I disagree with the other posts. You need more power. I drove those same speakers with a 200 w/ch NAD and the results were stunning. LOTS of air. In fact, world class sound IMO. Search using my username on YouTube to see my video of the ls50s. If your LS50s do not sound impressive then you are definitely not getting full performance from them.
More power needed for my KEF LS50s?
Hi everyone,
I've been wondering recently whether I need more power to drive my KEF LS50s - they are 85db sensitivity with a 3.7 ohm minimum (although they are listed at 8ohms nominal). I have been using a Hegel H80, which is 75 wpc and no specification for 4ohms. I have been very impressed by the sound from the KEFs, and in combination with the Hegel I have been getting wonderful vocals.
However, on a whim I hooked up the Hegel to a pair of more efficient towers (Triton 7), and the subtle details really came to life - acoustic guitar plucks had more presence, symbol crashes seemed more like part of the performance, etc. While I love the sound of the KEFs for vocals, the rest of the instrumentation seems to be quite recessed, as if I'm sitting right in front of the singer at a performance.
I only have the rather limited comparison, but I'm wondering if I've underpowered the KEFs and a more power amp (like the Krell s300i) would bring the speakers to life. Of course, the other solution is to get more efficient speakers and stick with the (very nice sounding) Hegel.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and my listening room is about 13x15 feet with the speakers on the short wall.
Best,
Scott
I've been wondering recently whether I need more power to drive my KEF LS50s - they are 85db sensitivity with a 3.7 ohm minimum (although they are listed at 8ohms nominal). I have been using a Hegel H80, which is 75 wpc and no specification for 4ohms. I have been very impressed by the sound from the KEFs, and in combination with the Hegel I have been getting wonderful vocals.
However, on a whim I hooked up the Hegel to a pair of more efficient towers (Triton 7), and the subtle details really came to life - acoustic guitar plucks had more presence, symbol crashes seemed more like part of the performance, etc. While I love the sound of the KEFs for vocals, the rest of the instrumentation seems to be quite recessed, as if I'm sitting right in front of the singer at a performance.
I only have the rather limited comparison, but I'm wondering if I've underpowered the KEFs and a more power amp (like the Krell s300i) would bring the speakers to life. Of course, the other solution is to get more efficient speakers and stick with the (very nice sounding) Hegel.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and my listening room is about 13x15 feet with the speakers on the short wall.
Best,
Scott