Yep. 50/100 is fine. You can go up to 70 if you’ve got volume levelling at -14 lufs in Roon.
‘Loses control of the audio device’ shouldn’t happen very much with Roon 1.6 (build 401).
But it does happen if you skip around a lot in the songs.
I have mine on Wi-Fi, but my router is only 1metre away from the speakers.
Maybe try wired Ethernet if you can? That might improve things.
The KEF ls50’s passive or wireless would be my last choice for hard rock or progressive rock , metal .
Because I read that RF noise can be transmitted over wired Ethernet which is why some people go fibre Ethernet. I don’t really believe I’ll be able to hear a difference, but mine work fine wireless so I’ve just left them like that.
I might do an A/B comparison one day… too busy just listening to music since I bought them! 
What music type do you think the LS50W are ideally suited to?
I enjoy everything I throw at them. Acoustic, Pop, EDM, Hard Rock, Jazz.
They may not be designed exclusively for metal, but they do a bloody good job of it and loads of other styles. I do have a sub though and that definitely helps for most styles, but especially Metal and EDM.
Jazz, Classical , Acoustic,Mellow rock , vocals ! and certain forms of Rock .
Hard metal , hard rock (let’s say Aerosmith as an example ) are ok but I would buy floor standing speakers if you listen to mostly metal and hard rock .
I used to think the same and I’ve had floorstanders in the past, Mission M74, then Ruark Prologue. The Missions, although nowhere in the same league as the Kefs were impressive for Rock and movies, but not much else.
The Ruark were more refined and laid back and not really suited to Rock and, even though they were floorstanders, they needed a sub. That’s when I got my Ruark Log-rhythm sub to go with them.
Fast-forward 10 years and the LS50W with a sub knock the spots off them.
I’m now of the opinion that good stand-mounts and a sub can easily compete with floorstanders, especially if the amplification is right… which it is in the LS50W!!
My KEF LS50W and Arendal Sub 1 can rock really hard. Before I had Arendal 1723 T speakers and they were huge! But the KEF/Arendal combination can deliver as much output and bass as the Arendal Tower speaker plus the KEF’s are much more refined in the mids and highs and have a far better presentation. Oh and my room is about 45 square meters. Picure below is how they are crossed with the subwoofer. Subwoofer is set on reference level.
The specs on that Arendal Sub are great. Any issues with it overwhelming the LS50W in volume or bass?
Have you ever dealt with Arendal customer service?
Arendal is great and also the costumer service. They respond within a few hours ( if your US or Canadian, keep in mind, they are situated in Norway)
The Arendal/Kef is an amazing combination. There is absolute no overwhelming in the bass region and with some room correction you can get a perfect bass response as you can see in the picture below. This is the respons in my room.
Add images
Hi Johan, that is a great room response curve! I’d be interested to know how you measured it, and what the curves looked like before room correction.
Secondly, you noted in one of your posts that the “Subwoofer is set on reference level”. I haven’t seen what ‘Reference Level’ means on the Arendal web site, however, I see this in one of the reviews, which ties in with the info in the Arendal web site:
"The DSP gives the option to choose from two EQ presets. There are no differences above 50Hz but things changes below 50Hz which gives you an option to adapt the subwoofer to your system and room. The EQ2 setting is the preset which gives the natural response in the sealed cabinet. EQ1 adds 5-6dB at 30Hz, 8-9dB at 20Hz, and it actually extends the -3dB to an impressive 20Hz. "
I have a pair of LS50W, I really like them. I had hooked them up to an old REL sub which sounded pretty good, but it developed a fault so has been disconnected for a while. I’ve been looking into getting a replacement for a while, your postings about the Arendals are very interesting!
As a mentioned before I set the volume off the subwoofer on reference and choose EQ1 and set the crossover in bypass. In KEF Control app I choose:
Expert
Set Phase Correction On
Bass Extension Standard
High Pass Mode On and 80Hz
Low Pass Mode also 80 Hz
Sub Gain Volume on 0 dB
Then I took multipoint measurements for left and right channel with REW and made averages from both left and right channel. Make sure you set volume level in REW on 75 dB
Arendal build very good subwoofers and speakers and they have now a new range, slightly cheaper, but as impressive as before. All cabinets are HDF and there are no plastic parts involved. You buy directly from the company, so there are no middleman involved, that’s why they are relatively cheap. BTW I have nothing to do with Arendal, I ‘m just a proud owner.
The Kef ls50’s including the powered ones suck for hard rock and metal . Buy some bigger speakers
Thanks Johan,
Appreciate the detail
Regards, Dave R
Ha, then you haven’t seen my previous speakers… Arendal 1723 Tower. Anyway the Kef/Arendal subwoofer combo CAN rock very hard!
The wife … they were too big and she had a point. These are really big speakers and need plenty of room for the best listening experience. So to be honest the Kefs I now own are really a test and so far, I enjoy them much and together with the Arendal subwoofer, also a big affair, it’s a perfect match. Next year we are moving to a new house and then I will look for more serious active speakers, like Dutch & Dutch and maybe the new B&W Formation Duo.
