Fresh From the Bench: KEF LS50 Meta Loudspeaker. A Material Improvement

In September 2020, British brand KEF updated its extremely popular LS50 speaker design and introduced the LS50 Meta, an improved version of the original LS50 passive design, now featuring a new Uni-Q driver that is coupled to an interesting new metamaterial absorber in the back. audioXpress requested a pair of the loudspeakers for review. Oliver Masciarotte did the listening, and Kent Peterson confirmed their impressions with extensive measurements. This article was originally published in audioXpress, June 2021.

After conducting a serious listening session of the KEF LS50 Meta with Oliver Masciarotte and Pete Quirsfeld, Kent Peterson took the speakers to Warkwyn to determine if their listening impressions could be confirmed with actual measurements. The KEF LS50 Meta was measured at Warkwyn’s facility using the Klippel Near-Field Scanning (NFS) system. This article was originally published in audioXpress, June 2021.

British brand KEF made a splash announcement, confirming the simultaneous introduction of two new LS50 models, updating the extremely popular speaker design. The range now includes the LS50 Meta, an improved version of the original LS50 passive design, now featuring a new Uni-Q driver that is coupled with an interesting new Metamaterial absorber in the back. The other model is an updated LS50 Wireless II, now with support for AirPlay 2, MQA and Roon.

KEF announced the arrival of the Q250c, a smaller, more compact adaptation of the original Q650c, promising increased versatility and enhancing the user experience even further by offering new placement options. The new Q250c speaker is an elegantly designed LCR speaker with even more set-up options to allow effortless integration into any home theater system. Available in 3 different finishes (black, white and walnut), the Q250c retails for $599.99.

Approaching the wireless speaker market while leveraging the technologies and qualities for which a high-end brand is known is not easy, and differentiating a product in a crowded space is even harder. British loudspeaker pioneer KEF now announced the LSX, a compact two-speaker wireless music system with all the convenience and connectivity of the connected world, but with the emotion and detail of true high-resolution stereo. LSX is fully wireless both from source and between the speakers and will feature AirPlay 2 for multi-room streaming from Apple devices in January 2019.

Renowned audio pioneer, KEF announced the launch of their brand-new R Series loudspeakers, a complete, top-to-bottom transformation of their existing R Series speakers. The current R Series is one of the world's most acclaimed loudspeaker ranges and the new series involves no fewer than 1,043 design changes, technological innovations and design improvements. This comprises completely redesigned drivers, including the latest generation of the iconic Uni-Q Driver.