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Magico A1 vs KEF Reference 1 (META) vs KEF LS50 + KEF KC62

I want to get a monitor speaker for a room that is 17'W x 22'L x 24'H and shared with my sons toys. The room actually opens up some more to a living room and a balcony on the second floor. So there is some volume to fill. I also need to use a monitor and not a more appropriate floor stander. I am limited to where I can place a speaker. It MUST be placed on a bookshelf that is 2 inches from the front wall and has the following dimensions.  

Depth: 17 3/8 "
Height: 20 1/2 "

I am currently using KEF LS50's (passive) on the bookshelf. It works well but I would like more bass and a bigger sound.

I was thinking of the Magico A1 since it is sealed and can be comfortably placed on a bookshelf. Magico even sells 5 degree angled bookshelf stands for the A1. However, the price seems very high for a 2 way speaker. 

The KEF Reference 1 is a speaker I always liked (heard it many times). However, I always heard it away from the front wall. I have been trying to get some info out of KEF on the Meta stuff and also placement of the REFERENCE 1 monitor.  However, no feedback yet. The Reference 1 is rear ported and maybe not too good close to a wall. I would also wait for the META stuff to appear on the Reference 1.

The other option is using my existing KEF LS50's + KEF KC62 subwoofer (placed on bookshelf). Though I am not sure if this combo is strong enough for my space.

I am using a KRELL K-300i integrated for this system. It would work well with the Magico and both KEF's.

So my questions are as follows:

1) Is the Magico A1 strong enough for the space? I assume it is a bit more detailed than both KEF's. I have demoed the A3.
2) Can the KEF Reference 1 be placed very close to the front wall? Would the META help in placement close to a wall?
3) Is the  KEF LS50's + KEF KC62 subwoofer combo strong enough for my room?

I guess I could also use the  KEF KC62 subwoofer with the Magico A1 and also the KEF Reference 1.

BTW -  I am seriously thinking of getting the Yamaha NS5000 that is classified as a bookshelf speaker. I have recently learned that it can be placed close to a front wall without catastrophic results. My only issue is that it is a relatively large speaker compared to other monitors and I am tight on space. This one should really be placed on the stands that Yamaha provides for it. This would make the space tighter than I would like. I think the other 3 speakers are actually more appropriate given my space restrictions.

I am looking for answers to my 3 questions and some opinions on my 3 choices.
yyzsantabarbara
yyzsantabarbara OP
4,459 posts
 
I am starting to like the idea of the small KEF sub because I have a small space beside the left speaker (3 foot) after I rearranged the shelves yesterday. If it does not work I can sell it.

My LS50's are 10 years old and are the original passive ones. So not powered or having any DSP built-in like the one in the YouTube video mentioned above. I have had some great amps on this speaker and it has always risen to the challenge. I tend to like concentric drivers, such as Thiel , KEF, TAD. Especially in challenging rooms, though this living room likely does not benefit from the concentric drivers.

 These amps were very good to amazing on the LS50's,
KRELL, CODA(s), Benchmark, Bryston(s), even Peachtree.

After owning Revel Salon 1 I told myself I will never buy a Revel again. I had too many repair issues. It sounded pretty good when it worked. 

Magico is not a speaker brand I look for as my first choice however, the A1 was touted as playing big and also fairly nicely on a bookshelf. I liked the A3 when I demoed it though I liked a few other speakers more for the same application, Vivid, Yamaha, Paradigm.
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On a side note. I love the new TIDAL Daily Mix feature that showed up on ROON. It took my deep dive past listening choices and dove even deeper.
richtruss
163 posts
 
You could try the Boneicke W5, read the reviews, it might offer something a bit different.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,836 posts
 
Why not look at the Focal Sopra1 that is a excellent Loudspeaker with  excellent reviews, 
39 lbs built very solid  much better then most. Perrotta consultants 
Anthony gives fair pricing and great package deals.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,836 posts
 
Personally I don’t like integrated low end class D amps in loudspeakers ,
subs that's ok , a separate quality power amp much  better sound .
class D can be good but  in the $1000s , not a $200 amp in a speaker .
 general rule of thumb  only 25% on average goes into a Loudspeaker including 
the cabinet, this too  applies to Electronics on average,  the rest of cost is 
 overhead, and markup .
yyzsantabarbara OP
4,459 posts
 
@audioman58 The KRELL K-300i is a Class A amp (first 90 watts) that unfortunately cost $8K MSRP. The 10 year old passive KEF LS50 does not have a built-in Class D amp. As I stated in a post above.

These amps were very good to amazing on the LS50’s,
KRELL, CODA(s), Benchmark, Bryston(s), even Peachtree.


I also did look at the Focal Sopra. It would also work similarly to the KEF Ref 1. Maybe a little better or worse depending on your preferences.

The speaker that I have considered that is better than everything that I have mentioned (at least to my ears) is the Yamaha NS5000. It s an incredible sounding speaker. It also costs about 3x more than what I could get the REF 1 for and it is big. It also may not be as good as a smaller bookshelf close to the wall. So I would be wasting money getting something of that caliber and then positioning it in non-ideal way.

I am going to see if I can sneak in the stands I have for my LS50’s into the room. I have a small kid, dog, and wife that could throw a wrench into those plans but I will see what happens this weekend.
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