KEF LS50 Meta Passive Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Titanium Grey)

The media could not be loaded. Endgame stereo monitors. Period. If you want the highest quality, best sound, and pristine aesthetics, look no further than these KEF monitors. I have paid way more many other brands, but nothing beats the value for dollar of these KEFs. They are the perfect size for almost any room small to large, and I’ve ever heard of folks using them as desk monitors. You cannot go wrong with these speakers. I’m running them with a Wiim ultra and Fosi monoblocks and have had zero issue with distortion, peaking, sound quality. Exceptional speakers for any space. Would highly recommend these!

Love ‘em. The most amazing thing about these speakers is that, by design, they are both time and phase coherent. So what? Well, that means on a good recording, you can hear exactly where the vocalists and instruments are placed in three dimensions. You can even hear different voices within acquire and different instruments within an orchestra very well. They also nail the dynamics of percussion like nothing I’ve ever heard in this price range.I don’t consider Stereophile magazine to be the absolute reference, but I do put some credibility in their reviews. They include the speakers in the “restricted low frequency” section of their recommended components in “Class A,” and some of the reviewers use them as their reference speakers. That is saying a lot, considering that many of their recommended speakers cost more than the average new car today.I’ve used them with extremely good separate components by Audio Research and McIntosh, but you don’t have to have that quality of electronics for these to sound excellent. I use them with a pair of subwoofers, but I have turned the subwoofers almost all way down, and they still have extremely good bass although not at the lowest octaves. I think the mids and highs are amazing too, especially considering that they use metal drivers. I got really turned off on metal tweeters by a pair of B&W speakers I had, but these exhibit, none of the sizzle and ringing that those did. Further, I think they’re great for almost any genre of music, from Black Sabbath to Beethoven.I have since upgraded my speakers because I got an incredible deal on a pair of Evolutions, but from time to time I consider swapping these back in because there’s something about them I kinda still miss. That said, I’m not selling them. They literally are the types of components that I know I would regret if I ever got rid of them.

Still breaking these in.First impression: Very, very nice for orchestral music, especially strings. Strings of all kinds sound amazing: guitar, lute, violin--they're just amazing from Paul O'Dette to Prince.I agree with the assessment that these speakers have a richer lower range than the Anniversary monitor LS50s, to which they are kin in style, size, and precision.I adored and still adore the original Anniversary LS50s for their clarity and dispassion. They rock for transmitting the human voice--sopranos never sounded clearer or more accurate: Absolute faithfulness to the recording, no color added.The Metas are very similar, except--and I haven't read this elsewhere--they seem tonally warmer. Maybe that's in the expanded perception of a lower range.I am powering the Metas with a refined Yamaha Natural Sound AS-2000 amp. I revised my setting on Spotify to maximum data and turned off equalization for greater dynamics. There is no point in having speakers that can tell you the whole story of your music unless you feed them lossless or as close as you can come to that.My Yamaha Super Audio CD player provides excellent source material for these Metas. (I have too much invested in this CD collection to dump it or sell it.)I find Yamaha's best components provide subtlety in addition to power.I haven't tried yet the Metas' performance with my monstrous, higher-powered AdCom565SE amp. Familiar with a vast lineup of KEF speakers, I know KEFs like to drink up the juice.I can listen to these speakers for hours, the pleasure in hearing more is so satisfying!Meanwhile, I endorse this suggestion, echoed from other reviewers: Metas will sing their ohms best from an A or AB class amplifier with 80 or more watts per channel, connected with 12 gauge low or no oxygen genuine copper wire. Will they run on less power? Yes. It's not the mere power that counts, it's the quality.In any case, it seems unlikely a keen listener will be disappointed in these Metas.You might also want to crack a window. Right out of the box, and for a few days afterward, there is a very strong chemical odor--smells like epoxy, but probably a proprietary magic material KEF invented to house thIs genius.

I have a 12 x 13 ft. home gym with two Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II main speakers and an SVS SB-3000 subwoofer. But I wanted a more immersive stereo sound for my music listening to keep me motivated through my morning workouts.After much research (with extensive help from AI chat agents like Copilot, Perplexity and Gemini), I selected these KEF speakers to use on the opposite wall from my Sonus Fabers. And WOW. I feel like I work out inside a set of headphones. Total immersion, and beautiful, audiophile musicality fills my ears.It turns out the KEFs and Sonus Fabers are a very good match for this type of setup. I doubt I would have been happy with just the KEFs as the Sonus Fabers naturally deliver a much bigger presence (they are floorstanding and 8x the cost of the KEFs). But the pin-point imaging and wide soundstage of the KEFs, along with their neutral and precise sound, complements the warmer, more embracing sound of the Sonus Fabers. Together they are like magic. Pure bliss. Thank you, KEF!

These things sound amazing. It you want to take them to the next level, and a REL HT1205 sub. It’s one heck of a setup when considering the footprint.