KEF LS60 Wireless Just Announced

[Mnyb]

Hi Mnyb,

The crossover in the LS60 Wireless has been tuned to give an even and smooth power response. This is the same approach as in the R7 and the rest of the KEF product lineup.

Therefore, the effect of the room is quite similar between the LS60s and the R7.

Ok ? I have to believe that I'm not an expert in this but it sounds plausible to me . So this power response would apply to a room like mine too not only the measured/calculated/simulated one you can see in measurements if the power response gives quite universal predictions i guess i'm happy ?

So that will not be a deciding factor . I have to go to a dealer and have a listen between R7 and LS60 , but there are other system concerns i have to consider decisions decisions

I have an LSXII at the moment to get a taste of curren kef technology

 

[terryforsythe]

New MSRP was just reduced to $5000

I imagine sales of the LS60 took off when they put it on sale. In that regard, when UPS Freight dropped off mine after Christmas, the driver said that he had dropped off another pair in my general area that same day.

In my opinion, the LS60s sound really, really good, and are a bargain at $5,000. I think it would be difficult to achieve the same performance at the same price using separate components absent building something DIY.

 

[jackocleebrown]

Ok ? I have to believe that I'm not an expert in this but it sounds plausible to me . So this power response would apply to a room like mine too not only the measured/calculated/simulated one you can see in measurements if the power response gives quite universal predictions i guess i'm happy ?

So that will not be a deciding factor . I have to go to a dealer and have a listen between R7 and LS60 , but there are other system concerns i have to consider decisions decisions

I have an LSXII at the moment to get a taste of curren kef technology

Hi @Mnyb, you originally tagged me for a reply, but when I came to answer I saw that @AOR beat me to it. @AOR is one of our very talented KEF engineering team and nobody knows the way LS60 perform better because AOR did the DSP tuning .

 

[Mnyb]

Hi @Mnyb, you originally tagged me for a reply, but when I came to answer I saw that @AOR beat me to it. @AOR is one of our very talented KEF engineering team and nobody knows the way LS60 perform better because AOR did the DSP tuning .

Ah he has the audio company tag , did not see that though he was just very knowledgeable on the topic in general.

I just have to get rid of my old Meridian speakers first. Then I can book demos .

 

[Ken L]

Got these as an upgrade from a pair of Elac UB5 Slim and to clean up my somewhat small TV console that had a bulky receiver (Yamaha Aventage A2010).

So far I like what I’m hearing. Hearing some sound I hadn’t heard before with songs I’m familiar with (didn’t realize I was missing some of the sounds as I thought the UB5’s were already quite neutral). Bass is much more defined and I get plenty of it without subwoofer. My room is not ideal but these don’t seem to have too much problem with it. At least now the room is the clear bottleneck (it was probably already the bottleneck before these). Usability wise it’s simple and I like the normal sound tuning mode with just a few parameters with the speaker distance to the wall, room size, and room reverb setting (the descriptions are ver clear).

Long term I hope the basic capability (the speaker and amp within) last a long while and serviceable. The software and streaming tech will likely go out of date and the cpu within it won’t be able to run newer software but as long as there’s a way to keep the basic stuff working I’d be happy.

 

[Descartes]

New MSRP was just reduced to $5000

I feel sorry for the people who bought them at $7,000!

 

[napfkuchen]

I feel sorry for the people who bought them at $7,000!

This is somewhat a Tesla-situation ... At least here in Germany there are several used LS 60s without any scratches etc. on offer for 4000-4500 Euro (price negotiable). I certainly could have gotten a pair for 3700 to 3800 euros. If it weren't for the "problem" of the high latency (which is not significant in standalone operation), I wouldn't have chosen other speakers.
But at this price the combination of appearance/value/living room compatibility/sound is really very good, considering that a pair of R11 Meta can hardly be had for much less than 5000 euros. And then you still need a lot of electronics that costs extra...

 

[Mnyb]

Btw is there any possibility to configure the speakers without an app , via some (unofficial ) service tool with usb or serial ? or a simple web-UI (unofficial ).
Can't imagine the lab guys fidling with thier phones to adjust the crossover ?
@jackocleebrown

One of my concerns is that the speaker could all be landfill without the apple ecosystem , will the app still work in about 15 years which is the longevity i would expect for a product like this .

It's a dependency that i really don't like would be nice if there where some other way to reach the menus .
Hence i would consider passive speakers with a bunch of external electronics even if the LS60 is the better speaker. Having lived with several types of active speakers , I'm a bit hesitant to proprietary solutions and or depencies on other systems , even if I'm convinced that active speakers is the way.

Btw the app is ok using it with my LSXII it's in itself not the problem , but they have different price tag and i would not be to concerned if they are unsupported in 10 years.

Example Arendal has some app for their subs , but there is also a small screen on the back where you can fiddle with the settings , probably not as sleek and user friendly , but it is on the product itself no dependency on third party ecosystem's ? JBL has something similar on some active pro speakers looks terrible but is absolutely better than nothing .

Btw2 on which list to santa is an industry wide consumer standard for connecting speaker digitally to home theater system or stereo system ( wisa is trying but are not there yet ) that is bit more intelligent than just some spdiff port .

 

[Ken L]

This is somewhat a Tesla-situation ... At least here in Germany there are several used LS 60s without any scratches etc. on offer for 4000-4500 Euro (price negotiable). I certainly could have gotten a pair for 3700 to 3800 euros. If it weren't for the "problem" of the high latency (which is not significant in standalone operation), I wouldn't have chosen other speakers.
But at this price the combination of appearance/value/living room compatibility/sound is really very good, considering that a pair of R11 Meta can hardly be had for much less than 5000 euros. And then you still need a lot of electronics that costs extra...

The value is there for sure but HiFi people (including me) like the flexibility to mix and match components even though it’s unlikely to get similar performance without spending significantply mor

Btw is there any possibility to configure the speakers without an app , via some (unofficial ) service tool with usb or serial ? or a simple web-UI (unofficial ).
Can't imagine the lab guys fidling with thier phones to adjust the crossover ?
@jackocleebrown

One of my concerns is that the speaker could all be landfill without the apple ecosystem , will the app still work in about 15 years which is the longevity i would expect for a product like this .

It's a dependency that i really don't like would be nice if there where some other way to reach the menus .
Hence i would consider passive speakers with a bunch of external electronics even if the LS60 is the better speaker. Having lived with several types of active speakers , I'm a bit hesitant to proprietary solutions and or depencies on other systems , even if I'm convinced that active speakers is the way.

Btw the app is ok using it with my LSXII it's in itself not the problem , but they have different price tag and i would not be to concerned if they are unsupported in 10 years.

Example Arendal has some app for their subs , but there is also a small screen on the back where you can fiddle with the settings , probably not as sleek and user friendly , but it is on the product itself no dependency on third party ecosystem's ? JBL has something similar on some active pro speakers looks terrible but is absolutely better than nothing .

Btw2 on which list to santa is an industry wide consumer standard for connecting speaker digitally to home theater system or stereo system ( wisa is trying but are not there yet ) that is bit more intelligent than just some spdiff port .

One possible solution to the problem of cost of maintenance by the manufacturer after the support period is to open source the software stack (more importantly the software platform itself). It would open up the opportunity for volunteers to continue to maintain it to keep things running and fixing bugs. 10 years down the road I wouldn’t mind spending my own time to maintain some simple software if I could keep using the speakers.

 

[terryforsythe]

One of my concerns is that the speaker could all be landfill without the apple ecosystem

You don't need the Apple ecosystem for these speakers. I have Android, both on my phone and tablet, and the KEF Connect app from the Android Play Store works perfectly.

Also, even if Google ever does give up on Android, Linux has multiple packages configured to run Android apps on the Linux desktop, take your pick of which one you want to use. (Android is Google's customized version of Linux).

There also are emulators available to run Android apps on Windows.

So, there are numerous ways to still use the KEF Connect app without paying tribute to the Apple gods.

 

[Mnyb]

You don't need the apple ecosystem for these speakers. I have Android and it works perfectly.

…..Or dependies on the android ecosystem

It’s not much better ? Its still not in Kef’s control .

If they stop developing any of the apps , both android or IO’s how long until it becomes impossible to configure your still working speakers ?

 

[Vacceo]

Hi Mnyb,

The crossover in the LS60 Wireless has been tuned to give an even and smooth power response. This is the same approach as in the R7 and the rest of the KEF product lineup.

Therefore, the effect of the room is quite similar between the LS60s and the R7.

I have come to expect that any speaker from KEF, at least the one from the last years till now, will give me a 40º on the horizontal and the vertical with a quite even frequency response around that area.

I draw that assertion from my own experience with the LS50 WII, LSX II and the data I have red here in ASR and similar tests (Klippel) by Erin. The differences are, logically, on how low frequency can get and how loud that sound can get. Still, the consistency of the pattern is very, very remarkeable and archieving that on such a variety of sizes is no small work.

…..Or dependies on the android ecosystem

It’s not much better ? Its still not in Kef’s control .

If they stop developing any of the apps , both android or IO’s how long until it becomes impossible to configure your still working speakers ?

I have no information about this, but my guess is that KEF may want to further expand their APP cababilities in the coming years. I mean, it works quite well, it´s easy to use and why not expanding it further?

 

[terryforsythe]

…..Or dependies on the android ecosystem

It’s not much better ? Its still not in Kef’s control .

If they stop developing any of the apps , both android or IO’s how long until it becomes impossible to configure your still working speakers ?

Android is a Linux distribution highly customized for phones and tablets. Just run KEF Connect on another version of Linux. Several packages are available to make this seamless. There now are phones and tablets that will run virtually any version of Linux you may want. Or, run it on a Windows tablet, there are emulators available for that as well. So, take your pick.

Look, KEF has been around for a long time. If Apple, Android, Linux in general, and Windows all go under in the next 15 years, I'd be shocked if KEF did not provide a solution for their customers.

 

[Mnyb]

Yes , but excellent hardware vendors are not always also excellent at software ( see almost all AV products ) . So it’s prudent to ask ?

Kef’s track record is mixed here ,the new app is better allegedly also the fw in the speakers have never malfunctioned for me !

But if you own a pair of active kef from only a couple of years ago , your stuck in the old app ? That app may be upkeept and supported , but still a bit concerning

 

[Vacceo]

Yes , but excellent hardware vendors are not always also excellent at software ( see almost all AV products ) . So it’s prudent to ask ?

Kef’s track record is mixed here ,the new app is better allegedly also the fw in the speakers have never malfunctioned for me !

But if you own a pair of active kef from only a couple of years ago , your stuck in the old app ? That app may be upkeept and supported , but still a bit concerning

As you have seen, the demiurges behind KEF read us over here, so at least you can count on your concerns reaching them.

 

[stren]

I look forward to the black friday discount now the standard price is lower Fingers crossed.

I also look forward to either a bookshelf version, a center version or an active R3. I want the LS60's, but bought a wider media center so that I could put my LS50's on it. Now I don't really have much room left for the LS60's without changing the media stand...

 

[Vacceo]

Well, an LS50 in the role of center speaker is perfectly possible, quite a bunch of users in this forum have done so. The interesting part about it is that due to the concentric coaxial driver of the speaker, it does not matter much if you use it horizontally or vertically.

However, I agree that an expansion of the LS actives into multichannel territory would be super interesting.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Do they sound like the Blade Meta just with less bass output ?

 

[terryforsythe]

Do they sound like the Blade Meta just with less bass output ?

The LS60s are not lacking bass output whatsoever at moderate listening volumes.

But, if you turn them up too loud there is excursion limiting, which reduces bass output to protect the woofers (see Erin's review below). I never reach that level of volume in my relatively small room, so I have never noticed any excursion limiting happening.

I have not heard the Blade Meta, so on that I can't opine.

 

[Mnyb]

The LS60s are not lacking bass output whatsoever at moderate listening volumes.

But, if you turn them up too loud there is excursion limiting, which reduces bass output to protect the woofers (see Erin's review below). I never reach that level of volume in my relatively small room, so I have never noticed any excursion limiting happening.

I have not heard the Blade Meta, so on that I can't opine.

You can fix that by adding subwoofers .

The speakers themselves has subwoofer outputs and crossover built in an obvious feature lacking in many other active speakers .

Not all reviews mentioned this feature , I like this feature