jonnybee123
Active Member
Kef LS50 Meta vs Focal Aria 906's review
I started reading and watching the reviews on the net regarding the new Kef LS50 Meta. There are so many rave reviews out there at the moment I became curious to hear for myself if they were any match for my similarly priced Focal Arias on dedicated stands.
So I decided to bring home a pair of Kef LS50 Metas on demo for the long New Year's weekend courtesy of Audio T in Bristol.
They only had a white pair on demo but I wasn't too concerned as if I were to buy a new pair I would have ordered them in black.
So I got them home and sat them on top of my Focal stands and used several blobs of blu tac to keep them in place while I did AB comparisons with the Focals.
At this point the wife walked in and said.. "They look like mini washing machines, they're so ugly" I ignored her sarcastic comments and assured myself it's not the looks it's the sound that counts.
The Focal Arias are known for their great reproduction of vocals. As I mainly listen to female vocals I've been very happy with them and had no thoughts of upgrading until I read about the LS50 Metas.
I watched several video reviews and everyone are saying amazing things about these speakers. I just had to demo them.
So I connected them up to my Rega Elex R and switched off my BK S P12-300SB sub as I was curious to see just how low these mini wonders would go without the help of the sub.
After experimenting with positioning I finally settled on a little toe-in and moved them slightly wider apart than I was used to with the Focals.
The build quality of the Kefs are very solid indeed. I didn't realise when I bought them that they do not come with speaker grills. The speaker binding posts at the rear are of a very high quality and the units themselves are quite heavy for such a small size stand mount.
So what did I think of the sound of the new Kef LS50 Meta? Well the imaging between the speakers is very good indeed, that'll probably be down to the Uni Q drivers. The bass was unexpectedly full and deep and the sound stage in particular was more back towards the line of both speakers. If I only had the Kefs to listen to and had no other speakers to compare them with I'd say the Kefs are a very capable speaker indeed.
But for me the Kefs were no match for my Arias. The Kefs sounded 'shut in' in comparison to the Focals. The Focals defined instruments much more clearer and the Kefs vocals were just uninspiring in comparison to the Focals
Guitars strings were extremely revealing with the Arias and sounded uninteresting with the Kefs. Vocals with the Focals were rich and velvety but the Kefs made them sound less than three dimensional.
Maybe the Kef LS50 Meta would sound better with a more expensive amp or in a different listen environment with more space and better acoustics but in my humble living room, in my favourite armchair they were just no competition against the Arias.
The Focal Aria's will be with me for many years to come I think. The combination of the Focals and the BK sub with DSPeaker Anti-Mode taming the lows and boominess are for me a match made in heaven. The Kefs have reminded me just how astoundingly good the Focals 906s are.
If you too have been reading the Kef LS50 Meta reviews like I have and are curious I would definitely recommend you give them a home demo. They are very good sounding speakers. But I don't think they are the giant killers everyone is making them out to be. This is only my personal opinion with my 50 something year old ears. To you they may sound amazing who knows?
The Focals are back on their stands now pride of place and the Kefs are back in their box and ready to be taken back to the shop after the New year. I had high hopes with the Kefs but they just didn't do it for me I'm afraid.
Source. Tidal HiFi
Streamer - Bluesound Node2
Amplifier - Rega Elex R
Happy New Year to one and all
I started reading and watching the reviews on the net regarding the new Kef LS50 Meta. There are so many rave reviews out there at the moment I became curious to hear for myself if they were any match for my similarly priced Focal Arias on dedicated stands.
So I decided to bring home a pair of Kef LS50 Metas on demo for the long New Year's weekend courtesy of Audio T in Bristol.
They only had a white pair on demo but I wasn't too concerned as if I were to buy a new pair I would have ordered them in black.
So I got them home and sat them on top of my Focal stands and used several blobs of blu tac to keep them in place while I did AB comparisons with the Focals.
At this point the wife walked in and said.. "They look like mini washing machines, they're so ugly" I ignored her sarcastic comments and assured myself it's not the looks it's the sound that counts.
The Focal Arias are known for their great reproduction of vocals. As I mainly listen to female vocals I've been very happy with them and had no thoughts of upgrading until I read about the LS50 Metas.
I watched several video reviews and everyone are saying amazing things about these speakers. I just had to demo them.
So I connected them up to my Rega Elex R and switched off my BK S P12-300SB sub as I was curious to see just how low these mini wonders would go without the help of the sub.
After experimenting with positioning I finally settled on a little toe-in and moved them slightly wider apart than I was used to with the Focals.
The build quality of the Kefs are very solid indeed. I didn't realise when I bought them that they do not come with speaker grills. The speaker binding posts at the rear are of a very high quality and the units themselves are quite heavy for such a small size stand mount.
So what did I think of the sound of the new Kef LS50 Meta? Well the imaging between the speakers is very good indeed, that'll probably be down to the Uni Q drivers. The bass was unexpectedly full and deep and the sound stage in particular was more back towards the line of both speakers. If I only had the Kefs to listen to and had no other speakers to compare them with I'd say the Kefs are a very capable speaker indeed.
But for me the Kefs were no match for my Arias. The Kefs sounded 'shut in' in comparison to the Focals. The Focals defined instruments much more clearer and the Kefs vocals were just uninspiring in comparison to the Focals
Guitars strings were extremely revealing with the Arias and sounded uninteresting with the Kefs. Vocals with the Focals were rich and velvety but the Kefs made them sound less than three dimensional.
Maybe the Kef LS50 Meta would sound better with a more expensive amp or in a different listen environment with more space and better acoustics but in my humble living room, in my favourite armchair they were just no competition against the Arias.
The Focal Aria's will be with me for many years to come I think. The combination of the Focals and the BK sub with DSPeaker Anti-Mode taming the lows and boominess are for me a match made in heaven. The Kefs have reminded me just how astoundingly good the Focals 906s are.
If you too have been reading the Kef LS50 Meta reviews like I have and are curious I would definitely recommend you give them a home demo. They are very good sounding speakers. But I don't think they are the giant killers everyone is making them out to be. This is only my personal opinion with my 50 something year old ears. To you they may sound amazing who knows?
The Focals are back on their stands now pride of place and the Kefs are back in their box and ready to be taken back to the shop after the New year. I had high hopes with the Kefs but they just didn't do it for me I'm afraid.
Source. Tidal HiFi
Streamer - Bluesound Node2
Amplifier - Rega Elex R
Happy New Year to one and all

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