DarwinOSX Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 What stands are those? Link to comment
Guido Del Giudice Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Atacama HMS 2.1 Auralic Aries Femto > Yulong DA8 Hoer-Wege mods > KEF LS50W, [iSine 10, Denon D7200] Desktop - Adam Artist 5 and Sub 8 Link to comment
Alexi Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Hi Everyone! I have just invested in a pair of LS50 Wireless’ on Custom Design stands and am so far very impressed with the sound from my iPhone (out of convenience!). I’m hoping to take the SQ up a level with a direct connection to my MacBook Pro and was wondering if you might be able to assist me with some advice on inputs. Would it be best to connect via USB or optical from the laptop to the speakers? (Possibly looking at connecting the laptop to a tv in addition) Would you suggest something like an Audioquest Jitterbug in addition to some Supra/Chord cables? Not wishing to spend inordinate amounts, but would an external dac benefit also? Appologies for the many questions - am just hoping to get the best sound per buck from these amazing speakers. Many thanks, Alexi Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 You don't need an external dac the one in the speakers is more than sufficient. By iPhone I assume you mean bluetooth...a direct connect will sound far better. For optical I have used an iFi Spidf purifier with good results. https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-spdif-ipurifier/ I don't buy expensive cables I jsut use Blue Jeans cable. Your best bet for sq is to put the speakers on a network and use Roon. Link to comment
lp216 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 On 2/15/2018 at 5:02 PM, Alexi said: Hi Everyone! I have just invested in a pair of LS50 Wireless’ on Custom Design stands and am so far very impressed with the sound from my iPhone (out of convenience!). I’m hoping to take the SQ up a level with a direct connection to my MacBook Pro and was wondering if you might be able to assist me with some advice on inputs. Would it be best to connect via USB or optical from the laptop to the speakers? (Possibly looking at connecting the laptop to a tv in addition) Would you suggest something like an Audioquest Jitterbug in addition to some Supra/Chord cables? Not wishing to spend inordinate amounts, but would an external dac benefit also? Appologies for the many questions - am just hoping to get the best sound per buck from these amazing speakers. Many thanks, Alexi Something like this will NOT work with the new MacBook Pro models (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T8HWVEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Your only option is to connect via USB with an adapter (https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-USB-TYPE-ADAPTOR-Audioquest/dp/B01ND0BBN4/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518931331&sr=1-6&keywords=audioquest+usb+adapter&dpID=31XLkhGJvZL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch). Or you could use a dedicated cable... this one is 3.1 and should work just fine (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UUCJRFW/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ). Supra USB is what I've used before... it's fine... never could tell much if any difference between it and a generic cable though. I like using Bluetooth for convenience, too. Being able to move around the house and use the iOS app interface is definitely worth any small loss in fidelity, to me at least. I mainly listen to videos on youtube (where I can make my own playlists and discover new music). I've tried Tidal and Roon... hate connecting via wire and having to always come back to my computer or set in one spot, though. I don't like the interfaces, either, plus they cost extra, and I can navigate through my phone much more quickly anyway. I've tried Audirvana Plus, too (w/ high-resolution audio files)... and, it's still not worth it to me to use it over Bluetooth aptX... but, it's a way better value than Roon for sure! I use an SVS-2000 with my LS50 Wireless speakers and really like the combo. It sounds great with movies, too! Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Bluetooth sounds noticeably worse to me. Using anything other than an optimal connection to these speakers is a waste to me Tidal and Roon are far better than Bluetooth to these speakers or Airplay at least. Huge drop in sq with Bluetooth. I assumed he had the older MacBook Pro because he talks about optical from it which the newer ones don’t have. Link to comment
Jonny Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Pretty sure LS50W don’t have Airplay. Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 We are all aware of that. Several options were discussed like attaching an Apple TV to the optical port or if the Kefs were attached to a tv by optical, as mine are, using an apple tv connected by hdmi to the tv which is connected to the Kefs. Link to comment
Alexi Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Thanks for the replies all! To respond: - I have an older 2015 Macbook Pro which still has the headphone socket etc. - At present I connect the speakers to my Wifi and use the KEF app integrating Tidal to stream to the speakers (personally I think the app needs a hell of a lot of work to make it more intuitive and user friendly, however minimal connection issues). Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 The app is barely usable but for a long time it was unusable. Roon is just amazing with these speakers. Link to comment
realhifi Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 On 2/18/2018 at 10:16 AM, DarwinOSX said: The app is barely usable but for a long time it was unusable. Roon is just amazing with these speakers. Is that using it as Roon endpoint or running Roon on a computer and hooking it up to the Kefs with USB? David Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Endpoint although it should sound good by usb why why direct connect if you don't have to. As an endpoint i don't think you can get better sound quality. Link to comment
Alexi Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Thanks for the advice guys. Is there a way of streaming Tidal from, say, iPhone to the KEFs without using the app? Unsure if Roon has a direct integration or whether it is still only a 'remote'. In any case, I'm unsure if Roon is worth the £350/$499 for a lifetime membership if I'm just going to be streaming Tidal? What are people's thoughts - worth the price? May end up direct connecting the Macbook on occasion, however mostly using my iPhone as a convenient source to stream through the KEF app (however inconvenient the app may be!). Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 I use Roon with Tidal, iTunes music, and FLAC files. you can try it free for 14 days and pay monthly. Link to comment
tmtomh Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 2 hours ago, DarwinOSX said: Endpoint although it should sound good by usb why why direct connect if you don't have to. As an endpoint i don't think you can get better sound quality. Thanks - very helpful! This probably is a dumb question, but it helps me to think about this way: Say I had a Mac running iTunes, broadcasting to an Airplay-capable powered speaker via wi-fi. And say I controlled the Mac using the iOS Remote app from my iPhone or iPad. With the KEF LS50w set up as a Roon Endpoint, can I basically have the same setup as outlined above, except replacing all the Apple-specific apps and protocols with Roon Core (instead of iTunes), Roon's streaming protocol (instead of Airplay), and Roon Remote (instead of iOS Remote app)? In other words, if I pay for Roon, I basically overcome the KEF's lack of Airplay support and get bit-perfect and high-res streaming capability in the bargain, yes? (This is putting aside for the moment where my music files actually would be stored - NAS, local storage, or both.) Thanks! Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Yes that’s exactly how I use it and why I keep saying you should try it ? tmtomh 1 Link to comment
Guido Del Giudice Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 I have been experimenting using the KEFs as a Roon endpoint . I have concluded that they sound considerably better using an Aries as a transport into my highly modified Yulong DA8 DAC and into the RCA analog inputs of the KEFs.... Auralic Aries Femto > Yulong DA8 Hoer-Wege mods > KEF LS50W, [iSine 10, Denon D7200] Desktop - Adam Artist 5 and Sub 8 Link to comment
erniejade Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 I have triedthe 50w in several ways. From usb to the speakers, usb to a w4s recovery to the speakers, wireless using the kef app, cd optical to the speakers, lumin d1 rca to the speakers and tur table to jolida d9 tube phono pre to the speakers. For my ears the was the turntable/jolida to the kef was best overall followed by lumin d1 rca to the speakers. I have not tried Roon yet i will give that a shot next. Den: Kef LS50 Wireless, Velodyne SPL1200, Lumin D1, Cayin SCD50T, Jolida D9, Technics 1200, Denon DL160, Wireworld Eclipse Silver 7 IC Livingroom: T+A PA1530 r Integrated Amplifier, Innous Zen MKIII, L.K.S audio MH Da004, Tyler Acoustics Highland H2, High Fidelity Reveal IC, Wireworld Eclipse Silver 8 Speaker cable. Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 12 hours ago, Guido Del Giudice said: I have been experimenting using the KEFs as a Roon endpoint . I have concluded that they sound considerably better using an Aries as a transport into my highly modified Yulong DA8 DAC and into the RCA analog inputs of the KEFs.... Those two together are as much as the speakers? Aries and Yulong? Doesn't anything going into rca have to be converted to analog and back to digital? Also how does it not then go to the Kef dac anyway? Link to comment
Jonny Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Yes haven't been overly impressed with the SQ using Wifi Roon end point. Will be upgrading my source to use RCA inputs as well sometime in the future. There was some talk about it on Darko. https://darko.audio/2018/01/detour-ahead-from-bluesound-node-2-to-kef-ls50-wireless/ Link to comment
DarwinOSX Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I’ve seen the Darko articles and he wasn’t knocking the Roon integration. Link to comment
Jonny Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Not knocking Roon, using other sources via RCA. Link to comment
Guido Del Giudice Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 possibly doing the streaming and conversion outside the KEFs using some really good equipment will sound better than doing this internally in the KEFs....even though this analog signal is then reprocessed by the DAC inside the KEFs it is an excellent analog signal and only processed by the KEFs to send to its internal amps Auralic Aries Femto > Yulong DA8 Hoer-Wege mods > KEF LS50W, [iSine 10, Denon D7200] Desktop - Adam Artist 5 and Sub 8 Link to comment
Tait Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Anyone using their LS50's with Innuos Servers? Thinking of swapping my laptop for a Zen Mini. Innuos Zenith MK2, Innuos Phoenix USB re-clocker, KEF LS50 active speakers Link to comment
Popular Post saintintn Posted March 2, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2018 Well, this is a new one. Have had my LS50W’s for just under a year and had the right channel stop outputting sound. The selector on top still lights up and the left channel still puts out sound. Tried all inputs (WiFi, analog, optical, usb) and balance knob on back of left speaker. No sound from right channel. Bizarre. Sent them back to KEF so they could see what’s going on. Anyone else run into this? Btw, best sounding speakers I’ve ever had. I won’t be swapping them out for something different. tmtomh and Giacomino 2 Link to comment
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