KEF LS50 Wireless II - Active wireless stereo speaker system (Mineral White) | HDMI | Airplay 2 | Bluetooth | Spotify | Tidal

Product Information

Thanks to its HDMI, optical and coaxial digital, plus analogue 3.5mm inputs you can also connect up other sources, such as your TV, games console, CD player or turntable (with built-in pre-amp).

Prices valid in stores (all including VAT) until close of business on 28th November 2023. (Some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online.) They don’t get five stars however because the quality of engineering in the speakers doesn’t extend to the app needed for streaming. When switching on the speakers immediately switch on from standby and start to play in a second or two. After a few more seconds they stop playing and the app opens a red bar asking me to select the speakers in settings. They are already selected and show as such. After a further variable wait they start to play again. I’ve learned that my intervention makes no difference, so I just wait. This can happen a couple of times before they settle down. Reinstalling the app makes no difference and it happens whether I use my phone or iPad. There are many wireless stereo speakers on the market, but ‘wireless’ doesn’t always mean what you might think. Just like its competitors, the LS50 Wireless II streams music wirelessly. It also goes one stage further, though, in featuring a wireless connection between the speakers themselves – no umbilical cord required. If you want to improve file resolution from 96 kHz/24 bit to 192 kHz/24 bit, then simply use the supplied interspeaker connection cable. The manner that this is integrated into the top of the cabinet is beautifully realised and it’s details like this that help the KEF to be genuinely user friendly. The fit and finish is every bit as good as the passive version too. Do be aware that there some unavoidable quirks of placement that the KEF can’t easily nullify though. Any HDMI or optical connection from a TV is going to have to come out to the master speaker and both of those speakers need mains power. If you can dress it correctly, a setup based around the Wireless II will look outstanding… but you’ll need to put the effort in.We’re happy to report that the LS50 Wireless II stereo speakers continue to provide the phenomenal audio quality offered by their predecessors – and then some.

I am an old audiophile, brought up on components so heavy, you could only ever live in ground floor accommodation. As well as offering the dynamic range to make the most of Hi-Res music, the LS50 Wireless II also supports many associated formats. MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) – as used by TIDAL Masters – is compatible. ROON Endpoint status means it’s compatible with the award-winning music player – including Hi-Res files. As a product following in the footsteps of such a huge success, the KEF LS50 Wireless II arrive with a world of expectation on their shoulders – but they well and truly meet those expectations. Make no mistake, this is a sequel of rare quality. Our review sample only has access to an early version of the app, so some functionality – including music server discovery – isn’t available. However, first impressions suggest it’s a positive replacement for the often-glitchy Stream app on the LS50 Wireless. Loading dense service libraries, navigating its clean and logical interface and switching inputs proves a pleasant and reliable experience. Famed for their striking design, balanced sound and complete connectivity, the original KEF LS50 Wireless speakers swept the board. Now featuring new MAT technology for superior sound, a brand-new wireless platform and new KEF Connect app, the LS50 Wireless II is more impressive than ever.At the moment the app has BBC radio stations available. These are occasionally interrupted by messages from the BBC that they will soon not be available. It would be helpful to have heard from KEF whether they will add BBC Sounds to their app or not. The obvious question is whether the KEF LSX II would have been a better solution, and I think they would have been a very good choice too, but the LS50W2 had a bit more clarity and depth to them. I did not want to compromise. You can choose to operate LS50 Wireless II completely wirelessly at 24bit/96kHz resolution for a completely clutter-free set up, or you can connect the two speakers with the supplied cable for 24bit/192kHz resolution sound.

Connecting the computer was a bit more work. I would have appreciated a USB input, but instead I needed to use an external sound card with a TOSLINK output. Every aspect of LS50 Wireless II has been considered for acoustic benefits and from a design perspective. The low-diffraction, curved baffle is precision modelled around the Uni-Q driver, while eye-catching heat sinks and colour-matched ports are located on the well-equipped rear. The top-mounted control panel is designed to be stylish and functional. The soundstage, the grip on the music, Jeff’s vocals bringing tears to my eyes, the depth of bass (no sub-woofer); everything from these two small boxes - really? Yes - really! All aspects of the LS50 Wireless II’s performance is aided by KEF’s bespoke Music Integrity Engine. This collection of bespoke Digital Signal Processing algorithms is optimised for the Uni-Q driver, enabling it to deliver a perfectly timed performance, for better imaging and a tighter sound.LS50 Wireless II is more than a high-performance loudspeaker; it’s the perfect all-in-one speaker system. It reveals every detail of your favourite music, which you stream from any source thanks to wireless compatibility with AirPlay 2, Chromecast and more. As I have been able to write a full and considered review of the passive LS50 Meta, in which I have had the space to go into the driver revisions in some depth, I will not repeat them here. Every improvement that has been made to the passive LS50 is replicated on the active one and they reflect KEF’s near fanatical attention to detail when it comes to the business of driver and cabinet behaviour.

These sonic advancements are not only a credit to KEF's engineering but also representative of how far such speaker system concepts have come in recent years. Needless to say, we look forward to hearing more products using MAT technology in the future. The effect of MAT is clearly heard in the cleanliness of the treble, although the difference in purity can be heard across the frequency range. Mids are cleaner-cut and bass more defined, their extra refinement making the originals sound a touch crude. The whole presentation has been opened out, that extra room not only filled with subtler, more precise detail, but also allowing for greater instrument separation that makes its delivery sound much less congested in comparison. A truly revolutionary tool in the KEF acoustic armoury, Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT™) is a highly complex maze-like structure that absorbs 99% of the unwanted sound from the rear of the driver, eliminating the resulting distortion and providing purer, more natural sound. The LS50 Wireless II sound incredibly well balanced, displaying great stereo separation and a wide enough soundstage to truly fill any room with detailed, clarified audio.

Conclusion

The brand-new dedicated KEF Connect app controls LS50 Wireless II on a day-to-day basis, including intuitive sound settings so you can tune the sound to your own personal tastes. You can even select your favourite source to wake up LS50 Wireless II whenever it comes on, allowing you immediate access to the best sound. We listen to Adrienne Lenker's Symbol and it is a more captivating affair through the Wireless IIs. The extra space between her vocal and the strings is in relative contrast to the originals, where it sounds as though they're fighting against one another for attention. That extra spaciousness isn’t at the expense of cohesiveness either – a hallmark quality of the Uni-Q driver’s tweeter-inside-the-mid/bass-cone design. Feature-wise, the speakers set up very smoothly using an iPhone, and within minutes you are able to stream to these speakers using AirPlay from your phone. It was a great setup experience. I like the touch-panel on the top of the speaker, but it is by no means necessary. The remote works well, but is not quite as well built as the speakers themselves. In our review of the original LS50 Wireless, we noted their “clean and precise” manner and “neatly layered and nicely defined” soundstage. KEF has taken these attributes to another level here. Solid all-rounder I'm using these in a smaller room as desktop speakers, and I wasn't sure if I would have enough space for a separate amplifier. In the end I decided on the all-in-one solution to save space.