Kef LS50 competitors that fit on a desk

Been looking at the Stradas and on paper they're looking pretty good. Although a bit tall, they are not very deep and would work great on a desk - actually one of the best options IMO. They also have a sub available, which some of the others in this space don't. I'm interested to hear @zerodeefex 's criticisms/viewpoint.

Another option is a similar-ish vein is the Eclipse TD508MK3 http://www.eclipse-td.com/us/products/td508mk3/index.html. These seem to be rated a little higher than the Stradas and come in a little cheaper as well. The sub is another story, at $3600 it's not a great match.

 

...that's what she said.

 

One good alternative which has not been mentioned are Focal Solo 6 Be

Of course Boenicke W5 is out of the picture (a bit off budget). But high end "computer speakers" do exist.

 

Yeah, saw those, saw the price, moved on.

 

I have a pair. You can see a review here:

http://www.avshowrooms.com/Vivid_V1.html

Best, Kevin

 

As far as relatively small bookshelves go, consider the Ryan R610. So far, I have only heard them for 4 or 5 hours as a friends store, but very promising. Review should hopefully follow. I have the KEF LS50, so some comparisons there will probably happen.

Best, Kevin

 

cool! have you compared them to harbeth, atc, b&W, etc?

 

Nice - those are local boys, too. South Africa has some surprises .

 

Lots of surfing and price comparison later it's becoming clear that from a financial perspective there is an obvious option in the KEF LS50. I can get that new here in South Africa for ZAR 17910.00. In dollars that's $1250...shipped to my house, taxes and everything included. Most of the other options are imports, and to make an example of the LS50 at US retail of $1499, it would cost me roughly ZAR 26800.00 to bring it in. So there's no contest.

My concern is this is the type of environment it will live in (not my pic, but I have about as much space). The LS50 needs a minimum of 50 cm from the wall, which would almost put them in my lap.


There is another financially compelling outlier that would fit better. Dali is well represented here, and comes in at almost as much of a price break for their Fazon line. I could get the Fazon Sat 2.1 system (2x Fazon Sat and Fazon Sub 1) for ZAR 15100.00 all in. The Sat is much more compact than the LS50 and is designed to kiss up to a wall. The sub brings the low end down to 37hz, and though small is more than enough for my deskbound needs.



On the one hand we have excellent slightly bass light SQ, but very compromised placement and all the damage that does...vs just good SQ with better placement and better bass extension with the sub.

Assuming this solution stays deskbound (I'd go bigger for a full-room system one day) which is the lesser of the evils?

 

I wonder if that is really really true? Amy chance of trying them out at a dealer? From my very slight (hifi meet in a biggish room) experience of them, I can't offer an opinion.

I went to a local AV/hifi show last weekend. There was almost nothing there for me: zero headphones, zero active/nearfield speakers, and I didn't dwell. Couldn't miss the LS50s, though, winking their beautiful eyes at me. Looks-wise. They are stunners. Smaller than I remembered, too. (Damn... Why couldn't I have found a black woman with orange-pink eyes? )

The Dali thingies look cute too. But... physics: is even the mid-range going to work? I ask because I don't know. Nice solution if it does.

As I type, I remember the Minnie Maggies. That's something I'd like to try! But they make it very clear that these are speakers not to put against the wall or in a small space.

By the way, when it comes to speakers, yes: I dwell on looks as well as sound. Never mind the "WAF," WE have to live with them!

 

The LS50 are lookers for sure . And yes, I can audition them easily, and can hopefully find the Fazon to audition locally too. I did look at the Mini Maggies, but as you said, they're really not designed to sit up against the wall. The Fazon FR on paper is 86 - 25k at 3db variance, so there is some hope of midrange capability. Butting them up close to the wall helps apparently. I am more and more impressed with what is getting crammed into small enclosures, I must say.

 

Yeah, try the LS50 first before writing them off.

I believe they come with foam plugs for the rear port to facilitate placement in compromised spaces such as yours.

 

the kef ls50 do not work well in very nearfield situation (3 to 5 feet). at the almost same price, the amphion one15, atc scm7 v3 would work much better in nearfield.
the Harbeth P3ESR are also better then kef ls 50 in nearfield situation. Also, as good as the kef ls50 are, metal drivers have a sound that you have to try before buying blindly imo.

 

Erm, why wouldn't it work? Worked fine for me. Coax sums better than offset drivers.

 

This is my final list, but they all (except the LS50 and Fazon) cost a small fortune because I need to import them...SCM7 for example would be ZAR 31000...almost double the LS50s.

DynAudio Excite X14
Amphion Argon 1
ATC SCM7
Eclipse TD508MK3
Anthony Gallo Strada 2
Dali Menuet
Dali Fazon Sat
KEF LS50

 

Overnight Sensations MT if you can DIY. I prefer them over the LS50s.

 

I have read often from people looking for nearfield situation, comparing ls50 to P3esr and constantly mentioning that the p3 are better in enarfield then ls50 that need a bit of distance.
Personally, I liked the ls50 but i prefer p3esr and scm7v3 that I own. my main critic from ls50 is tonally and bass and upper bass is very thin.

 

in that case where scm7 v3 would be double ls50, dont get the scm7v3 this is just crazy. I paid 1k cad for my used scm7 v3 and can find ls50 for about same price.

you should add P3esr and proac d1/d2 and amphion one15 (I owned amphion one18) to your list. Imo, the best brand under 2k is Kef, Harbeth, Proac, ATC, Amphion and wouldnt look or consider anything else. The dali I heard werent refine enough in the mids.
the galo is interesting but hard to audition. I know 6moon really liked them but I dont trust reviewers much.

If you can diy, Id recommend a design by jeff bagby. I have build his continuum and they are very good for the price I paid.

 

Yes, quite true. Vivid's designer (Laurence Dickie) worked with B & W on the original Nautilus design, so he has some serious stuff on his resume. So I think Vivid is a fine brand with some interesting technology. I have always liked the sound at the show demos I have heard, FWIW. And of course, I like the 1.5's.

Best, Kevin

 

Do anyone have experience on counterfeit LS50s ? In my country (Vietnam), many stores have them listed for only about $850-900 brand-new, which is about 2/3 of the price at Amazon ($1500). Though they aren't the only product that have ridiculous price here, there are also $900-1000 brand-new NAD M51. Really strange, especially when consider that the import tax are really high (Yggdrasil for example, retails here for ~$2800)