Jump to content
IGNORED

Miniature KEF LS50W, anyone? (Pics included!)


Recommended Posts

Same lame remote, requires two apps now?  It took a year for the LS50W app to be usable.

Fabric is meh and looks like a glued on afterthought and even worse in the other colors.

Looks like no AAC bluetooth but Airplay 2 coming in January which makes me not care about AAC bluetooth.

Looks like it will be a Roon endpoint at least they got that right but like some of the other  features you will get that "later".

I'm really sick of released products with features that they promised will come later.  I went through the wringer with the LS50W and all it's issues.  It took about 8 months to get those working right

 

Link to comment

Well if one looks at the glass half empty, it could well be that most fixes for the LS50W will apply to the LSX :D

Also, I get how these "late features" could be unnerving for the wireless users. But for the wire users, they'd rather have the speakers released sooner than later - since for them it'll make no difference.

Link to comment

I dealt with LS50W issues for a year including seeing them in once for a total replacement which cost me $150 to ship and the X300a is known to be problematic too.  Read the user reviews for both.

Kef doesn't seem to have learned much.  It's pretty obvious they have outsourced software development.

I don't know why you think the wired users won't have issues the LS50W is wired.

Link to comment

That is incorrect.  

I had one of the first ones shipped to California and went through all the pains.

The app was garbage for a long time.  So when i see that one again they claim they will add certain features at a later date I wouldn't bet on it.

There were wifi issues too.

There was a common problem with one speaker failing to connect with the other requiring replacement of both.

It was common for firmware updates to brick them completely.Doing a firmware update was ridiculously complicated to do.

Multiple other hardware issues.

Kef support in the U.S. is abysmal.

Many people went through 2 or 3 sets and you have to ship them to Kef at your own cost which isn't cheap because they are heavy.

As I said read the user reviews.  It's been discussed heavily ever since they came out.

I sold off a replacement pair because the warranty was almost up and i didn't want to be stuck with them with no support at all.

The X300's had similar issues so I wouldn't trust Kef for any powered speakers since their track record is not good.

one thing is clear their software development abilities (app and firmware) are a joke.  I would bet its outsourced.

Now this new one requires two apps?  Great.

 

 

 

Link to comment
17 hours ago, DarwinOSX said:

Looks like it will be a Roon endpoint at least they got that right

 

Can this be confirmed somehow ?

 

Is it one sub out, or does the second speaker offer sub out as well. Meaning two subs feasable without an Y- split ? 

 

Someone was mention multichannel. How can that be acived ?

Link to comment
43 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

 

Can this be confirmed somehow ?

 

Is it one sub out, or does the second speaker offer sub out as well. Meaning two subs feasable without an Y- split ? 

 

Someone was mention multichannel. How can that be acived ?

 

It was in the stereo net article not that the article can be taken as confirmation.

People have done two subs with the LS50W which always seemed weird to me.

What do you mean by multi-channel?

Link to comment
11 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

People have done two subs with the LS50W which always seemed weird to me.

 

As a general rule, two “bad” subs is better than one good. 

But that’s  another discussion. But google is your friend as always. 

 

I use dual sub. B&W ASW 675. 

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/31/2018 at 8:03 PM, DarwinOSX said:

Same lame remote, requires two apps now?  It took a year for the LS50W app to be usable.

Fabric is meh and looks like a glued on afterthought and even worse in the other colors.

Looks like no AAC bluetooth but Airplay 2 coming in January which makes me not care about AAC bluetooth.

Looks like it will be a Roon endpoint at least they got that right but like some of the other  features you will get that "later".

I'm really sick of released products with features that they promised will come later.  I went through the wringer with the LS50W and all it's issues.  It took about 8 months to get those working right

 

 

@Kal Rubinson or anyone else who might have any insight: Does anyone know if the impending addition of Airplay to the LSX means that KEF also might be planning to push out a firmware update to add Airplay to the LS50w? It would make things so much easier for many folks if they did.

Link to comment
7 minutes ago, tmtomh said:

 

@Kal Rubinson or anyone else who might have any insight: Does anyone know if the impending addition of Airplay to the LSX means that KEF also might be planning to push out a firmware update to add Airplay to the LS50w? It would make things so much easier for many folks if they did.

I do not know for sure but I think it likely. At the debut of the LSX, there were conversational references to future updates for the LS50w.  Unfortunately, I didn't pay a lot of attention.

Kal Rubinson

Senior Contributing Editor, Stereophile

 

Link to comment
6 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

I do not know for sure but I think it likely. At the debut of the LSX, there were conversational references to future updates for the LS50w.  Unfortunately, I didn't pay a lot of attention.

Interesting - thanks! I am looking to have a pair of LS50w's for the living room of a new home around March and ideally would like to wait and see until then. But with KEF's Black Friday sale coming up, it might make sense to pull the trigger in November and hope for the best.

 

3 minutes ago, DarwinOSX said:

A lot of people asked about airplay for the LS50W.  Kef claims it’s only for apple music which makes no sense and is a weak excuse.   Since Airplay is software only it would be interesting to know if Kef can implement it on the LS50W. 

That is indeed a weak excuse. Hopefully their change of tune (no pun intended) on the LSX bodes well for the LS50w, as Kal implies - I would be shocked if it couldn't be implemented via a software/firmware update.

Link to comment

I would think so too but don't know enough the LS50W internals.  Kef told me when I called their tech support that a lot of people wanted Airplay and has asked about it.  Airplay 2 is even better in many ways not least multi-room which you would think Kef would like since it would sell more speakers.  

 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...