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.
Bought a pair a few months ago for our beach house _ use the router (Rukus) which is connected via wifi to my MacBook, play tidal via IOs app. For the price and convenience it’s superb sound. Had a few glitches but nothing compared to my tinkering that I do with my Devialet (see posts related to software glitches) and Dynaudio passive speakers (unfair to compare sound totally different price points) . When I get some time will set up a NUC/ Rock solution and setup another Roon Core that will incorporate some of my hi res files with Tidal. Time poor at the moment for setting up latter - but all in all its very impressive sound and beats my other more expensive separate hi fi setups. Great solution for my kids as well who love it !
I seem to be getting distortion (hisses and crackling) in the left speaker. had these just over a year. Sent an email in, will keep you guys posted on progress of getting them looked at.
I am interested in this speaker even with all of the problems. I definitely would buy it new as the warranty is not transferable and my credit card would provide an extra year of coverage.
I heard the passive LS 50 at the Munich high End show in 2012 when it first came out. I came back and told my friends how great the sound was.
I did some research on problems with the wireless besides discussions here. Interestingly there are 30 comments at Crutchfield: 22 gave it 5 stars, 7 gave it 4 stars and 1 gave it 3 stars. No one had problems with it breaking or not working. Most of the complaints were about the app. So I if I buy one I should buy it there. 
Maybe get an extended warranty…which i never usually recommend.
Maybe be difficult to obtain as it both a speaker and an amp. I just saw 5 year electronic warranty from Square Trade for $1,124.50.
ouch…other type of insurance besides them?
Mine are going strong 3 months after purchase 
. Loving the sound quality and minimalist set up. However, I did get an extended warranty after reading here about some of the issues people had.
Once you really delve into the warranty detail it’s possible to discern there is a difference between cover for the active and the passive elements.
While since I checked but in the UK I believe it’s 1 year on active (I.e. dacs and amps) 2 or 3 years on passive speaker components.
Really enjoy mine which I use as a really great kitchen setup but am concerned…
I’ve had mine since Fall (Sep?) 2017. A few months ago, I noticed distortion after the speakers warmed up. At first it was intermittent, and then became constant. KEF had me record the sound and I found that it was a constant clicking noise coming only from the right speaker, on all inputs, and the volume of the noise was constant regardless of source. KEF had me return them and replaced the main circuit board. They told me the board was redesigned to reduce issues. KEF support was responsive and they fixed my speakers pretty quickly. I did not appreciate having to spend ~$70 to ship the speakers to them, they paid return shipping.
I do really like the sound. I have used a few different sources from my digital store of FLAC files (mostly 44/16, but some higher). Now I am using a NUC and stream via wired ethernet–really digging higher quality recordings from TIDAL in addition to my ripped library. The speakers do make the music shine.