KEF LS50


Don't post often here but thought I would let you all know I stumbled on a pretty amazing performer in this little monitor.

I would say the midrange is on par with my Harbeth 40.1, treble has a tad more leading edge bite than the best soft dome but its a really good top end that never gets nasty. Dynamically they are performing way better than they should. I'm betting they would compete with the new 30.1 sonically, just a guess.

Have them running with 20X price electronics in a small office and they are not outclassed in any way. Made me want to keep throwing my best gear with them they sounded so good.

If you are in the market grab a pair, you will not regret. Saw two pair this morning for sale for around 1K, I can't think of anything in 20 years offering this much performance for 1K. You could build a world class non-full range sound around these.
petland
I have some on order now. I'll post comments as well once I have some time to try them out. I'm expecting they will be fairly good.
Hi Scofieldkid,

Make sure you give them some time to break in before you form any opinions. I had mine for a little over a week before they sounded good and during that time I was thinking I'd made a big big mistake, but then all of the sudden, they became very musical. I can't pick a favorite between the LS50 and the P3ESR. I have both and can't bring myself to pick one over the other.

Also, in my room, the LS50's are very sensitive to vertical placement. Mine are set up with the tweeters exactly at ear level and that makes a big difference.

Appreciate the response. If my deal falls through, I may just go hunting for some Harbeths. Your model and one other model get a lot of high praise on the forums. Thanks.
Seokosha,

How long have you lad the KEFs?

I'd be curious which of KEF versus Harbeth wins with you in the long term. I suspect they sound more similar than they look? :^)
Hi Mapman,

I've had the Kef's for about 2 months. For the past 5 or 6 weeks, I've been rotating them in and out of the system with the P3's every 4 or 5 days. Sometimes I'll pop in the little Silverlines into the system for a day just for fun.

You are right in that the LS50's and P3's can sound very similar; sometimes surprisingly so. When I bought the Kef's I had every intention of picking between them and the P3's and selling off the ones I didn't prefer but I have to say, I just can't pick a winner. If I had to say anything definitive in my comparison, I'd say a few things:

The Kef's probably have a wider and deeper soundstage, however, the P3's image specific instruments/voices better.

The Kef's go lower

The P3's probably give a little better resolution at lower levels while the Kef's hold up better as the volume increases.

This is hard to explain, but there is something about the Kefs that make you feel like the coherency between the driver and tweeter is better. Listening to a Piano on the Kefs I realize that with other speakers, I get a feeling like the sound changes as the notes move up and down the keyboard. Sometimes with vocals, I hear the same thing. It's the first thing I noticed with the speakers when I hooked them up for the first time.

However, I do seem to prefer the sound of a violin on the Harbeths. For what it's worth, I played both Violin and Piano for quite a few years when I was younger.

The Kefs seem to interact with the room more and are more finicky in placement than the P3.

In my setup, I think there is a very slight hump in a very narrow band in the upper bass of the P3's. It's very slight, and very narrow. It's not pervasive at all and I don't always notice it when I switch from the Kefs to the P3's.

That's really it. Sometimes I'd say the Harbeths are a little more revealing (but still very sweet) in the highs but then when I listen to the Kefs again; well, then I'm not so sure; same thing with the perceived "speed".

For reference purposes, I've got a very modest system and room. Room is 11x12.5 (treated) and components are just a Musical Fidelity M3i integrated, Oppo 95 and Music Hall TT. Speakers are out from side and back walls and listening chair is too. My ears are just over 6 feet away from the tweeters. Some might call the setup quasi near field.

Music is everything except for rap, classic rock and heavy metal. I'm (obviously) not a bass freak and even though my speakers don't go low, I'm picky about the quality about what is there. Often, the bass on ported designs in my small room bug me, but not with this Kef. The Harbeths are sealed.

I suspect, but have no proof that if I had a larger room, the Kefs would start to assert themselves more, but that is just a guess and I could be completely wrong. I'd love to hear both in different rooms and settings though to learn more about their traits. I often think that my room is the worst performer in my system and do have plans for more treatment.

Again, I wish I could pick a winner and I keep listening, hoping for a breakthrough, but at this point, it might be a complete toss up. Again, maybe in a different room, things might change.

Going by looks, for me it'd be the Kefs by a mile. I love how the rose colored drivers catch the light and my attention when I walk by the listening room; as if to say..."hey, come on in and listen." I know many love the Harbeth look but umm, well....I guess their cosmetics just aren't my style. Unfortunately, it's not about the looks, but the sound and that's why I haven't been able to choose.

And now to throw another variable into the mix, I've got a low powered tube amp and high efficiency single driver speaker on order. It'll be fun to compare these new components to what I've got now. :-)