KEF LS60 Wireless Speakers
REFERENCE AUDIO – WITHAM ESSEX
BOB’s Review Series - No 52 – KEF LS60 Active Wireless Speakers
The new KEF LS60 active wireless speakers are now available for in-store demo. Built and designed by KEF as a part of their 60th anniversary they look very much the part of a modern speaker designed for homes where aesthetic design and cable management is an important factor when choosing audio equipment. It is after all, for much of the time, a piece of furniture that you live with day to day but also in the case of the LS60 miraculously coming to life and playing music from seemingly nowhere.
The KEF LS60s both require a connection to the mains to power their on-board amplifiers and DACs and the Primary speaker requires an ethernet connection. Ideally they should be connected to each other via the supplied lengthy ethernet cable, and that’s it, no other connections are required although a limited amount of other devices can be connected if you wish. They are then capable of streaming from almost anything including AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify and Tidal Connect and they can also be connected to a laptop or a TV. As yet they are not Roon ready, but I believe that is coming in the autumn and personally I can’t wait because Roon is so flexible and user friendly that it will bring an added dimension and flexibility to the use of the LS60. Until then early adopters will have to use the KEF Connect app which does a decent job in allowing you to set up the speakers, connect them to your network and select music.
Setting up these speakers for first and subsequent use requires a connection to your home network, and this this best done with a wired ethernet connection from your network to the Primary (right) speaker and with a wired ethernet connection from the Primary to the Secondary (left) speaker. They will work wirelessly but we always prefer a wired connection to the network for best sound quality and to eliminate dropouts that are unfortunately still common with anything connected wirelessly.
Before setting them up you need to download and use the KEF Connect app on a smart phone or tablet and your smart device must be active on the same network that the LS60 has been connected to. I found this it was reasonably straight forward but it did take a while for the app to first recognise the LS60 on our network and once connected the LS60 immediately undertook a software upgrade that took the best part of 30 minutes to complete following which they were immediately available for use. All in all it took me around 1 hour to unbox them and get them playing after which they were immediately available for use at any time.
The KEF Connect app can be linked, for instance, to your Tidal account which will then be available using the app to select albums, tracks or playlists from Tidal (other streaming services are available). They can also be linked to other wireless speakers such as the KEF LS50 Wireless or their new LSX wireless speakers placed around your home for music in every room, provided they are all on the same network. The LS60 is capable when connected by a wired ethernet connection of streaming high-resolution files up to 24bit/384kHz but connected wirelessly they will only go to 24bit/96kHz files.
The LS60 can stream from the following services Spotify via Spotify Connect, Tidal via Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Deezer, QQ Music via QPlay, Internet Radio and Podcasts. They will support DSD and MQA where available from your network provider.
In real life, having only seen images of the LS60 they are either surprisingly small or much larger than you expected them to be. For me they seem just right for small to medium UK listening rooms but don’t expect them to be smaller and more affordable versions of the established KEF Blades because at just a pound shy of £6,000 they simply cannot compete with them in terms of image size, bass extension, sound quality and room filling delivery especially in larger rooms where the Blades would be the better choice if funds allow. Nonetheless we were pleasantly surprised by their expansive and deep soundstage more than capable of filling the average sized UK room with quality sound in the tradition of KEF speakers, especially those now containing their newly developed Meta technology. They are detailed, engaging, punchy and thoroughly entertaining but don’t expect the deepest of bass response because the cabinets are quite small, and they will have competition from larger stand mount speakers for bass extension.
They currently come in just three colours, blue, white, and grey and they measure 1042mm tall x 130mm wide x 321mm deep without the plinths which add 48mm to the height, 82mm to the width and 73mm to the depth. They weigh 62.4kg per pair so they are surprisingly heavy, probably all the electronics housed inside the substantial cabinets. The Primary speaker has inputs for HDMI eARC, TOSLINK Optical, Digital Coaxial, one Analog RCA, USB Type A (for service only), RJ45 Ethernet (network connection) and RJ45 Ethernet (interspeaker connection) and the Primary also has a sub out on RCA.
They come with a remote control, power leads and a 10m ethernet lead to connect the Primary to the Secondary speaker and also with optional floor spikes. They do come with a quick start guide that basically only tells you to download the KEF Connect App and follow its instructions so don’t look to it for much guidance, the days of good old paper manuals seems long gone now. You must have the speakers powered up and connected to the network and to each other before doing this.
The LS60s both need to be connected to the mains supply as these are active speakers. They do of course include the now ubiquitous KEF Uni-Q driver array comprising a 19mm aluminium dome tweeter set within the throat of the 100mm aluminium cone mid driver, but where the LS60 differ is by having a pair of 135mm low frequency force cancelling drivers set on both sides of each speaker cantered on the Uni-Q driver for as near as possible a point source delivery, in every respect similar to the trend set by the Blades. They cover a frequency range from 31Hz to 24kHz, not bad for a small floor standing speaker and are driven internally by built in 500w amplifiers for the low frequency drivers and 100w amps for mid and high frequency drivers.
Once set up they look remarkably cool, I can easily see our demo pair in white taking pride of place in any modern living room. They sound just like bigger versions of the LS50 Wireless but with a wider and more involving soundstage and of course deeper bass. Our demo pair are brand new, so I expect them to loosen up a bit after 25 hours or more of playing music but fresh from the box they sounded really very good. They do need some free space around them, particularly at the sides because of those side firing drivers but they shouldn’t be too difficult to accommodate in most listening rooms. Because no other equipment is needed, they deliver music seemingly from nowhere, something that was inconceivable only a few years ago and this makes them perfect for those ‘lifestyle’ homes where clutter is banished.
If you keep your expectations under control and don’t expect the LS60 to be a lite version of a Blade then these rather remarkable speakers might just be what you are looking for. Call us to book a demo anytime.
Bob – Team Reference Audio