Kef ls50

[Jerome W]

Hello Serge,

The LS50 is Kef's modern iteration of the LS3/5a.
They sound very good but imho they do miss completely the last degrees of goose bumps that good ls3/5a can provide. And these goose bumps are just what great hifi is all about. Modern Kef's are somehow sterile to me. And I include the Blade. They lost the emotional layout that the previous Reference series were known for.

Falcon Acoustics makes since a few years the very best LS3/5a ever made. A modern iteration of the original 15 ohms version. Think about the LS50....with a SOUL !!

Jonathan Halpern, a man with good taste and excellent ears as you know, picked them for North America. Tone Imports import Falcon Acoustics.

With friends we compared during a whole day the Harbeth P3ESR, the Stirling V2 LS3/5 and the Falcons.
The Falcons were better than the two others. With a degree of refinement and musicality absolutely stunning, while keeping convincing dynamics, rhythm and bass extension. The Stirling were very close indeed to the Falcons. But they were missing the last degrees of naturalness and purity. The Harbeths P3ESR were completely lost, lacking transparency, naturalness and ambiance. And we made the test with 4 different amplifiers and in 2 different rooms.
Imho the Flacon LS3/5a 15 ohms is a much better speaker than the Kef LS50.

I love them so much that sometimes in my main system I push the big Altecs in corners and listen to them during a full month and even more ! The kind of little bookshelf speakers that you could have as your main speakers for the rest of your life without feeling any frustration. They are that good.
If you can give them a listen you should definitely do so before buying any other budget bookshelf speakers.
Just be sure to listen to them with wood stands or you may loose a huge part of the naturalness of their sound.
It may be easier for you to come to Paris for a few days and visit our fabulous russian churches and restaurants ! [emoji6]
IMG_6342.jpg
And this one is 100 meters from our home :
IMG_6341.jpg

https://youtu.be/pPgJArkjlcQ

[vego99]

Serge,
If you get these, Id love to hear your impressions.

My Wife is afraid to use the new turntable and now that the dedicated music room is almost built, she wants me to put a new system together in our family room along with the trusty old automatic Denon Turntable..

Hope all is well.
Erik

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

Hello Serge,

The LS50 is Kef's modern iteration of the LS3/5a.
They sound very good but imho they do miss completely the last degrees of goose bumps that good ls3/5a can provide. And these goose bumps are just what great hifi is all about. Modern Kef's are somehow sterile to me. And I include the Blade. They lost the emotional layout that the previous Reference series were known for.

Falcon Acoustics makes since a few years the very best LS3/5a ever made. A modern iteration of the original 15 ohms version. Think about the LS50....with a SOUL !!

Jonathan Halpern, a man with good taste and excellent ears as you know, picked them for North America. Tone Imports import Falcon Acoustics.

With friends we compared during a whole day the Harbeth P3ESR, the Stirling V2 LS3/5 and the Falcons.
The Falcons were better than the two others. With a degree of refinement and musicality absolutely stunning, while keeping convincing dynamics, rhythm and bass extension. The Stirling were very close indeed to the Falcons. But they were missing the last degrees of naturalness and purity. The Harbeths P3ESR were completely lost, lacking transparency, naturalness and ambiance. And we made the test with 4 different amplifiers and in 2 different rooms.
Imho the Flacon LS3/5a 15 ohms is a much better speaker than the Kef LS50.

I love them so much that sometimes in my main system I push the big Altecs in corners and listen to them during a full month and even more ! The kind of little bookshelf speakers that you could have as your main speakers for the rest of your life without feeling any frustration. They are that good.
If you can give them a listen you should definitely do so before buying any other budget bookshelf speakers.
Just be sure to listen to them with wood stands or you may loose a huge part of the naturalness of their sound.
It may be easier for you to come to Paris for a few days and visit our fabulous russian churches and restaurants ! [emoji6]
Attachment 52821
And this one is 100 meters from our home :
Attachment 52822

https://youtu.be/pPgJArkjlcQ

Jerome, I have heard about the Falcons but have never seen or heard them in person. I will look into it for sure. Thanks for reminding me and I trust your ears enough that I would purchase them without hearing them based on your recommendation. We seem to have similar taste in what we expect from our systems and the type of sound we prefer. Thank you for the invitation, it can not happen for me for another year or so but after that I would love to visit Paris and of course meet my AA friend in person after all these years.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

https://youtu.be/pPgJArkjlcQ

Jerome, I listened to your system video (through headphones and my DAC since my computer/computer speakers can never reproduce sound so accurately ) . The Falcons sound like they have a very liquid and pure midrange free of obvious colorations or any detectable peaks through the presence region. They do sound very musical and engaging, (at least through what was captured by your phone/camera and is reproduced on my end through my DAC and Headphones). For reference, I found that same song on Roon/Tidal (Richard Bona, Muto Bye Bye) and listened to it carefully a few times and then your video again. Discounting for the slight leanness the way the typical phone mike captures and is reproduced on youtube, I came to the conclusion the Falcons must sound fantastic where it counts for me. The all important midrange.

By comparison the KEF LS50 (at least in the videos) sounds more forward and is voiced for clarity and openness. I think I would prefer the Falcons for my smallish room where I will place them.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Jerome, I listened to your system video (through headphones and my DAC since my computer/computer speakers can never reproduce sound so accurately ) . The Falcons sound like they have a very liquid and pure midrange free of obvious colorations or any detectable peaks through the presence region. They do sound very musical and engaging, (at least through what was captured by your phone/camera and is reproduced on my end through my DAC and Headphones). For reference, I found that same song on Roon/Tidal (Richard Bona, Muto Bye Bye) and listened to it carefully a few times and then your video again. Discounting for the slight leanness the way the typical phone mike captures and is reproduced on youtube, I came to the conclusion the Falcons must sound fantastic where it counts for me. The all important midrange.

By comparison the KEF LS50 (at least in the videos) sounds more forward and is voiced for clarity and openness. I think I would prefer the Falcons for my smallish room where I will place them.

Hello Serge,
I am quite sure that you will prefer the Falcons. I have a Fuji XT-10 with a stereo hifi microphone ( the vid you saw was taken by the iphone 6 ) so if you want you can tell me what you would like me to record and I can make a better one and send it to you.
Obviously the LS50 is very good and will make you happy but knowing your tastes quite a bit, I guess that the Falcons will suit you better.
And looking forward to see you in Paris when you will have the time for it !

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

Hello Serge,
I am quite sure that you will prefer the Falcons. I have a Fuji XT-10 with a stereo hifi microphone ( the vid you saw was taken by the iphone 6 ) so if you want you can tell me what you would like me to record and I can make a better one and send it to you.
Obviously the LS50 is very good and will make you happy but knowing your tastes quite a bit, I guess that the Falcons will suit you better.
And looking forward to see you in Paris when you will have the time for it !

Let's try it if you don't mind spending the time on that. It will be much closer to reality.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Let's try it if you don't mind spending the time on that. It will be much closer to reality.

My pleasure. Just tell me which tune you would like.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

My pleasure. Just tell me which tune you would like.

Diana Krall “Temptation”.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Diana Krall “Temptation”.

Great one !!!

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by vego99

Serge,
If you get these, Id love to hear your impressions.

My Wife is afraid to use the new turntable and now that the dedicated music room is almost built, she wants me to put a new system together in our family room along with the trusty old automatic Denon Turntable..

Hope all is well.
Erik

Erik, will do of course. I will see if my local dealers carry them to give them a listen as well.