not based in the UK by any chance are you? 
Dynaudio are currently top of my list too. if i was to switch it would be for standmounts. got my eye on the xeo4 but would consider investing in something higher end.
Nope, Carlsbad, California 
Sorry, based in Los Angeles.
Xeo4 are ok but you have to use their wifi connect box only goes to 48/24 and no digital or analog inputs on the back of speakers.
Focus XD has these and goes up to 192/24 without connect box.Just need a usb to coax convertor if you are using usb from server.
I would check Hifi Shark for used pair of used XD 200’s.
Easier to find in your part of the world than here.
Only 2 brick and mortar actually has these for demo in the LA area…one in Newport Bch and Pasadena.
What is the store in Newport? I work in Newport beach.
My first post here. Unfortunately today I have noticed the same problem as described by Rik_Carter and Colin_Harrison. Hissing in the right speaker, mostly apparent in vocals, dialogues in movies etc. I have been enjoying mine for nearly 7 months, playing 4-5 hours daily. I updated the firmware to the latest one around 10 days ago. Did not have any other issues so far. I think mine were manufactured in December 2016.
after connecting one to KEF for support, the facebook mod deletes posts that highlight problems, so there’s no record of all the problems folks have had.
I did receive a response from the head of Kef UK service centre. Whilst he admitted to teething troubles his response did not fill me with sufficient confidence to purchase, so I haven’t and will not be. I specifically asked if any issues that had come to light had been fixed by a certain serial number onwards. He sort of ducked answering the question really which lead me to believe they are all like that and Kef are keeping their fingers crossed that it only affects a small percentage or they simply don’t know what the root cause is or have not fixed it yet. Quite simply, if replacement units are failing I would tend to assume the worst.
Also, if Kef on Facebook are deleting negative posts it is time to start up an alternative Facebook ‘ls50w’ owners group to air your views. One that they cannot do anything about.
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Good idea about setting up an alternative Facebook group. Consider it done:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/314208199057052/?source=create_flow
Spread the word!
Rik
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I think they have probably figured it out in manufacturing but are working through back stock first and their customers can just take their chances.
I just checked my replacement pair, made in January 2017 which is only a month later than the ones that failed on me.
Mine started working again after an hour of restarts and attempted resets. I’m going to send Kef and e-mail about it but not expecting much.
My one year warranty ends in 3 months so what will Kef do for customers who are out of warranty? That’s why I reluctantly feel I need to move on from these. I did but them with a credit card that extends the warranty but that sounds like a hassle to deal with.
I’m looking at the Yamaha NX-N500.
I hate to give these up just when Roon integration is working, it’s just an amazing combination.
Also I don’t do Facebook so their site there does me no good.
Sounds exactly like my first set including dates of manufacture and time owned.
I don’t do Facebook either but have just applied to join the new group with an old account I set up ages ago to see what all the fuss was about (not under my real name obviously). I will ask on another forum I am active on as to whether anyone has had issues, and publicise the group there.
A one year warranty on such a complex product is rather a joke. They need to behave like an appliance (just like the ROCK that is driving them) otherwise you will not be able to relax when listening to music. That is guaranteed to lead to dissatisfaction to both the music and the product itself.
KEF could have got on top of this by being honest with their customers and extending the warranty for this particular issue (as Apple have done several times over the years with bad batches of graphics chips etc). That way we can buy with confidence. They have already lost one customer over this and I won’t be looking at KEF at all in future now. A shame really as they were my first quality speaker purchase over 30 years ago (KEF Coda III I think). Clearly the manufacturing side has now gone overseas (?) along with the quality control.
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Me neither but I wanted to set-up a group for those who are accessing the KEF Owners Group FB page. When I logged in today to setup a new KEF LS50W owners group I had about 90 notifications. Didn’t read a single one of them. Created the group, made a few posts, put a linking post on the KEF Owners Group FB page, and logged out.
Annoyingly I have to approve people who want to join the group. Why it doesn’t just let me people add themselves is beyond me. There doesn’t appear to be a setting to do that.
Incidentally, if I had the money, or if I could get them for about £2.5k, I’d move without hesitation to the Dynaudio 200XDs.
Yes they should extend the warranty especially for us early adopters.
I was expecting this second set to go out. They did but for some reason recovered after about two hours and a bunch of restarts and attempts to reset. Now i feel like I’m living on borrowed time which really reduces the enjoyment.
So I can confirm that the Kef admin on the Facebook group is moderating quite aggressively. I have had at least one of my posts (a link to the new FB group for LS50 wireless owners) removed within an hour or so of posting it. Not a good message to send to us owners is it.
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It gets better I no longer have permission to view the Kef Owners Group page on Facebook. This happened about 10 minutes after I posted a link to the poll here on Roon. First time in 27 years of using the internet that I’ve been banned from anything I’m tempted to crack open the whisky to celebrate…
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Congrats you subversive.
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Hi. I’m not a Roon user but I’ve registered just to comment about this.
The Facebook KEF group owner is actively removing posts critical or related to issues. I have subscribed to the group so I receive an email every time a post is done. Most of the post related to issues like this one are removed. I have even seen a video of the main issue (right speaker with a heavy distortion) before it was removed. It’s really a terrible policy.
There is a video showing the distortion in Youtube (it’s from an Amazon user, I think): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3UXo1kuwgE
I am looking to buy a new set of speakers and amplifier, and the LS50W is almost perfect with very high sound quality, small speakers, amplifier included, plenty of analog and digital inputs… but all these issues makes me very wary to buy it. I don’t know if I should wait to see if it has been solved in the future (maybe after Christmas) or if I just should buy something else. I live in Europe so I have a two year warranty but in any case it seems they can break at any moment.
My second option would be the KEF R300 and a NAD C368. Price is similar, I would gain a headphone output (I use headphones a lot) and the versatility of having amp and speakers separetely. However I would lose audio quality (the R300 are great but reviews say it’s not as good as the LS50W) and it’s much bigger, so I’m a bit lost in this.
Any suggestion as a alternative option is of course welcome.
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Thanks Ignacio. It was me that set-up the unofficial KEF LS50W owners group on Facebook.
Very short sighted of the KEF admin to aggressively suppress commentary on their page. What do they think this will achieve? Do they really think they can kill any negative conversation on the internet? As it is I’ve now tweeted about our ‘poll’ and addressed it to Which UK and Consumer Reports (in the US) as well, of course, to KEF.
Anyway, the reason I am replying is to help you with your query. You may want to check out this thread:
Hope this helps.
Rik
Thank you for the link. The main idea I got from it is that the LS50W are really hard to beat for the same price, which is probably right. Damn issues, I would buy them right now otherwise (I suppose that this is why the Facebook KEF group is removing those negative posts).
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You are quite the troublemaker Rik 
I guess we know how KEF intends to deal with this issue now. Deny.
Ack this really sucks because Roon direct with these speakers is such a great experience.
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