KEF LS50 Meta Passive Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Carbon Black)

Love ‘em. The most amazing thing about these speakers is that, by design, they are both time and phase coherent. So what? Well, that means on a good recording, you can hear exactly where the vocalists and instruments are placed in three dimensions. You can even hear different voices within acquire and different instruments within an orchestra very well. They also nail the dynamics of percussion like nothing I’ve ever heard in this price range.I don’t consider Stereophile magazine to be the absolute reference, but I do put some credibility in their reviews. They include the speakers in the “restricted low frequency” section of their recommended components in “Class A,” and some of the reviewers use them as their reference speakers. That is saying a lot, considering that many of their recommended speakers cost more than the average new car today.I’ve used them with extremely good separate components by Audio Research and McIntosh, but you don’t have to have that quality of electronics for these to sound excellent. I use them with a pair of subwoofers, but I have turned the subwoofers almost all way down, and they still have extremely good bass although not at the lowest octaves. I think the mids and highs are amazing too, especially considering that they use metal drivers. I got really turned off on metal tweeters by a pair of B&W speakers I had, but these exhibit, none of the sizzle and ringing that those did. Further, I think they’re great for almost any genre of music, from Black Sabbath to Beethoven.I have since upgraded my speakers because I got an incredible deal on a pair of Evolutions, but from time to time I consider swapping these back in because there’s something about them I kinda still miss. That said, I’m not selling them. They literally are the types of components that I know I would regret if I ever got rid of them.

The media could not be loaded. Endgame stereo monitors. Period. If you want the highest quality, best sound, and pristine aesthetics, look no further than these KEF monitors. I have paid way more many other brands, but nothing beats the value for dollar of these KEFs. They are the perfect size for almost any room small to large, and I’ve ever heard of folks using them as desk monitors. You cannot go wrong with these speakers. I’m running them with a Wiim ultra and Fosi monoblocks and have had zero issue with distortion, peaking, sound quality. Exceptional speakers for any space. Would highly recommend these!

Good speakers - very transparent - which can be a double edge sword as it really exposes the imperfections of poorly recorded songs. However, you can really hear a lot of detail with good quality recorded songs. After reading numerous postings and comments on online forums, I had prepared a 100+W amplifier and a subwoofer to hook up with the speakers, and I was not disappointed with the results.

I see a lot of reviews here saying they sound bad. It's simply not true, because then I see what they are running, and its a very low tier amp. Your "200" watt Emotiva BasX or similar class amp simply does not have the torque that these speakers need. I know, I own several Emotiva amps. I'm an audiophile, and have lots of gear, it's the hobby. I'm running these off comparably priced equipment, all of my gear is in the price wheelhouse of the Ls50. My amps are Orchard Audio class D GaN monoblocks with GaN power supplies. I run a Gustard X26 Pro dac, dual mono dacs, dual mono power supplies, excellent clocks. This speaker goes down to 3 ohms. Your cheap amp is likely begging for mercy at this impedance regardless of "200 watts". You need high quality. Give these high quality components and this speaker is AMAZING. I have 7 sets of speakers. All different types, Magnepans, CSS Audio, bunch of stuff. These speakers are worth every penny! But bear in mind their performance sits right where the price range is. These are not $10000 speakers for 1600. You get what you pay for. That said, in the 2K range, they are probablyunbeatable, for overall performance. Another caveat though is I have a pair of subs, near field, 3 feet off the ground, perfectly tuned with these speakers. You need a setup like this for perfect full range sound. If you're an audiophile, I recommend starting with these, make sure you have nice, NICE components to back them up, and a pair of subs when you can do it. I'm running 2 RSL Speedwoofer 10s. If you just buy these, you don't own subs, and your equipment is like $200 dac, no preamp, $500 amp, low level stuff, you're going to wonder what all the fuss is about and return them. Do them right, you may never shop for speakers ever again.

Amazing speakers. Paired it with C368 and SVS 2000 subwoofer, sound quality is outstanding.

I have a 12 x 13 ft. home gym with two Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II main speakers and an SVS SB-3000 subwoofer. But I wanted a more immersive stereo sound for my music listening to keep me motivated through my morning workouts.After much research (with extensive help from AI chat agents like Copilot, Perplexity and Gemini), I selected these KEF speakers to use on the opposite wall from my Sonus Fabers. And WOW. I feel like I work out inside a set of headphones. Total immersion, and beautiful, audiophile musicality fills my ears.It turns out the KEFs and Sonus Fabers are a very good match for this type of setup. I doubt I would have been happy with just the KEFs as the Sonus Fabers naturally deliver a much bigger presence (they are floorstanding and 8x the cost of the KEFs). But the pin-point imaging and wide soundstage of the KEFs, along with their neutral and precise sound, complements the warmer, more embracing sound of the Sonus Fabers. Together they are like magic. Pure bliss. Thank you, KEF!