KEF LS50 Meta Bookshelf Speaker

LS50 META

Bookshelf Loudspeakers

LS50 Meta is a highly precise, emotionally engaging loudspeaker built on revolutionary acoustic technology. Designed around the Uni-Q 12th Generation with Metamaterial Absorption Technology driver array, this solid, compact loudspeaker is capable of delivering detailed sound anywhere in the room.

全球首款应用Metamaterial 的扬声器

LS50 Meta 应用了革命性技术，将纯净动人的音色完全呈现，缔造犹如置身现场的音效。配备 Metamaterial Absorption Technology 的第 12 代 Uni-Q 同轴共点单元，还原度更精准，体积小巧的 LS50 Meta 也能使房间的任何位置成为最佳聆听位。

5 STAR REVIEW – WHAT HI-FI? SOUND AND VISION

“KEF has taken an excellent speaker and made it even better with its innovative Metamaterial tech. The LS50 Metas are now the class leader at this level.” — September 2020

LS50 Meta

Every note. Every word. Every detail.

一音。一词。细致无极限

The World's First Speakers with Metamaterial

Great loudspeakers disappear, leaving just the music. LS50 Meta is such a loudspeaker. The incredibly immersive sound means you lose yourself in your favourite music. Savouring every nuance as layer upon layer of instrumentation is delivered with exceptional acoustic accuracy anywhere in the room.

当先应用 Metamaterial 的扬声器

真正出色的扬声器能将原音及乐器的层次感重现，让您彷彿置身音乐会现场，完全沉醉于音乐世界裡，忘却了扬声器的存在。LS50 Meta就是如此，其还原度更精准，使房间的任何位置都是最佳聆听位。

Performance

Most accurate, immersive sound

音效

准确、浑然逼真

Metamaterial Absorption Technology

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.

革命性技术奠定了KEF于声学工程科技中的地位。Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) 结构尤如一个高度复杂的迷宫，能消除99%于高音单元后方所产生的杂音，带来更高解析的真实自然音效。

Every spot is the sweet spot
12th generation Uni-Q with MAT

Using advanced simulation and analysis tools, our engineers have developed the 12th generation Uni-Q with MAT. This new driver array delivers reduced colouration, less distortion and a sound that is more transparent and life-like than previously possible, all dispersed evenly throughout the room.

最佳聆听位无处不在
配备 MAT 的第 12 代 Uni-Q 同轴共点单元

KEF 工程师通过先进模拟分析工具，硏发出配备 MAT 技术的第 12 代 Uni-Q同轴共点单元。全新单元能有效降低杂音、减少失真，带来前所未有干净、清澈的立体声，均匀覆盖房间的每个角落。

Enhancement from legendary LS50 Lineage

Great loudspeakers disappear, leaving just the music. LS50 Meta is such a loudspeaker, and enhancements over the legendary LS50 include Driver Performance Optimisation and patented off-set flexible port for the best acoustic performance and an incredible immersive sound.

延续 LS50 的顶尖之作

真正出色的扬声器能将原音及乐器的层次感重现，让您彷彿置身音乐会现场。作为久负盛名 LS50 系列打造顶尖之作，高解析音效归功于强大的单元，专利弹性反射孔亦进行了提升，缔造超乎想像的音色，完全沉醉于音乐世界里，忘却了扬声器的存在。

Curved for performance

LS50 Meta’s low-diffraction, curved baffle is precision modelled around the Uni-Q driver array. Its smooth curved surfaces help radiate sound out across the baffle without any interference from hard edges, which cause diffraction. The result is cleaner, more precise sound.

弧型提升音效

LS50 Meta 的 Uni-Q 同轴共点单元以低衍射的高度铸模曲面障板包围，其平滑的弧型设计，能有效减少因音箱边缘角位所造成的衍射干扰，让音效更精准地均匀分布。

Braced for action

LS50 Meta’s baffle is engineered from an injection-moulded Dough Moulding Compound (DMC), while inside the cabinet cross bracing and Constrained Layer Damping (CLD) combine to deaden internal vibrations. The result of such meticulous attention to detail is the lowest colouration of any speaker in its class.

随时准备大显身手

LS50 Meta 的障板是采用汽车工业常见的团状模塑胶(DMC)注模塑型制成，音箱内配合交错支撑结构及约束阻尼层 (CLD) ，有效消除结构振动与噪音。严谨细致地专注所有细节，使 LS50 Meta 于同类产品中，相对杂音最少的扬声器。

Flexible port

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the port flare and profile of LS50 Meta’s patented off-set port is calculated to delay the onset of turbulence, and the flexible port walls prevent resonances from colouring the midrange. This leads to improved clarity, with exceptional depth and detail.

弹性反射孔

LS50 Meta 的专利弹性反射孔以电脑流体力学 (CFD) 辅助计算而成，端口的突波与设定档能减缓干扰，降低共振效应对中频音造成的杂音，展现更清澈的音色，以及绝佳的音质深度与细节。

Design

Attention to every detail

Every aspect of LS50 Meta has been considered for acoustic benefits and from a design perspective. The low-diffraction curved front baffle is subtly mirrored by the gently radiused rear panel, where both the port exit and speaker terminals have been elegantly recessed and softened visually.

设计

细节完美呈现

为打造高解析音质，LS50 Meta的外型设计亦是其中一环重要元素。正面弧形轮廓与后方面板圆角巧妙地相映对称，连接埠与扬声器端子位置恰到好处，视觉上更显利落大方。

Designed for performance

LS50 Meta may look sensational, but as a high-performance loudspeaker every aspect of its design is a case of form following function. From the precision modelled curved baffle to the solid, reinforced cabinet, every inch of LS50 Meta has been designed to perform.

追求设计及音色的坚持

LS50 Meta拥有独特出众的外型，从高精准度铸模曲面障板，到强化耐用音箱，LS50 Meta完美展现对设计及音色追求的坚持。

Finished to perfection

LS50 Meta is much more than just a utilitarian loudspeaker; it is a piece of sculpture that livens up your life. This is why we offer a choice of four finishes, Carbon Black, Titanium Grey, Mineral White, and Royal Blue Special Edition.

时尚颜色

我们深信，LS50 Meta 不仅是一款功能齐全的顶尖扬声器，更是一款能点缀居家空间的艺术品。提供四款别具风格的颜色以供选择，包括碳黑、钛灰、矿石白、及皇家蓝特别版。

MODEL
LS50 Meta 

DESIGN
Two-way bass reflex 

DRIVE UNITS
Uni-Q Driver Array:
HF: 25 mm (1 in.) vented aluminium dome with Metamaterial Absorption Technology
MF/LF: 130 mm (5.25 in.) aluminium cone 

CROSSOVER FREQUENCY
2,1 kHz 

FREQUENCY RANGE (-6DB)
47 Hz - 45 kHz 

TYPICAL IN-ROOM BASS RESPONSE (-6DB)
26 Hz 

FREQUENCY RESPONSE (±3DB)
79 Hz - 28 kHz 

HARMONIC DISTORTION (90DB, 1M)
<0,4% 175 Hz - 20 kHz
<0,1% 300 Hz - 10 kHz 

MAXIMUM OUTPUT
106 dB 

AMPLIFIER POWER (RECOMMENDED)
40-100 W 

NOMINAL IMPEDANCE
8 Ω (min. 3,5 Ω) 

SENSITIVITY (2.83V/1M)
85 dB 

WEIGHT*
7.8 kg (17.2 lbs.) 

DIMENSION (H X W X D) WITH TERMINAL*
302 x 200 x 280.5 mm (11.9 x 7.9 x 11.0 in.)

Review photo uploaded 4/8/2023-(3)

KEF LS50 Meta review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2020 winner. These standmounters set new standards at the price Tested at £1000 / $1499 / AU$2495

By What Hi-Fi? 24 days ago

OUR VERDICT

KEF has taken an excellent speaker and made it even better with its innovative Metamaterial tech. The LS50 Metas are now the class leader at this level

FOR

• Exceptional sonic transparency
• Subtle and precise presentation
• Innovative technology

KEF launched the original LS50s as an anniversary celebration back in 2012. These standmounters proved a huge success, so much so that they have continued in production pretty much untouched since then.

Eight years is a long run by any standards, but it was made possible by a combination of sound quality, build and aesthetics that remains highly appealing today. That hasn’t stopped the company’s engineers from having a fresh look, however, and the result is the LS50 Metas we have on test here.

Build

(Image credit: KEF)

The LS50 Metas don’t look any different from the LS50s, and in many ways they aren’t. The company considered revising that beautifully made enclosure but concluded that little could be improved.

The cabinet shape and size still works well, and the curved front panel – made of Dough Moulding Compound: a polyester resin combined with glass fibre and calcium carbonate – continues to make for an impressively rigid and well-controlled foundation for the Uni-Q drive unit array.

The rest of the box is made from MDF, which is heavily braced and carefully damped to minimise any resonances. The LS50 Metas are available in four finishes – Mineral White, Carbon Black, Titanium Grey and a Royal Blue Special Edition.

The only obvious changes are to the back panel, which has been tidied up. The fixing holes for the front baffle retention bolts have disappeared, and there has also been some cosmetic detailing to make it all look neater.

The one area ripe for improvement was the LS50’s Uni-Q driver array, where the tweeter sits in the throat of the mid/bass unit. This has been thoroughly reworked, taking in all the refinements that KEF has developed over the past eight years and adding something new in the form of Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT).

MAT is KEF’s way of coping with the sound that comes off the back of the 25mm aluminium tweeter dome. In a conventional design, this sound usually fires into a chamber behind the dome where it is mostly absorbed by damping material. But some sound energy always bounces back through the dome to add distortion.

Here, the rearward sound feeds into something about the size of a hockey puck that looks like a plastic circular maze. It is layered and made up of 30 tubes, each tuned to absorb a different frequency. KEF claims that, once combined, the tubes absorb a wide range of frequencies – from around 600Hz upwards – much more effectively than alternate methods. The result should be cleaner, less distorted highs.

Compatibility

There have been tweaks to the crossover to take all the drive unit changes into account. Aside from a slight shift in crossover frequency – from 2.2kHz to 2.1kHz – the specifications look identical.

These aren’t particularly sensitive speakers, at a rated 85dB/W/m, and the minimum impedance is just 3.5 ohms, so it makes sense to partner them with an amplifier that has a bit of grunt.

We suggest Cambridge’s CXA81 integrated with a suitably capable source, though such are the LS50 Meta’s capabilities that you could easily use the likes of Naim’s SuperNait 3, and the speakers wouldn’t be limiting.

At just 30cm tall, these KEFs are pretty compact, but don’t be tempted to stuff them in a bookshelf or right up against a wall. They won’t sulk if you do, but they will sound a lot better if placed around 50cm into a room and well away from the sidewalls.

Sound

It doesn’t take long to realise that the LS50s have improved significantly. While the basic sonic character is instantly familiar, the new ones have gained a level of clarity and finesse the originals only hinted at.

Listening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, we’re soon marvelling at the LS50 Meta’s delicacy and precision. They sound so much more transparent than before and manage to render low-level details, such as instrumental textures, much more convincingly.

It’s a surprisingly full-bodied presentation with a good degree of authority for such compact speakers. Still, there’s only so deep a 13cm magnesium/aluminium mid/bass unit in a smallish, 30cm-tall cabinet can go. Stretch to the likes of the Award-winning and larger three-way KEF R3s (£1300, $2000, AU$3625) and you’ll get notably more in the way of low-frequency reach and punch. But you don’t get the LS50 Meta’s insight, delicacy or top-end refinement.

It looks like the Metamaterial technology really works. These new KEFs sound so much cleaner and more sophisticated than before, particularly at higher frequencies. These Metas make the excellent R3s sound congested and ham-fisted in comparison, and that’s a real shock.

Large-scale dynamics are handled well and there’s a good amount of muscle for a speaker of this size. These are refined and composed performers that rarely sound stressed unless volume levels are high.

There’s little to complain about when it comes to tonality. The KEFs sound smooth and balanced while still having enough in the way of high-frequency bite. They will reveal the shortcomings in poor recordings, but don’t go out of their way to be nasty.

KEF’s Uni-Q designs tend to image well by their very nature, and these speakers are no different. The LS50 Metas generate an expansive and tightly focused soundstage where the instruments are layered convincingly. We’re also impressed by the image’s stability when the music gets demanding.

We switch to Neneh Cherry’s Blank Project and these KEFs continue to shine. Their detailed and clear midrange performance makes the most of Cherry’s passionate vocals, delivering dynamic nuances and subtle shifts in timing superbly. There’s a good degree of punch to the bass and the KEFs render rhythms in a surefooted manner. We’ve heard more enthusiastic rivals, but none that can match the KEF’s many and varied range of strengths.

Verdict

We’ve always loved the LS50s and this new version takes their performance to a notably higher level. We think KEF is on to something with the Metamaterial technology and can’t wait to see how it develops. As things stand, that tech and all the other work KEF’s engineers have put into the Uni-Q array has propelled the LS50 Metas to the head of the class at this level. Buy them with confidence.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Compatibility 5
• Build 5