Customer Ratings & Reviews

So my situation was a reconfiguration of our small room, so my tower speakers (tannoy platinum) had to go. After many weeks of research and reading I decded on the LS-50 Meta's. I listened to the next model down in the store and was well impressed (Q1 Meta). Ultimately I chose to spend the extra money on these. Specs can be deceiving, so I listened to both in my room. I am running a Marantz Model 40n to power them. This produces the lower end of what I would power them with. Its about 100watts plus at 4ohms, but the can handle WAY more power and from what I have read will just sound better and better with more quality power. Remember these are actually a 4ohm minus speaker dipping to 3.2 so feed them as well as uou can. One reviewer ran them with 300watts per channel 8ohm and 600watts per channel 4ohm. His words were that these speakers really "woke" up with the extra current. This is one of the reasons I chose them. I have probably 30+ hrs on them but thet will need 200+ hours to be broken in and sound optimal. The one thing I can say, is these spekers deliver what's in the recirding. They are very revealing and can dissapear when properly setup. I am running them with dual 6" sealed aubwoofers. Many times I listen without the subs and have been suprised by the dynamics and bass. If you want small bookshelf's that can grow with any upgrades to your system (and power you give them), look no furter than KEF. LS-50's for the win!!

Awesome speakers, great sound and drop-dead gorgeous!

Almost bought the q350 until I saw it in the store. The finish looked a bit cheap. So I got the meta instead. Much better finish quality. I actually had the original ls50 a few years back. I was originally a bit disappointed with the sound at first. Image size was a bit small and vocalists seemed a bit recessed. But after switching out a modern integrated amp with a vintage marantz 140 power amp directly feed by a wiim mini and smsl Dac the sound is now big and spacious. Small 8 inch sub adds just enough bass.

For the sale price these are amazing. They look as great as they sound as well.

Phenomenal product!! Kef never lets me down! Crisp and clear sound. Also, packs a punch.

Sounds good with mono block amplifier and subwoofers and cd player is best

Polk r200 is too muddy. Sounds submerged. Focal Chora was nice at low volume, but when loud, ears get irritated because of its treble, sounds hissy. Elac UBR62 had a hollow, weak sound. This kef, sounds the best, clear, fills the room with ambient sound, and tv voices sound good too.

Compared the LS50 Meta to the B&W 606 S3. The LS50’s need to be paired with a Subwoofer while the 606’s can be manageable without due to driver size. Both are very clear and precise. Will defiantly spend many hours listening to Tidal to figure out what Sounds better to me.

These speakers look nice and sound even better, but if you are looking for high SPL, look somewhere else. They are all about naturalness and not loudness.

Amazing speakers sounds very good I do love how sounds with my smsl pa200 is a very good pair with that amp

It sounds phenomenal. I will definitely recommend. 

I reviewed these in another color so what follows is my review of the pair in grey: This speaker is among the top bookshelf speakers. The sound field is wide and extremely coherent. The build quality is excellent and the appearance is beautiful. It comes in a wide range of colors allowing for ease of fitting into any decor. It can be very difficult to find audiophile level speakers that can fit a wide variety of decors and thus please a discriminating spouse. The size of these is not obtrusive yet they sound much larger than they are. The build is solid and heavy. They measure very flat and smooth. You do need to add a subwoofer for the low end so that should be part of your budget. At roughly $1,500 a pair, they are not cheap but you definitely get what you pay for as there aren't many speakers at this price point that sound as good or are as well made.

I was skeptical about this speaker. Ive been trying to find speakers that can do music and Home theater duties. I pitted it against powered studio monitors like, Kali audio In-8, Adam Auido A4v, a7v,t5v, Focal evo 65,80, shape twin 65 and Barefoot footprint 03's. I tried all of those speakers (except barefoot) before purchasing and was surprised so i thought i would buy the barefoot as they were a bit more $$$ than the kefs, so i returned the kefs trusting the barefoots would be way better, they weren't thats when I realized how good the KEF'S are. They have great Imaging, layering, detail. These have great dispersion and require less EQ correction to get them to sound right!

This speaker is among the top bookshelf speakers. The sound field is wide and extremely coherent. The build quality is excellent and the appearance is beautiful. It comes in a wide range of colors allowing for ease of fitting into any decor. It can be very difficult to find audiophile level speakers that can fit a wide variety of decors and thus please a discriminating spouse. The size of these is not obtrusive yet they sound much larger than they are. The build is solid and heavy. They measure very flat and smooth. You do need to add a subwoofer for the low end so that should be part of your budget. At roughly $1,500 a pair, they are not cheap but you definitely get what you pay for as there aren't many speakers at this price point that sound as good or are as well made.

You’ve read and seen all the online reviews. And yet you’re still on the fence, looking for reassurance on a decision you already made. I’m here to tell you: just do it. You’re going to love them. The soundstage, the clarity, the crispness and the definition of sound is all there, right in front of you, line never before. I replaced my beloved Elacs Uni-Fi UB5 with these bad boys. It’s just another existential level: from wanting to, to actually being able to experience music with you soul. In retrospective, I needed the entry level Elacs for a few years in order to be ready for the LS50 Meta. But there is no turning back. Actually, there’s now other place to go, at least for me. The Search Is Over, as Steve Perry would have said. A few of things I learned from endless hours of research, and which I can confirm are true: 1) The LS 50 Meta are very efficient. The Elacs were power hungry, the Meta just go way further with less power. 2) I’m sorry, but you’re going to need a subwoofer. There’s no way around it. For all their magic, the Metas need that extra help. And you should not just take your son’s subwoofer. You don’t want to put ketchup to this kind of premium meat. You’re going to have to make space in your budget for some descent SVS, and then you’ll taste the ice cream and melt it with chocolate fudge. 3) Wireless II or Meta? If you already have the receiver and accessories, just bring your favorite Blue Jeans cables and go Meta. They are the real future proof option. I mean, how many changes in Bluetooth technology have we seen in the last few years? You get my point. Now, if you just want to Spotify from your iPhone (because you don’t even do Tidal) and have no other equipment, well then, I don’t think you’re ready for either, but if you must and you can, then go Wireless II. You’ll save money in total and they will last you longer than your current iPhone 12.

These speakers are far and away beyond anything I’ve ever heard. The amplifier you pair them with does make a difference, but every amp I’ve connected to them so far has made them sound absolutely brilliant. I’ve paired mine with a Denon AVR-X3900H and a Marantz Cinema 50, and I purchased five LS50 Metas for a full 5.1 setup. They sound fantastic turned all the way up, but what really surprised me is how good they sound at very low volumes. They retain an incredible amount of clarity and detail even when you’re listening quietly. For music, I’ve found the absolute best listening experience is Multi Channel Stereo with the center channel turned all the way down. That lets the four LS50 Metas create an incredibly immersive music presentation without pulling the vocals and instruments into the center speaker. If you aren’t going to listen to music this way, though, you probably don’t need to spend the money on LS50 Metas for the rear channels. One important note: these speakers really need a subwoofer, so don’t judge them without one.

These were paired with an NAD M10V2 - 100 watts. Listening mostly to Qobuz high-res music. I started my speaker journey with Martin Login Motion 4i's around Christmas and returned them for not enough bass. I didn't expect a lot but just wasn't enough. I traded those for KEF Q150s. They were a big improvement but did not have not enough detail. After reading audiophile reviews on the Sony SSCS5s, I thought I'd try those, and took them back the next day after listening. Not sure why the rave reviews on those. Sounded flat to me. Then I purchased the KEF LS50 Meta's in beautiful blue and gold, The blue was lighter than expected but still very nice. Wish they were a darker slate blue to match the online pictures. The speakers sounded really good at low volume but seemed to get a little muddy at higher volumes. There is a preponderance of midrange and the roll off sound of voices and high notes was just not what I was looking for. There was plenty of detailed bass produced in my home office environment, in fact I had to plug the ports due to placement near the wall. There is also great soundstage. Something I hadn't really experienced before and is really pleasing. Compared to the Q150s, these are much clearer, but maybe not as much depth to the music. If you prefer midrange sound I think you will love the KEFs. I think I'm more of a two-way vee shaped listener so returned the LS50 Metas and bought the JBL L52s instead. Much happier with the JBL sound and musical depth for my setting. The JBLs sound much bigger than they are. Better separation of bass and treble. Cool retro look. Great bass. Will I keep the JBLs? Can't say yet but I like these best out of what I have sampled.

These sound wonderful with home theater and especially music. I used them without room correction in my attic room and they sound very natural. The imaging is great. The sound is cohesive.

I am using these as near field speakers on my computer desk. You need a big desk for this and you should put them up on stands but they are fantastic for this use. The coaxial drivers give a wide soundstage and large sweet spot. I do not need to toe these in at all they sound best straight on or even slightly toed out. They are at their best when paired with a subwoofer but are fine on their own especially in a near field setting. If they are near a wall the bass can be too loud and boomy so use the port plugs to tone it down. When I play music with my desktop DAC and digital monoblock amps it sounds amazing. For gaming they are incredible. The wide soundstage allows noises in the game to sound almost surround like. These are terrific speakers. If you are on the fence just buy them!!!

These speakers have been a great step up in my music setup. Previously, I had the Q150s, which were nice, but the clarity and soundstage of the these blow the Q150s out of the water. That said, I would not suggest these speakers for those looking for a lot of bass unless you intend of pairing them with a subwoofer.