KEF LSX Review (Wireless Speaker)

[Takanaka]

Looks like a decent all-around package, albeit a bit on the expensive side for the performance it offers. I do admit it is very elegant looking and offers plenty of interesting color combinations. With a sub I think these would be great choice for 2.1 cinema audio in the living room.

 

[YSC]

Clearly there is something of a pattern here.
I'm going to suggest that perhaps listening in a shop is not the best place to judge a speaker. There is a reason a certain subset of speaker manufacturers make speakers with a deliberate upward tilt to their FR. It isn't to sound good in critical listening, but a showroom bling sells speakers to the unwary.
I would be vastly more inclined to trust Amir's Klippel than the setup in some random shop, especially if compared to speakers designed to pull a casual listener in in a showroom.

Actually one of my friends used them as main tv speaker in his living room, albeit it’s a Hong Kong living took probably smaller than bathrooms in you guys house. They actually sounded decent with okish bass with wall loading

 

[milosz]

The acoustic and electronics design is quite good here. But there's no excuse for the convoluted way things like this KEF software works. Maybe now that they are owned by GP Acoustics the money that was intended to be allocated to software and user interface design instead went to layers of middle management with a goodly portion siphoned off by executive compensation...

AND ANOTHER THING!

Using Google Home to set anything up is another labyrinthine process, seeming designed to maximize frustration with multiple points where the process often fails when it should not. The only thing I've found to be worse was a translation from a Hindi service manual to adjust a Lucas mechanical fuel injection system. Worse- but not much, Id like to tell you.

 

[GWolfman]

Thanks. Looks like a polished product from the outside.

 

[Newman]

Way better than the LS50 then....?

 

[Jimbob54]

Daft question. Is this a single unit that is pair-able or is it a pair? I see the master/ slave labels on the back so obviously pair-able but is it $1k per unit with the second bought separately?

 

[phoenixsong]

Daft question. Is this a single unit that is pair-able or is it a pair? I see the master/ slave labels on the back so obviously pair-able but is it $1k per unit with the second bought separately?

Comes as a pair

 

[tomtoo]

Amusing review. Its always funny to see that even a grown up software engineer has to fight sometimes with everyday software.

 

[AluminiumEar]

Fuck me, last year it only cost 4299￥(i'm chinese) ≈ $650, why am i hesitate?

 

[McFly]

Everyone hating on the software/apps just chill out and wait for lsx 2. The ls50w apps were horrible and they've been fixed with ls50w2 (actually the speakers chipset problem- not the apps fault) and is bound to happen to these. Once the hardware gets a refresh it will respond to app inputs much quicker.

 

[Karu]

There was a non-fabric covered version before. Sound/measurements wise (and therefore the non room EQ), are they the same?

 

[Razorhelm]

Way better than the LS50 then....?
View attachment 139821

Way better than the LS50 then....?
View attachment 139821

To be fair actives always have an advantage here as they have EQ built in.

LS50s eq very nicely!

(This is in room, at the listening position)

This is converted to active with subs FYI
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...via-rephase-and-camilladsp.19910/#post-655635

 

[tifune]

I have these, the app is as bad as Amir says if not worse. I had hoped to use them as surrounds, thinking the wireless capability might make wiring a little easier as well as higher WAF on both the speaker and it's optional stand/wall mounts.

Unfortunately in wireless mode the analog in suffers ~48ms latency per Stereophile; Denon can only compensate up to ~30ms and I'm told Dirac is the same. Somewhere on Kef's site I found a FAQ stating 40ms is intentional to allow the slave speaker time to properly buffer. The FAQ suggested cabled mode would make this go away but I haven't had time to test because that goes against my intended use case - a Cat6 cable wrapping all the way from surround R, across the front, to surround L is the exact opposite of what I'm after.

Still considering them for front height as it looks as though they'll pair nicely w my R3/R2C and an extra cable running in that fashion isn't the end of the world, but again time is my major constraint these days - would be interested in anyone's thoughts on that before I start drilling holes? Even in this scenario, though, the firmware strikes again. There's no Auto On feature I could locate so either they stay on full-time or I have to remember to power up manually. There is an Auto Off/sleep timer, though. I don't believe there's even a setting that would work with something less graceful like power strip on/off.

The good news for those (rightfully) concerned about price - here in the USA these are around $800 shipped from Amazon Warehouse almost full-time. Not sure if they get a lot of returns, damaged shipping boxes, etc. but often the price dips even below that. I got mine for $609. The success of this site means availability may soon drop, so if these interest you in the slightest now might be the time to demo

For most users on this site, if living room aesthetics are not a major concern, KH80 probably reigns supreme for miniature form factor.

 

[MediumRare]

Clearly there is something of a pattern here.
I'm going to suggest that perhaps listening in a shop is not the best place to judge a speaker. There is a reason a certain subset of speaker manufacturers make speakers with a deliberate upward tilt to their FR. It isn't to sound good in critical listening, but a showroom bling sells speakers to the unwary.
I would be vastly more inclined to trust Amir's Klippel than the setup in some random shop, especially if compared to speakers designed to pull a casual listener in in a showroom.

I don’t disagree. The Klippel is not that good. Look at the score, look at the details. There are far better options.

 

[ripmixburn]

@amirm You are on quite a marathon of reviews this month! Keep them coming! I'm a bit surprised to see the LSX measure so well, when the LS50 review was so short. If you are looking for video ideas, contrasting the two might make a good topic.

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks Amir.

You almost hit audiophile nirvana when your wife was screaming "Honey, you changed something in the AUDIO SYSTEM didn't you!?!?!"

If these were easy to integrate I might consider them over Genelec with the good aesthetic. As they are, with crummy software, not so much.

Perhaps review title and every reference to Kef should use the phrase 'Kef by GP acoustics' to punish them for the weird title in the app.

 

[daftcombo]

@amirm You are on quite a marathon of reviews this month! Keep them coming! I'm a bit surprised to see the LSX measure so well, when the LS50 review was so short. If you are looking for video ideas, contrasting the two might make a good topic.

I think Amir has to send them back to their owners before the holiday. Holiday that will be highly deserved!

 

[whazzup]

More KEFs are here to be tested.

Please tell me someone has already sent you the old KEF egg home theatre speakers to be measured...

 

[Johannes AU]

I tried the LSX last year at showroom, "quite nice", I do not like the connection methods and Apps .... I do not mean it is not good, but pricewise ... connection method (including the LR speakers connection) and user experience, just not my cup of tea .... eventually I bought Yamaha WXA-50 and a pair of DALI Spektor 1, plus a small Yamaha Subwoofer, as Amir said, it was golden

I can control the Yamaha by hard remote or MusicCast app, or by webpage control, I am happy with it.

 

[Paco De Lucia]

I once did the same but it came out of a neighbours apple TV setup, I couldn't work out why all i could hear was sub bass haha