KEF LS50 wireless - roon ready? [not roon ready, but supported natively]

The differences are, admittedly, marginal but they are there (to my ears anyway). Incidentally, my total outlay for optical isolation of ethernet costs about £50 (not incl. the linear power supply) and so I see it as buying confidence that I have done what I can - sensibly - do to maximise the potential of the source feeding the KEF’s.

In my previous Naim system I did, at one point, get a bit obsessive about cables, etc. (yes, I was one of those) but my thinking has matured somewhat and I do extensive research before committing funds to any system improvements. I am a definite believer in minimising noise in digital audio setups mainly because I have heard the differences first hand.

That’s one of the things I love about these LS50W’s. KEF have done all the hard work of system/component matching, etc. with minimum signal path lengths to boot. :slight_smile: The only thing I now have to worry about is minimising noise to the KEFs.

[quote=“Rik_Carter, post:386, topic:15054, full:true”]
That’s one of the things I love about these LS50W’s. KEF have done all the hard work of system/component matching, etc. with minimum signal path lengths to boot. :slight_smile: The only thing I now have to worry about is minimising noise to the KEFs.
[/quote]I don’t have the KEFs myself, currently I have a pair of Dynaudio Excite 14A (active version) + subwoofer, which sounds good but I am thinking about the KEFs. No more bother about DACs, cables, USB noise, etc, and they seem to get 5/5 on all reviews. They also have real bass management with adjustable crossover and sub-out.

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Nice speaker. I’m using a REL T7/i with my LS50W’s and, after a couple of hours with positioning/calibration (of both sub and the speakers), I’ve got them nicely integrated. The bass on the KEF’s are exceptional on their own but I’ve found that the sub has (a) brought that 30-50hz region on albums into play (particularly movie soundtracks which I play often), (b) allowed me to resolve a bass booming issue due to a room mode (I was getting a lot of bass boom at about 55-65hz which, after I’d calibrated my sub using an Antimode 8033, I could isolate as the bass being produced by the KEFs) by setting the crossover on the KEFs to 75hz; and © does mean the KEFs are not having to work so hard at reproducing full range which should (in theory) mean they do a better job in the mid/treble.

Perhaps they finally integrated the Sonore Upnp bridge into the ROON server software… I do gapless playback from Roon to my LS50W via UPnP from the beginning via the Sonore UPnP bridge. This runs as a seperate ‘app’ besides the Roon server…

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/sonoreupnp-bridge-beta/15698

5 posts were split to a new topic: Low cost ELAC Roon Ready speakers (Z3)

we did not.

Good news! :wink:

Update to the app just came across. I took a screenshot of the details. Pretty nice.

Yep… I was thinking thinking about that device and nearly purchased it until iPeng came out w/ the update, which of course is a stopgap until we have direct Roon support. I’m sure the device is worth it (had an Audiophileo + linear power supply for my headphone rig years ago), but ultimately it’s a bit hard to justify for me for TV usage.

Okay… but there’s little justification besides a belief. I’m one of those sound science types and feel most of the claims in audiophilio not backed by some sort of science/physics are probably bunk.

I don’t doubt a good shielded ethernet – but otherwise cheap – cable is the best mode for wired connectivity, Do they talk about wireless?

Unfortunately still a hot mess. Still skips like every other time I advance a song and it disconnected already once within the first 5 minutes of usage (but it did reconnect quickly).

I play a pretty fair amount of music from You Tube on the TV plus Sometimes Pandora and Apple Music from Apple TV so it’s worth it for that given the low cost of the iFi. It’s a pretty noticeable difference. I’m using a Blue Jeans cable optical from tv to Kefs.
I’m not surprised I guess that the app still has issues. Kef needs to fire whoever they outsourced development to and hire their own if they are serious about this sort of thing.
The Sound in Sound article does not talk about WiFi but it goes into great detail on Ethernet and audio.

Just thought of something: if I buy a pair of KEFs and use ethernet to connect them to computer and play directly from Roon (once they are Roon ready), then I won’t be able to play other sounds from computer on the KEFs right? Its not like Windows will detect them as an audio endpoint.

Roon really could use a “audio endpoint” thingie so we can solve issues like this, and also get convolution and room correction for other sources. Basically Roon-Core on its own audio endpoint (similar to how Dirac done it).

Yea, the Dynaudio X14A do sound very good, and for the price to upgrade to a pair of KEF LS50 I could instead upgrade my DragonFly Rec dac and add a second decent subwoofer (and even some USB tweak). Not sure what do do :slight_smile:

Which of the 2 options below will sound best do you guys think:

  1. Dynaudio X14A + Mojo dac (or better) + AudioEngine S8 sub (8 inch) + IfI nano IUSB3 + SVS SB-2000 sub
  2. KEF LS50 + AudioEngine S8 sub (8 inch)

What you get with the Kef over the Dynaudio is:

  • no more anxiety over interconnects (eg speaker cable, etc)
  • active crossover with phase alignment
  • room DSP correction (not to be under-estimated)
  • forthcoming direct support for Roon

What you lose going with the Kefs are:

  • piece of mind. If any of the active circuitry fails then your whole music system fails
  • upgradeability (which, for me, is not a negative as it’s cured me of my audiophile upgraditis tendencies)
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Really well put Rik. I agree with all especially the part about if any component fails. My replacement Kefs arrive tomorrow. At least they are sending me brand new ones.
Magnus I think about anyone will tell you the SVS sub over the Audioengine. I don’t use a sub with the Kefs myself as I don’t feel the need to for music. I tried it with an SVS PB1000 I had on hand but didn’t use it long. I’m also using the Kef’s for Home Theater but the explosions are loud enough as it is :slight_smile:
The Kef’s also cured my upgradeitis :slight_smile:

I agree as well, the KEFs don’t really need a sub, I had a 12 inch Klipsch on them for a bit but it was way overkill IMO. I also live in an apartment so the neighbors are a concern… :roll_eyes:

Yes the SVS sub is almost certainly much better than the AudioEngine sub, but I already have the AudioEngine sub. And I can’t live without the warmth a sub gives (I tried), but I am thinking about adding another sub (the SVS) to get rid of some bass nodes and null nodes that one sub always gives.

But which of option 1 and 2 will sound best do you think? The Dynaudio X14A is basically same as Dynaudio Xeo 4 but without the wireless part (if that helps).

I’ve not heard the DynAudios so can’t comment on SQ specifically. Bear in mind that there is only a single subwoofer out on the Kefs so you only get mono sub. Obviously using an RCA splitter means you could still use 2 subs which may help with bass management for your room but, even then, I’d recommend spending the money on a sub room calibration unit like the Dspeaker anti mode a stick with the one sub. I’ve tried the Kef extensively with and without a sub and, for me, the sub brings a degree of ambience that compliments the Kefs beautifully.

I have a very good room correction, used the new service at https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com which was excellent and a big step up from my previous one. Can’t have a sub (or 2) without room correction, that just makes everything muddled.

I had actually almost convinced myself to upgrade to KEF LS50, but now everything sounds so good I am not so sure anymore. Maybe a new DAC + good subwoofer would be a better upgrade for me.

There is another reason to stay with my current speaker: my wife wont notice some new small dac or replaced subwoofer, but she will notice the KEFs :slight_smile:

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I would do some googling on DynAudios vs the Kef’s I’ve seen multiple people who have had both prefer the Kef’s including DarKo if you are familiar with him. A lot of people seem to have also gone from Devialet Phantoms to the Kef’s.