Upgrade from LS50's with subs

[buz]

As a different option, I like the review of the Arendal THX speakers. They should be more dynamic than the LS50s and extend lower. And they are about $2400. https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/arendal-1723
They also have larger speakers too.

These look intriguing, especially the towers. I think they should be put into the NFS (and the emoji disappears)

 

[Eetu]

The Spinorama seems to be doing it’s job nicely, which is to sell more JBL/Revel speakers (at least in the US).

I hope that they don’t get too many unsatisfied customers; not that it’ll matter much once the speakers are out of the store.

Maybe you can share some speakers you think would be superior alternatives?

 

[Ata]

the kef towers are a option? for example a r3 r5 r7 and crossover them at 80hz

When I had the opportunity to audition the previous generation of KEFs 3 years ago, I found that r700 > r300 > r500 >> LS50 (non Meta).

With the current generation, I know from audition that R3 > LS50 Meta, but only in LF and SPL, which for me was not worth the 1K difference locally, got myself a nice SVS sub for that money.

What I am saying is that the step up from R3 may turn out to be R7, with R5 being roughly equal to R3 floor-standing version, hence choice between R3 and R5 might be driven primarily by room setup.

Looking forward to Amir's R5 results, kudos @tifune for your contribution to that!

 

[jhaider]

Why not 708i with BSS BLU-50? If the economics work out you can use the amp you already have that way. Depending on how you do bass management you may gain considerable flexibility there, too.

 

[Χ Ξ Σ]

For $4000 I would buy three used 708P, which in total would cost me around $3000, and then spend the rest on gears building a mutli channel/upmixing setup.

 

[tifune]

What I am saying is that the step up from R3 may turn out to be R7, with R5 being roughly equal to R3 floor-standing version, hence choice between R3 and R5 might be driven primarily by room setup.

Looking forward to Amir's R5 results, kudos @tifune for your contribution to that!

Just to clarify, I actually submitted to @hardisj . He was kind enough to share results with me. it would not be apropos to ruin the big reveal but to anyone considering the R5 based on the excellent R3, I urge you to give him adequate time to post the full review. Between your specific use case and Kef's recent 10-15% stateside price jump, your wallet may thank you. Due to some anomaly beyond my understanding, he actually tested it twice to verify results so if anything he at least deserves the traffic for his hard work!

Re: your comparison, to my hobbyist eyes I'd say "floor standing LS50 Meta" is slightly more accurate. The independent data doesn't exist AFAIK, but looking more and more like R7 would be more akin to "floor standing R3" when you sum the available R3/R11 data (if such a thing is possible)

 

[Ata]

Sorry for my misreading, looking forward to the results nevertheless! My current setup does not allow for floorstanders, but I am curious nevertheless.

 

[hardisj]

What content? Music? Movies?
approximate listening levels and distance?

I’ll say this… I’ve currently got a set of the LS50 wireless 2 and I really love the simplicity of them. And you can connect one or two subwoofers to them to round out the low end.

 

[Ron Texas]

What content? Music? Movies?
approximate listening levels and distance?

I’ll say this… I’ve currently got a set of the LS50 wireless 2 and I really love the simplicity of them. And you can connect one or two subwoofers to them to round out the low end.

Mostly music. In the last week I have completely recalibrated the system returning to a 100 hz crossover and moving the speakers a bit closer to the LP and each other. I also changed my house curve to be flat from 100 hz down from a previous +2 db. I wonder if looking for something else is a fool's errand. Looking forward to your R5 review.