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I don’t use roon but i’ll contribute to this thread.
My LS50W’s were bought On august of this year. The manufacturing date on the box said June 2018 so they’re supposed to be one of the newer revised models. I’ve been keeping a log of all the issues i have had for the last 4 months. They were bought from the EU and using them in Pakistan so I have 2 years warranty. Anyway here are all the issues i have had.
LS50w problem log:
Common issue; Speaker makes a quiet static sound wfter turning off the spkr with the power button followed by a Tick sound on the left spkr. Happens less often during winter. Could be an issue with the “heat shield” inside the speaker.
19 sep 2019 (around 1:10pm)// source + bluetooth light blinking on
right speaker after left speaker stopped playing for a few seconds
while playing at around 60/65db volume. Issue fixed after a few seconds.
30 oct 2019 (starting around 10 pm)// Each time when speaker was turned on via remote, speaker made a pop sound. Has happend twice in succession but not the third time. Could reoccur again. Speaker was connected to pc while pc was on.
8 nov 2019 (at 6:44 AM)// Listening at low- medium volumes, left speaker made a click sound and turned offf or a brief moment (2 seconds) before making a click noise and turning on again. Right speaker was still functioncal and playing during this time. Was not able to look at the touch panel during this brief time.
3 Dec 2019(at 8;28am)// Left speaker made a tick sound and turned off briefly(for 2 seconds) and ON again while watching a youtube video at low volume. No status change was noticed on the touch panel on the right speaker during that period.
3 DEC 2019(at 12:56pm0// left spkr DC’d again for 2-3 seconds while watching videos at whisper volume. Three middle lights on right spkr started blinking during that time. Speaker has been switched to never power off automatically to see if the issue happens again. (That’s 2 disconnections in 1 day).
So in short all the issues i have had been sort of minor in nature; brief disconnected left speaker, some kind of static when powering them off/on and pop sounds when powering on the speaker. All of these issues could be signs of speaker dying on me in the future. I use these in nearfield so I’m more susceptible to minor pops and cracks from them. Anyway that is my report.
Hi,
Same issue here (just OFF / ON on left speaker). It appears two times in about two months.
I was using USB input (connected to a nvidia shield).
My LS50W was bought in August 2018 in France.
Did you solved your issue ? How ?
Does it appears again ?
Hi i have almost the same issue you have i purchased mine from ebay new as they are not sold in my country it been about 3 years they started to pop and power off with flashing lights now the right speaker is dead i opened it up it has the same scorch marks your speaker have i dont know what to do if you could help with you experience on how to fix this issue. Thanks
Hi @Eddie_das ,
I ended up going to a local KEF importer (even though the LS50W was not being imported) and arranged a repair through them. They contacted KEF US, ordered the parts and had a local lab repair them. It was quite expensive…
If you have no importer in your country you could try reaching out to KEF US or KEF UK, order the parts yourself, and find a local repair shop that will replace the parts.
At the time a motherboard cost over $300 and of course there is the work cost…
What issue excatly did you have ?
My only issue (for now), is that the left (slave) speaker did power OFF and ON 2 or 3 times in about 6 months. The right speaker (main), did not have any issue (for now).
This issue appears while listening USB input (nvidia shield).
Was it the same ?
Hi, Christophe!
Always when I play files or stream from Tidal / Qobuz with resolution 192/24 or higher. Any application: KEF Stream, BubbleUPnP or Roon.
Sound stutters.
USB connection works fine.
Do not wake from sleep when music is played via coax. Have to manually choose coax with the IOS app or KEF remote even though coax was the last input used.
When turned on usually the secondary speaker either has low or no out put until I mute and unmute. I am using the cable to connect the two speakers.
Not “Roon Ready” although advertised as such and have been sold for a couple of months…
I should add that it is my own experience that they do sound great via the coax input with a good front end.
Been following this thread for a while and now that gen1 ls50ws can be found at a steep discount I am considering them again.
However, Even understanding that users with issues are more likely to post and this can skew the perception of reliability data, it still seems failures are too common on these and there is significant failure risk even when buying brand new.
It is certainly true that those with issues are more likely to post and since KEF is a big company there may tend to be more total issues.
I am hoping that they just rushed these Mark II’s to market a bit too quickly and that a firmware update can fix the problems that I have seen. The sound is very good. If they can fix the issues that I have without having to send them for repair I would certainly keep them. I would call these a steal for true audiophile speakers. They punch way above their price point, especially considering how many pieces of equipment and cables they can replace and also how versatile they are. I guess the downside is that being so integrated if a problem happens it is “all or nothing” as opposed to separates.
My main concern has been a lack of knowledge by KEF Support and a certain amount of defensiveness or denial. I do have another few weeks on my return period and will give KEF a bit more time.
My x900H TV runs Android also. I can get great sound from it but if the HDMI cable is attached the speakers will turn on by themselves. Please share your settings. Thanks.
At work currently but will confirm tv setting tonight if needed, however that just sounds like you have the TV setup as a secondary wake-up source. In the KEF Connect app, go to Settings then, Speaker preferences then it’s in the Power Saver section.
Thanks Michael. I do have the TV setup as a secondary standby wakeup source. With that setting the speakers are turning on and off in an apparently random way with the TV off. They also do not turn on when I turn on the TV. Additionally, if I set them to coax as the secondary turn-on they do not turn on when music is played over that input either.
I was hoping that you might know of a Sony setting that I missed. I am pretty familiar with the KEF settings by now.
Ah ok, I see what your saying… Ok, did some testing as I didn’t have a secondary auto-on configured. Auto-on from the TV does not however appear to work for me. My TV is x9000C so about 5 or 6 years older…
