than anything, the ability to completely change (upgrade) the sound eventually or right away with subs.

How's that?

Thanks for this writeup. Do you have more impressions of the LS60 now that you've had it for a few weeks? Specifically I'm curious about the comparison to the reference 3 and how they timbre/tonality in the midrange and treble compare to the reference/blade line of speakers.

 

[Simply Stereo]

Thanks for this writeup. Do you have more impressions of the LS60 now that you've had it for a few weeks? Specifically I'm curious about the comparison to the reference 3 and how they timbre/tonality in the midrange and treble compare to the reference/blade line of speakers.

It's hard to say, because you can literally make the LS60's sound like two different pairs of spekaers. There's a lot of flexibility with the sound via the KEF app. You can definitely give them an overall sound very similar to the Reference 3 Meta. Depending on the room size, I think the LS60 can sound better than the Ref 3 Meta, especially dialed in properly with pair of subs -- by a lot.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

It's hard to say, because you can literally make the LS60's sound like two different pairs of spekaers. There's a lot of flexibility with the sound via the KEF app. You can definitely give them an overall sound very similar to the Reference 3 Meta. Depending on the room size, I think the LS60 can sound better than the Ref 3 Meta, especially dialed in properly with pair of subs -- by a lot.

You can literally make the LS60 sounds like two different speakers, but if you wanna a similar sound to the REF3, the R11/R7 with parametric EQ will do better.

 

[Simply Stereo]

You can literally make the LS60 sounds like two different speakers, but if you wanna a similar sound to the REF3, the R11/R7 with parametric EQ will do better.

Possibly. The problem is, I think the LS60's have a higher ceiling of performance than the R11/R7 if your room/space and listening habits are within their abilities. The R series will obviously have more output potentially. We have yet to add subs to a pair of LS60's, but that would obviously increase their dynamic capabilities quite a bit once they're bass managed.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Possibly. The problem is, I think the LS60's have a higher ceiling of performance than the R11/R7 if your room/space and listening habits are within their abilities. The R series will obviously have more output potentially. We have yet to add subs to a pair of LS60's, but that would obviously increase their dynamic capabilities quite a bit once they're bass managed.

Possibly, but the ls60 is different than r7 r11 and references. You cannot just eq them, the ref series from 2012 and r series from 2018 are more similar with EQ. The new metas ref are another thing, the uniq cross point changed and dispersion too.

 

[Simply Stereo]

Possibly, but the ls60 is different than r7 r11 and references.

Indeed.

 

[electrokardiogram]

It's hard to say, because you can literally make the LS60's sound like two different pairs of spekaers. There's a lot of flexibility with the sound via the KEF app. You can definitely give them an overall sound very similar to the Reference 3 Meta. Depending on the room size, I think the LS60 can sound better than the Ref 3 Meta, especially dialed in properly with pair of subs -- by a lot.

Interesting. I just got back from a demo of the LS60 where I got to compare them to the Reference 3 Meta, and while the LS60s were certainly impressive in some respects, I liked the Reference 3 much better. Specifically, I thought the Reference 3 had much better clarity/detail across the frequency spectrum especially in the midrange, and the timbre of instruments and voices sounded more correct on the Reference 3 -- I found the LS60 to sound a little chesty and congested especially on male vocals. I also thought the LS60 lacked some clarity in the bass and was a little boomy. Which is a shame because I really wanted to like the LS60, it being half the price of the Reference 3 Meta. However, a lot of my issues with the LS60 might be chalked up to the room and the settings the dealer had on it (the dealer said the LS60 was just using the default settings), so it's possible I would like the the LS60 a lot more if I had a few days to play around with the settings.

 

[zen87192]

Once you start to play about with the sound settings I'm sure you will be surprised. Always Demo within your own home environment, especially when spending this amount of money, if you can. I'd be very surprised if a Dealer/Retailer could not do this for you as we're talking big 'Bucks' here. The Default LS60 setting is NOT the one to settle with.

 

[nefilim]

I'm curious if anyone has integrated the LS60s (or LS50w II for that matter) into an AV system with a processor ... I don't mind the extra A/D step and I would think the room correction would correct any time delay introduced, so seems like a plausible idea?

 

[machinejump]

... However, a lot of my issues with the LS60 might be chalked up to the room and the settings the dealer had on it (the dealer said the LS60 was just using the default settings), so it's possible I would like the the LS60 a lot more if I had a few days to play around with the settings.

Reading the last part of your comment immediately made me think of big box stores with a wall of TVs left on their default settings, or worse, maliciously adjusted to make the more expensive stuff look better.

 

[hollis]

I'm curious if anyone has integrated the LS60s (or LS50w II for that matter) into an AV system with a processor ... I don't mind the extra A/D step and I would think the room correction would correct any time delay introduced, so seems like a plausible idea?

Zero issue there. I use 8c as my LR and LS60 would be very similar. The extra A/D step is transparent with modern gear, and my Dirac room correction accounts for any delay differences.

This assumes you are not gaming. Speakers with built in DSP + room eq DSP will cause quite the latency pile up. Might not be enjoyable with shooters.

 

[hollis]

I am currently connected XLR to XLR out of an OktoDAC8. I'd have no qualms about using the RCA pre out of Denon 4700h or better AVR, + a <15' RCA to XLR cable.

 

[Butter]

Update on reliability. 1st 2 weeks were pretty good. Over the last 2 weeks, I am getting loss of connection from R to L. They are hardwired with the provided cable. R (main) plays fine. But recently it is failing every day or every other day to maintain connection to L. Hoping for a patch from KEF. They are aware of my issue.

 

[Danaxus]

Update on reliability. 1st 2 weeks were pretty good. Over the last 2 weeks, I am getting loss of connection from R to L. They are hardwired with the provided cable. R (main) plays fine. But recently it is failing every day or every other day to maintain connection to L. Hoping for a patch from KEF. They are aware of my issue.

I've heard about the connection failing when they're connected wirelessly (which is bad enough), but to have them fail when hardwired? That's a pretty major issue, especially when we're talking about 6-7k speakers.

 

[Powerbench]

I've heard about the connection failing when they're connected wirelessly (which is bad enough), but to have them fail when hardwired? That's a pretty major issue, especially when we're talking about 6-7k speakers.

For $10 grand Canadian plus 13% tax, that’s a huge issue. Glad I waited. KEF is not a new player to the game, 60 years! This is a newbie type-problem . A company of that magnitude should not have that kind of issue.

 

[Simply Stereo]

We have dropped KEF as a dealer for a multitude of reasons, and are now selling off our LS60 demos, and stock pairs. We got extremely luke warm responses on these things, and also had connection issues. They do look awesome, and can sound really good for what they are. I'm sure the connection issues will be worked out via firmware in the future. It's just frustrating that products launch half baked now, especially given that this launch is such a big deal and their vision of the future.

 

[raest]

so their vision of the future is end users being paying beta testers for half baked products...

...so their vision is the same as all the other big tech corps. definitely selling my R7s as soon as the opportunity arises. can't support a company like that