Poll of Kef LS50 Wireless owners

Mine are going back for repair tomorrow. Since boxing day I’ve been getting dropouts with the master speaker for about 5-10 seconds before correcting itself :frowning:

I’ve owned a pair of KEF LS50W since their launch and have not had any issues with them.

I have not attempted any updates to them.

They’re connected to my network via ethernet, to my late-2012 Mac Mini via USB, to my Rega Planet 2000 via optical and to my PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter via analog.

I’ve replaced the ethernet cable that connects the speakers as well as the power cords.

Did this make any different to the sound?

Honestly? No. But it was the length I needed and of higher build quality than the one supplied.

Bought February 2017. Speakers started to make a clicking noise recently whether music is playing or not and regardless of which source I’ve selected.

My KEF LS50W which I bought on 17 Jan 2017 (the first one sold by my dealer) has just failed. There was a loud “crack” followed by a burning smell from the right speaker. It also tripped the power circuit breaker in the house. They are now dead. I believe they have a 2 year warranty as I am in the EU (England). They are going back to my dealer tomorrow for repair. Apart from that, I absolutely love the sound they make :-).

Update I’ve just received them back after repair by KEF after 11 days. My dealer, Unilet, were really helpful. When I arrived they phoned KEF Service Dept to get an RMA and sent them off immediatey. Apparantly the main “board” in the master and slave were both blown. KEF also soak tested them for a few days before return. Let’s hope they will last longer than a year this time round.

Just sent mine back this morning, left speaker distortion. Purchased last July, the manufacture date is 1/17.

Mine, purchased in June 2017, failed in December 2017 - would not power up. Apparently the failure was a power supply board in right speaker - like David B’s it too tripped the circuit breaker (though I didn’t notice a burning smell).

According to the agent here (NZ), the board was sent back to KEF as purportedly this particular failure was ‘unprecedented’. I’m not sure on that, given the experiences here and elsewhere. Awaiting return of repaired units…

Mine were quite infrequently used, but I’m thinking of moving them to the more challenging environment of the lounge - somewhat perversely that may lead to any subsequent fault arising sooner rather than later. We get a 3 year warranty here, but the apparent failure rate does give me pause.

Bought November 2017. Occasional glitches where left speaker not operational. Restart fixes. Having read about firmware update issues I decided not to bother updating. Full volume start-up is a thing I could REALLY do without.

Bought these to install wall-bracket mounted in our new kitchen for wireless and bluetooth connection only. As has been frequently mentioned, input control from the remote is a step-through single button function with indication on top of the speakers. With the speakers mounted eight feet up the side of a Victorian wall I’ve got two options, mount a mirror on top of the right speaker so I can see the input selection (I may need binoculars) or mount the speakers sideways/upside down. If the Kef remote had a button for each input selection there would be no problem. If I’d realised this I wouldn’t have bought them.

Yes, they sound great, but frankly I’m pretty pissed off.

I would have returned them straight away if I wanted to wall mount them and couldn’t see the input selection.

Hi, just came across this thread after an absolutely frustrating time with these speakers. I bought them in April 2017 and as of this post I am on my 3rd pair (all replacements from the dealer) after multiple issues. And today this 3rd pair which I’ve used for less than a month has started shutting off at higher (not max) volumes. Had this same issue earlier as well and was the reason for replacement no.2. The other recent replacement was for distortion from the left speaker. The problem I had with the first pair was that the right speaker would not play.

I have these connected to my Macbook pro via USB and don’t ever use any of the wireless options since it’s on my desktop in my bedroom so haven’t had an opportunity to face all the wireless related issues so many seem to have! Am also using all the stock cables that came with it. The only addition I have made is a pair of ISO Acoustic stands.

After a bad experience with powered speakers in the past (Paradigm Millenia and a Paradigm sub12 that both stopped working) I took an additional 2 year dealer warranty on the KEFs but at this rate I will on my 12th pair by the end of 3 years! Given the number of issues users are facing is this a more serious issue with this speaker that more buyers need to be aware of?

Sad to see an increase in faults on the LS50W’s. I had a Facebook message exchange with the VP of Marketing for KEF USA and he claimed that they’d only seen 3% of speakers sold being returned as faulty. Not convinced by that claim. He did then go on to say that they (KEF) would not let people down if there speakers do develop a fault. He kind of indicated that they wouldn’t leave owners suffering costs if they’d just gone out of warranty. Easier said than done but, hey, best to take out extended warranty via. credit card purchases it seems.

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Similar experience to bartman and David B. The pair that I purchased mid november 2017 failed around New Year. There was a bang, room breakers tripped, smell of burning electronics and after that the speakers wouldn’t even show a power light anymore. They were sent for repairs and I got them back end of january 2018 (same pair).

Since return, the speakers don’t play right anymore, the bass is just not there, music in general lacks presence and gravity. Tried every possible sound setting, hardware reset (hidden button on back of the main unit) multiple times, firmware updates… Nothing helps, feels like speakers are stuck in some kind of “safety” mode.

My local dealer is very helpful in the matter, we had a long listening session to compare to another pair of LS50W which turned very bizzare. KEF have been less helpful, suggesting that I turn off low pass filter was the best they came up with so far.

I am still trying to figure it out because when they worked (for first month or so), they sounded absolutely amazing, but my patience is wearing thin.

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Unfortunately, I seem to have joined the queue of owners with faulty speakers. Master speaker keeps dropping audio every couple of seconds, and is basically stuttering throughout, whatever source I select, Wi-Fi or hardwired, and whatever audio I throw at it. Tried hard reset and re-updating firmware, tried unplugging mains and reconnecting the next day. Every time the master speaker works fine for a couple of minutes before it starts to stutter again. Left speaker works fine. This definitely seems like a hardware issue to me.

So will start the frustrating process of returning the speakers, and a period of uncertainty as to whether I should or should not stick to the LS50w adventure …

3% failure rate is utterly appalling for a modern piece of electronics and nothing to be proud of for any manufacturer. VP of Marketing for KEF USA is clearly out of touch or in denial.

Great performance of Kef!! 97% of their products do not fail within warranty.
When we have this with all the products we use/consume on daily basis we would need to make 10 times per year a claim of refund for milk, meat, groceries, all in all with 40 products we consume, we would spend every evening to set the case call for repair or replacement or refund. Is this what the Kef manager thinks how we like to spend our spare time?

Wish my dealer were that responsive. One month later, endless phone calls and emails to both dealer and KEF and I’ll apparently be getting them back this week. Maybe.

– Update –

Literally arrived the day after posting the above. KEF’s Service Manager emailed to let me know that the fault was due to the power board in one of the speakers. They replaced both power boards and so far the speakers are sounding excellent as usual.

I asked my dealer and a few other dealers if they’d seen a high return on the LS50W. It seems no more than usual. I also asked KEF’s service manager who said that whilst they’ve seen some failures it’s not an epidemic by any means and that KEF will be standing fully behind the product inside and outside the warranty period.

Regarding the abysmal KEF iOS app - that too seems much improved since January of last year when I first tried it. I reset and re-ran setup and have to report that the app is very good indeed now and works perfectly.

It can be rough being an early adopter but now that the kinks have been ironed out it’s probably a good time to buy the LS50W if you’re on the fence.

Zero problems here. I updated mine to the latest firmware. I’ve had mine for almost two months.

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Hi there,

We got a pair of LS50w 2 weeks ago. No problem so far, worked out of the box. I got a few stuttering issue with high bitrates, the last firmware solved it. The speakers are using WiFi, the AP is in the same room. Roon core is on a wired computer, the core also feed an HiFi system thru a computer+stereo amp+Kef Q100, a Sonos in the bathroom, and detected the 5.1 AVR with some Kef eggs in the living room. Kef+Roon, a winning combo to me.

I use Roon 95% of the time, these speakers made me pull the trigger to a lifetime membership after 2 weeks of trial.

Next step is to setup a NUC with the ROCK, order placed it should be delivered by next week.

I got mine in July 2017. In the past month the wifi has seemed a bit spotty (I assumed it was my network, it might still be). Last week they were inoperable, and the power button flashed. Have contacted supplier to have them sent back. I 100% would not buy these again having them fail in the first 9 months of ownership.