![]() But realistically, most competent modern amplifiers will work well. KEF is often demonstrated with Hegel at the moment, and this happens to be an excellent combination. That means the LS50 Meta follows the LS50 in being relatively undemanding a load 85dB sensitivity isn’t ‘high’ and that – coupled with a minimum impedance of around 3.5 ohms – means a little more care and attention in partnering is required. The drive unit itself has been re-engineered to reflect eight years of R&D.Īn essentially ‘new’ Uni-Q driver requires a new crossover network, but these appear relatively minimal, with just a mild change to the crossover frequency, down by 100Hz to 2.1kHz. Meaning the already inert cabinet is even less likely to sing along with the tweeter, making a sound that is less distorted at high frequencies and high levels. The 30 tubes inside this MAT are designed to absorb different frequencies from about 600Hz on up, in the process reducing rear resonance firing into the cabinet itself. ![]() This is an internally mounted labyrinth behind the aluminium tweeter at the acoustic centre of the Uni-Q cone. The most significant of these changes is ‘MAT’ (short for Metamaterial Absorption Technology). No, the changes are more to do with the Uni-Q driver itself and the crossover network, and both of these are extremely difficult to see even on close inspection. But the only real changes are additional colourways, such as the Royal Blue version I received. The cabinet has been cleaned up slightly, but you really need a pair of original LS50s in a side-by-side comparison to spot the cleaner rear panel (no more visible bolt holes holding the front baffle in place). The LS50 Meta has the same form-factor, the same basic cabinet construction (a resin/GRP compound to produce the gently curved front baffle, with a braced MDF cabinet for the rear and sides). Few of the LS50’s peers from 2012 are still around in their same iterations, but it’s something of a testament to the original LS50 design that it took until the latter part of 2020 for its LS50 Meta replacement to roll out, and on the face of it, differences are minimal in the extreme. If, as Rab Butler said, “a week is a long time in politics”, then nine years is a lifetime for a loudspeaker. Originally inspired by the LS3/5a but brought very much up to date with KEF’s latest Uni-Q driver array, the small, high-performance stand-mount has been the loudspeaker to beat since it first appeared almost nine years ago. Unless you have been spending WAY too long in your man-cave in recent years, you will have heard at least something about the KEF LS50 in all its active and passive guises.
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