Model makeover:
Kudos Cardea C10
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PASSION FOR SOUNDGROUP TEST:
High-end pick-up sextet
in an all-vinyl spin-off

DYNAMIC DUOIssue No. 479

September 2021

Music in the air with KEF’s active
LS50 Wireless II loudspeakers

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IN BLOOM£5.25

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Sensational?

REVIEWS KEF
LS50 WIRELESS II £2,250

KEF
LS50 WIRELESS II £2,250

Google Cast and Bluetooth 4.2. KEF
has also ensured that it’s Roon Ready.
Connections are fitted to one speaker,
which then communicates with theother via either an RJ45 umbilical or– new for the Wireless II – via wirelessat a 24-bit/96kHz sample rate. I havesome minor dropout issues withwireless pairing, so opt to use thetether while testing.
Control options are usefully flexible.
The master speaker has a selection of
hard controls on a touchpad on thetop and comes supplied with a remotehandset that allows for day-to-day
requirements; volume, input
selection, play/pause etc. to be madewithout having to open an app. Thisis beneficial because the app itself has
some limitations. On the plus side it’sconsiderably better than the older
version used by the original LS50

Big hitters
KEF has revised its innovative wireless active
speaker system and Ed Selley gets to put it
through its paces

KEF has traditionallyfocused on moreconventional passive
speakers for the bulk of its
product lines. Its decision to create an
active version of the LS50 was shaped
not so much as a challenger to moreconventional active rivals, but tocreate a self-contained system built
around one of its most successfulrecent designs. With the passive LS50
receiving a selection of enhancements,
KEF has applied these to the active
version, creating the LS50 Wireless II.
The Wireless II takes the same raw
ingredients as the passive LS50 Meta.
It uses a single 150mm Uni-Q driverin each cabinet. Now in its 12thgeneration, the process of mounting a
25mm tweeter in the centre of the
mid/bass driver improves thedispersion, imaging and phasecharacteristics of both drivers and,thanks to KEF’s ongoing work withwaveguides, surrounds and bracing,
the bulk of these notional benefits
are now largely realised. This latest
generation of Uni-Q makes use ofwhat the company calls Metamaterial
Absorption Technology. This consists
REPRINTED FROMof a circular plate of metamaterials
that reduces unwanted reflections
coming back through the driver.
To make the LS50 active, KEF fits noless than 380W of amplification per
speaker, with 100W allocated to thetweeter and 280W to the mid/bassdriver. The design is a true active,
with a DSP-based crossover called aMusic Integrity Engine that allows foruser adjustment to fit the space andposition that the speaker is being
used in. This hardware is mounted
in the same cabinet as the passiveversion. This is designed aroundthe principle of a massively stiff
glass fibre and polyester front baffle
that curves away from the driveritself to assist its already excellent
dispersion characteristics.
Key to the KEF’s operation is thatwhile it has a solitary analogue
connection via a 3.5mm input, it
should be seen more like an all-in-one
system. It’s fitted with a
24-bit/384kHz-capable UPnP
streamer combined with a coaxial
digital, optical and HDMI ARC
connection. You can wirelessly stream
to the LS50 Wireless II via AirPlay 2,

FOR GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

DETAILS
PRODUCTKEF LS50 Wireless II
ORIGIN
UK/China
TYPE
Wireless active
loudspeaker
WEIGHT
20kg (boxed)
DIMENSIONS(WxHxD)200 x 305 x 311mm
FEATURES
l 380W internal
amplificationl 24-bit/384kHz andDSD128 compatiblel Inputs: coaxial;
optical; analogue
l AirPlay 2, Google
Cast and Bluetoothl Roon Ready
DISTRIBUTORKEF
WEBSITE
uk.kef.com

The clear gains overits passive relative
are the tonality andrichness it offers
Wireless and LSX (HFC 446), but it’s
not without its foibles; somewhat
limited browsing of a library on thesame network being the main one. On
the plus side, streaming service accessis comprehensive (and for Tidal users,
the Wireless II is MQA compatible)
and the app itself is stable andlogically laid out. It isn’t terribly
pretty, though, feeling a generation
behind some more mainstream rivals
in this regard.
It gives away rather less in termsof design and build, however. The
striking and distinctive design of theLS50 is unchanged and this means it
will be seen as a bit of a Marmite
product by a few would-be owners,
but the decent choice of different
colour finishes goes a long way towww.hifichoice.co.uk

alleviating that. The build quality
is also outstanding. The cabinet
feels incredibly solid and theimplementation of details like thetouch panel on the master speaker
are also done to a very highstandard. This isn’t a cheap productby any means, but you can see where
the money has gone.

Sound quality

With the cabinets running wired bothto my network and to each otherand making use of Roon as a control
point, the most obviously immediate
impression is one of effortlessness.
The passive LS50 Meta benefits
from being used with a reasonably
powerful amplifier and the 380W
on hand to drive the active version
never feels too much. Pushed very
hard indeed, the KEF can harden up
a little but any volume levels you’ll
be hitting at this point will be
seriously anti-social anyway.
Used within its considerable
operating envelope, the LS50
Wireless II delivers on the designwww.hifichoice.co.uk

HOW ITCOMPARESThe KEF is roughly£1,000 more thanNaim’s Mu-So 2ndGeneration (HFC452). The Naim hasa superior nativecontrol app and ispart of a muchwider family ofproducts that canbe controlled via
the same software.
In performanceterms, the KEF
justifies the pricegap. The Naim issuperlative for asingle chassis
device, but
the width andseparation the LS50
Wireless II brings to
its performanceis a step forward
over any moreconventional rival.

premise of both the driver andmounting. So long as your position
relative to it forms a rough triangle,
it images in a way that is beyond
many rival stereo systems and leaves
any one-box rival standing. The
24-bit/96kHz Qobuz stream of DeadSea by Paris Jackson sees her vocals
pushed forward and to the centre
while the supporting instrumentationis arrayed around her in a space thatextends both up and out from thecabinets themselves.
Where the active speaker makes
clear gains over its passive relativeis the tonality and richness it offers.

The KEF LS50
Wireless II never fails
to deliver bass you
feel as much as hear
While I am left feeling that somecare will need to be taken with any
partnering equipment with the LS50
Meta, the tonal balance of theWireless II is extremely well judged.
The sumptuous 24-bit/96kHz
download of Star’s Losing To You iswell controlled and believable andleaves Torquil Campbell’s lovely vocal
turn sounding rich and emotional.
But even when you change tackentirely and move to the crunchingaggression of Royal Blood’s
Boilermaker, things remain civilised
without losing the all-importantboisterous energy of the track.
Something else that Royal Blooddemonstrates is that the LS50 has
phenomenal bass extension for a
relatively small cabinet. The grunt ofthat on-board amplification is enoughto ensure that the KEF never fails todeliver bass you can feel as much ashear. No less importantly, this bass isfast, controlled and detailed. I havebest results telling the Music Integrity
engine the speakers are closer to thewall than they actually are. This seesa fractional drop in low-end extension
but tightens things up to the point

REVIEWS

where no time signature I listen tothrows it off. Something else the KEF
does very effectively is to ensure that
all its functionality feels usable andusefully equivalent in performanceterms. Sure, streaming Deezer overAirPlay lacks some of the definition
and richness of Qobuz over UPnP,but the experience is more thanlistenable. The only real note ofcaution I’d extend with the wired
functionality is practical rather thanperformative. With the inputs on theback of the speaker, some thought isgoing to have to be given to ensuringthat your sources can reach it in a tidy
fashion. Features like the HDMI ARC
work well under test, though.

Conclusion

It’s this strength in depth that makes
the KEF so convincing. I still feel thata few little tweaks to the software
would reap benefits, but I can’t argue
with the way it combines an extensive
and practical specification that makes
it an ideal one-stop shop with a levelof overall performance that is truly
outstanding. When you listen to theLS50 Wireless II it’s easy to forget
about the convenience angle andconcentrate instead on thesensational level of sonicperformance. It isn’t cheap, but it’sunquestionably a superb all-in-one
system that should be on anyone’s
shortlist at or near the price l

REPRINTED FROMOUR VERDICTSOUND QUALITYVALUE FOR MONEY

BUILD QUALITYFEATURES

LIKE: Superb sonicperformance; build;practical and flexible
DISLIKE: Some minor
control foibles
WE SAY: A talented
and impressively
flexible system thatdelivers superb
performance acrossits many features

OVERALLFOR GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION