A little Patience sometimes pays off! (Kef LS50 content)


I've been through an number of speakers as we all have.
We read about a certain speaker being this and that and so we buy it only to be underwhelmed and disappointed.
So it"s time to sell and move on to the next thing. Well what I've learned you cannot just substitute speaker A for speaker B and fully expect it to be everything others are raving about. Case in point is the Kef LS50s widely regarded as a fantastic little speaker (Class A by Stereophile's rating). Why is it that so many people like these yet so many people (including myself at first) are disappointed and think they are over hyped. So long story short with the right amp, new speaker cables and pulling these further out from the wall the Kefs are sounding every bit the great speaker most reviews exclaim them to be. Point is (the lesson I've leaned) is to work with what you have for while before changing to the next thing. I'm basically preaching to the Choir here I know but I wanted to share as I am sitting back and really enjoying the music. 
dougsat
The ls50’s are very good, very high quality speakers, but are small and have limited bass extension.

I find they are also not as inefficient as some similar but also not the easiest load to drive so a beefy amp with higher current delivery potential is still needed for best results.

So within their limits and in a great overall combo they are great speakers. Push them outside that in a larger room or with lesser gear upstream feeding them and not so much.

No one speaker is always the best in every room nor with every setup. Nor will any particular sound always appeal most to all.

Put the ls50s in the right system in the right room and more people will be happy than say with similar lesser speakers.

Even in a smaller room a subwoofer is pretty much required for the lowest octaves. Without that you can’t compare ls50s to other good setups that go full range. With it, they can compete with most anything out there, at least in a smaller room.

I find they do tend to suck me into the music and I can listen to mine happily for extended periods which means they are doing very well.

Also the UniQ concentric driver design lends itself to a very coherent presentation in smaller rooms where listening position is fairly close to the speakers, so quite good as near field monitors.

In larger rooms, I would tend to lean towards other models.

Live and learn...
@noble100 I am looking to get floor standers because I think I can make it work with a DSP capable preamp. I have had monitors for the last 10 years and never had the space for floor standers. I now have a room where a small floor stander like the Paradigm Persona 3F would work with a DSP capable preamp such as the Anthem STR (with ARC3).

I think a sub would work too but I like the idea of a floor stander better. While I love the LS50's and will keep them forever,  I like other speakers too and I now have some space.
yyzsantabarbara,

     Understood.  The Persona 3F look very nice.  They're expensive and look it, very stylish in that blue.  They should deliver better bass response than the LS50s  and seem like a good system match with your Peachtree integrated.  You'll have a complete Canadian system, too.

Best wishes,
  Tim   
Your take is kind of strange. The sound of the LS50 is not to my taste, but I consider them neither disappointing nor overhyped. Audio types love their polemics even more than their speakers.
I heard them at Axpona I wasn’t impress they were not set up right, the power amp and the source are midfi, when I heard them at my friends house power by Mark levinson 100 watt, front end theta dac and transport...audio research preamp, cabling aq dragon speaker cables, diamond ic , the Ls 50 blew me away , it sound like a class A speakers....