KEF LS60 Wireless Just Announced

[sweetchaos]

Wow, the pref. score . my jaw dropped. Looks like this will be my dream speaker if I am to upgrade. Is there a reason NOT to buy these ?

Reliability/longevity is the biggest concern, IMO.

Unfortunately, that can only be proven with time.

 

[Koeitje]

A no buy for me it's the integrated amp ,wish it was passive

You won't get this kind of performance from a passive speaker.

 

[Vacceo]

Wow, the pref. score . my jaw dropped. Looks like this will be my dream speaker if I am to upgrade. Is there a reason NOT to buy these ?

No easy room correction and inability to create a multichannel. Those are the only reasons why I'm not upgrading to them.

The best of those cons is that they're not that hard to fix.

 

[delta76]

No easy room correction and inability to create a multichannel. Those are the only reasons why I'm not upgrading to them.

The best of those cons is that they're not that hard to fix.

I would imagine this will be sitting in my living room for stereo music playing, so no multichannel needed - I don't even need a sub because they pref. score is even higher than many speakers with sub .
room correction is a bit of problem because that can be fixed with an AVR but then I lose the convenience of the KEF themselves.

but well, still a dream at this point. 7k$ is not something that easy to convince my wife

 

[Vacceo]

I use a single system for gaming, films and music. That's why I want the extra flexibility.

Using Dirac is something universally beneficial for any user.

 

[MCH]

Can someone explain why you can't use these in a multichannel setup? I know it has been discussed here millions of times, but i fail to understand the reason why. Can't they be used as a pair of dumb active speakers? What's the problem, do they show a latency that is not constant or something like that?
Thanks a lot

 

[delta76]

Can someone explain why you can't use these in a multichannel setup? I know it has been discussed here millions of times, but i fail to understand the reason why. Can't they be used as a pair of dumb active speakers? What's the problem, do they show a latency that is not constant or something like that?
Thanks a lot

in theory it can. just quite a bit unnecessarily complicated/inelegant solution.

 

[MCH]

in theory it can. just quite a bit unnecessary complicated/inelegant solution.

Thanks! I guess i am more confused now than before

 

[delta76]

Thanks! I guess i am more confused now than before

in theory you can feed those speaker with RCA from a preout of AVR. however there are few problems - bypassing the streaming capacity of these speakers, volume control is a bit finicky, and some people would prefer XLR instead.
Adding a center is also a bit of problem, but I guess you can simply use LS50 for that?
It is quite clear that these speakers were built with stereo setup in mind. It fits a market segment of people with high demand for look and sound quality in living room. but it leaves people with multi-purpose setup a lot to be desired.

LS60 Wireless II could fix those though. A sub-out would be a step into right direction

 

[Tangband]

Wow, the pref. score . my jaw dropped. Looks like this will be my dream speaker if I am to upgrade. Is there a reason NOT to buy these ?

I would go out listen to them , and maybe wait for the stereophile review. After one year we will also know if ls60 is reliable with the electronics. I think that they sound really good.

 

[delta76]

and maybe wait for the stereophile review.

you must be kidding right?

No I am not buying them right now, not even in near future (2-3 years). but I found something that both looks great and sounds incredible (based on the pref. score). Added them to my wish list so I have something to look forward to and probably save money for

 

[KMO]

Can someone explain why you can't use these in a multichannel setup? I know it has been discussed here millions of times, but i fail to understand the reason why. Can't they be used as a pair of dumb active speakers? What's the problem, do they show a latency that is not constant or something like that?
Thanks a lot

There's no problem whatsoever, people just get a bit weird about using smart speakers as dumb ones.

The worst problem I can see is that their volume can't be locked to avoid accidental trim budging. (But you know what the volume should be - 71 - so you can just reset it if it gets nudged).

Otherwise, you just plug them in to the pre-outs, set auto-wake to AUX and treat them like any dumb active speaker.

Edit: Oh, and if you want to use one as a centre, that'd be fine, but you wouldn't be able to split a pair for that purpose and sell the odd one to someone else doing the same thing.

 

[Vacceo]

Thanks! I guess i am more confused now than before

My theory, which can be completely wrong, goes as follows.

You start with a digital signal. That digital signal is coming from the streamer included in the speakers or fed from the spdif or coaxial plug from the outside. If It is analog, it is converted to digital by the integrated electrics on the speakers.

That digital signal cannot be decoded if it is on Dolby, DTS or Auro because the system does not have the codecs, so it is converted to pcm 2 channels. A software upgrade may change that, but it is not currently possible.

That PCM signal goes to each speaker, wired or wireless; currently we have two speakers. Each speaker takes the signal to the DSP and adjusts it (cutting off frequencies depending on the driver). Perhaps, those DSP's could receive parameters from Dirac or any other room correction system, but currently they get parameters from the KEF app. Once adjusted, the signal goes to the dac and that is a amplified and fed to the drivers.

As you can see, the signal can be fed decoded and we'd only at the RCA connectors, so all the functionalities of the streamer and digital connections are rendered moot.

 

[Danaxus]

Edit: Oh, and if you want to use one as a centre, that'd be fine, but you wouldn't be able to split a pair for that purpose and sell the odd one to someone else doing the same thing.

Honestly, anyone with that much cash kicking around, may as well use a Genelec 8361A as a centre. If we're going actives, may as well go all out. It should play well with the KEFs acoustically.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

LS60 Wireless II could fix those though. A sub-out would be a step into right direction

From the specs:

Output
Primary speaker
RCA Subwoofer output

Secondary speaker
RCA Subwoofer output

 

[Vacceo]

you must be kidding right?

No I am not buying them right now, not even in near future (2-3 years). but I found something that both looks great and sounds incredible (based on the pref. score). Added them to my wish list so I have something to look forward to and probably save money for

I haven't listened to the LS60, but I have listened to the Blades. If the actives are relatively close, they are indeed amazing speakers.

That impression is something that perhaps, @Kal Rubinson can tell far better than me.

 

[stren]

For all of those whining about a passive version. There is one - it's called the blade ii meta Yes it's bigger (and much much more expensive) because it doesn't have the benefits of being active.

 

[Vacceo]

For all of those whining about a passive version. There is one - it's called the blade ii meta Yes it's bigger (and much much more expensive) because it doesn't have the benefits of being active.

I have listened to the Blade but not the LS60. I'd definitely love a side by side blind test. I'm pretty sure that'd mistake both, but it would still be a fun test to take.

That said, there is even an extra element of integration that I could like (because asking for things is free!): the speaker app becoming compatible with plugged sources. It would be nice to have a CD transport that can be controlled in the KEF app and not just using the remote of the transport. In the end, you already control the volume with the app, so why not networking the transport and giving you the play and forward buttons on the same place.

 

[Purité Audio]

Hifi News measure the LS60

KEF LS60 Wireless Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report With its line/digital inputs and fully integrated Class AB and Class D amplifiers, KEF's LS60 Wireless has no meaningful 'sensitivity' that might be compared with a standard passive loudspeaker. Neither does it have any meaningful 'impedance' – the internal amplifiers are certainly...

www.hifinews.com

Keith

 

[thewas]

Hifi News measure the LS60

KEF LS60 Wireless Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report With its line/digital inputs and fully integrated Class AB and Class D amplifiers, KEF's LS60 Wireless has no meaningful 'sensitivity' that might be compared with a standard passive loudspeaker. Neither does it have any meaningful 'impedance' – the internal amplifiers are certainly...

www.hifinews.com

Keith

Quite significant for a current KEF pair deviation between 200 and 600 Hz, wonder if it is due to different boundary filter selection?

Anyway the much bigger and more expensive passive Blade Meta One measured recently by the same magazine measures quite better

KEF Blade One Meta Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report While attention is inevitably focused on the efficacy of KEF's Meta disc in dissipating the Uni-Q driver's rear-radiation [see LS50 Meta, HFN Jun '21], the Blade One Meta's driver ensemble delivers a remarkably flat axial response [see Graph 1]. With response errors of just ±1.2dB and...

www.hifinews.com