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

Product Information

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. I bought the LS50 Wireless II speakers, mainly to listen to The Archers and route large conference calls through. I never imagined or had any intentions of using them to listen to music through.

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. Even beyond the flawless musical performance, LS50 Wireless II is a breeze to set up thanks to the KEF Connect app. It is intuitive to use with any source in your home, and it allows simple over-the-air firmware updates that bring you new and improved features with the minimum of fuss. 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.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. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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. Audiophiles will be pleased with support for streaming files up to 24-bit/384kHz, as well as MQA and DSD256; but even if you eschew the wonders of Hi-Res Audio in favor of some simple Spotify streaming, you won’t be disappointed by the sound. 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.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.