Recording - July 2013 - 46

BY LORENZ RYCHNER

KEF was founded in 1961, in England, and
has had a longstanding relationship with the
BBC, early on contributing crucial parts to the
BBC LS3/5, a legendary speaker model that
set a standard for a small but good-sounding
monitor. Much time has gone by since then,
and many speaker models later, as KEF puts it,
“an innovative concept inspired by the legendary LS3/5a, the LS50 mini monitor speaker is designed to bring professional studio
monitor concept into the home.”
The LS50
The black cabinet is glossy-shiny except for
the curved matte-black fascia. It stands 11.9"
tall, is 7.9" wide and 10.9" deep. The concentric speaker array is of a metallic rose-colored
hue, an attractive attention-getter. The 1" vented
aluminum dome tweeter sits in the center of the
5.25" magnesium/aluminum alloy woofer.
Around back there is a porthole and two
binding posts. The LS50 is a passive monitor,
rated to be matched with a power amp delivering from 25W to 100W into 8 ohms. My
review units were a perfect match for my
Denon receiver that puts out a nominal 75W (8
ohms) per side for the front (stereo) speakers.
KEF states that much care and research went
into the cabinet construction, from the precisely curved fascia that minimizes interference of
the edges with the waveforms emanating from
the speakers, to many other design features.
The aim was to produce a speaker that would

KEF LS50 Monitor 50th Anniversary Model
A new coaxial design with a venerable pedigree
reproduce accurate studio sound in the home,
with a wide stereo “sweet spot”—the word
“spacious” appears repeatedly in the company’s verbiage about the LS50.
The size of the LS50 may be “mini” to its manufacturer, but to you and me this is a monitor of
“just the right size” for a home studio, and since
a pair produces full and rich sound, with a wide
stereo dispersion, I doubt that many listeners will
think of it as the “mini” in their setup.
A detailed video extolling the making of the
LS50 is at tinyurl.com/pvu5sx9 .
Listening
To each his own, of course, but to me, audio
nirvana is listening to a recording that sounds
better than the real thing would sound live.
(This from one who habitually travels far and
46

RECORDING July 2013

wide to attend live concerts...) For this to happen, the recording has to be excellent, both sonically and in terms of the performance, and the playback sound system has to do that excellence justice.
As I write this, I’m in that sort of nirvana. Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music
Society is playing on my Denon receiver through the KEF LS50 speakers under
review, and what I hear makes up for the dismal sound I had to endure during her
recent live show here in Denver. Ms. Spalding is a bassist, and it’s very much her
show, so you’d think the bass would have some kind of definition on the PA, at least
to the point that individual pitches could be discerned. But that night I had no such
luck—there was just a huge low boom coming from her bass and from the kick drum,
both with a long decay that turned every note below about 200 Hz into a cloud of
mush. But now, on the KEF LS50 speakers, I hear what I missed at the live concert,
and all is finally well.
Soon I’m switching to another artist I’ve heard in concert many times, indoors
and outdoors, and even though her sound crews always did an outstanding job,
no concert ever sounded as good as Diana Krall’s masterfully recorded and
mixed CD From This Moment On. (Al Schmitt’s crew at Capitol and Doug Sax’s
mastering are to be commended for this one!)

http://www.tinyurl.com/pvu5sx9

Recording - July 2013

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