Nad c328 thinking of adding Kef ls50, opinions?

Hi all, I've recently upgraded my amp ( was a cheap Monoprice 25 watt tube amp) to a Nad C328. This system was put together on a budget to get back into my vinyl and cassette collection that had been stored away for some time. I've come to use this system a lot and it's become my main music listening system.

What's started the upgrade bug was going to a local audio shop (Planet of Sound) and they let my daughter and I listen to their insanely expensive system with no one else around Both of us were blown away by what we were hearing. Essentially sounded like we were in the same room with the musicians. I'm trying to replicate that at a fraction of the cost, literally. I think the speakers alone are in the 20k range.

First to go was the Amp. Had a bad hum and was the weakest link in the chain in my opinion.

It now consists of these components: Amp-Nad C328, Speakers-Kef q100, TT-Audio Technica lp120 , Tape deck-Nad 613 , Sony mini disc player, and a Chrome Cast audio.

Now that I've upgraded my amp I'm looking at my speakers. My budget is 1k ( Can). Recently the Kef ls50 went on sale below the 1k price point. They seem to be the reference book shelf speaker at that price point but I keep reading how they need a BEEFY AMP WITH 100 WATTS MINIMUM! I'm not listening at a loud volume most of the time and unless I'm having people over or I'm home alone.

What do you all think, should my Nad be able to do them justice?
Thanks in advance.

 

Bump

 

Not sure the NAD will let the LS50s shine. KEF powers the active version with 230 watts per side and they sound worlds better than most can do with the passive version for the same money.

Have you considered adding a sub to your setup to get a more full range (and lifelike) sound?

 

Are they going to sit on that cabinet like your current speakers? If so, I wouldn’t worry too much about your speakers.

 

Because? Vibrations, records skipping?

Not crazy about a black box sitting in the living room, and the wife much less so. Tough sell for sure, I guess I could try hiding it in a corner, but then there's a cable to conceal too. I'll try grabbing a sub off my home theater system and seeing how much difference it makes overall. But really I'd like to keep the footprint limited to the credenza.

 

I just don’t think any speaker is going to perform that well sitting on top of a cabinet like that.

LS50’s benefit greatly from a heavy stand under them and proper placement. I’d rather your KEF’s properly placed in a room than 5 figure speakers placed on a Credenza.

 

Unfortunately I'm space constrained. Having stands would limit access to the windows behind the credenza. It's quite a heavy unit and it's full of records. I haven't noticed it vibrating or rattling.

 

i get it and respect that you’re choosing a livable space with good tunes over the ultimate stereo rig with a mess of cables and 10 shelves. I just wouldn’t spend any money to upgrade the speakers, if it were me.

 

Just enough to squeeze through to deal with the curtains or close/open the windows. If I had towers or stands it would make it impossible without tilting or moving them out of the way. Not ideal.

 

Do you think having them on the credenza will compromise them that much?
In reality I'm not unhappy right now, Just trying to add some oomph and new shiney.

 

Of course I am one guy on the internet with my own experiences....someone else may feel differently...but if you think of the sound dispersion of the driver as an orb around the speaker, imagine what that placement is doing to that dispersion pattern. I’d even be interested to see what happens if you pull the speakers forward so that the front baffle is beyond the plane of the credenza.

Like most things in audio, better usually means uglier and less livable (in my experience). Again, I think properly positioning speakers in an acoustic space is far more important than the gear.

My experience living with LS50’s for a few years was that they responded greatly to heavy, well positioned stands and lots of power. Your value proposition may be different than mine, but the answer to your original question, in my opinion, is that the LS50 upgrade would not be worth it.

When I first got my LS50’s I was disappointed. Then I ordered some Skylan stands and it made a big difference, but I didn’t feel they were as good as I’d hoped for. After that, I swapped my Rega Brio-R for a Yamaha A-S2000 and that was a fantastic pairing. Ultimately I moved on as the LS50s can’t do scale naturally in the way that I prefer. I guess I’m blabbering on to say that I don’t think the LS50 would be worth it unless you’re going to really make the most of them, with stands, placement and amplification. I appreciate the desire for new shiny toys though!

 

I used to have my speakers on a very large and heavy credenza. I thought it was pretty stable and inert so didn't think it impacted the sound much.

When I finally got stands I realized that I was wrong - they definitely were impacting the sound.

All of that said, I think the system still sounded great, and it wasn't like I couldn't hear differences between speakers. So an upgrade to LS50's may be worth it...but they definitely would sound different on proper stands. So all this is to say that ideally you would get to try in your room before you buy. There is no way to know for sure otherwise.

I would also want to try because you aren't sure the amp is a good match. I once had LS50's in my system for a weekend and they were way too bass heavy and flabby sounding. May have been a mismatch, or they may have been too close to my wall (another possible issue for you). I only had them for two days and didn't have time to make many adjustments.

 

Very valid points, I appreciate the honest opinions. Perhaps I should leave good enough alone.

If I do decide to get them I'll make sure it's from somewhere I can return them too if I'm not happy with the results.

 

Can you expand on what you mean by this- "Ultimately I moved on as the LS50s can’t do scale naturally in the way that I prefer"

 

They are small speakers that sound bigger than they are but I have found, for my taste, that I prefer larger cabinets and drivers.

 

Sitting on a credenza (with a turntable vibrating along with the music) with reflective windows behind them is not suitable for audio. Very pretty room though! Maybe put an La-Z-Boy chair in there for reading with natural light and go with some headphones there and put the audio system somewhere else. If you must, at least get those KEFS off the credenza and wall mount them on either side of the windows or on stands in front of the credenza. Upgrading would be a waste of money if set up like that. It would be like putting cheap snow tires on a Ferrari and using it to pull a trailer.

 

In my opinion NAD C328 would be inadequate for KEF LS50s since it’s only capable of delivering 40W into both 8 and 4 Ohm.
LS50s impedance goes down as low as 3.2 Ohm in low and high frequencies. When speakers‘ impedance drops from 8 to 4 Ohm they require the amp to provide them with double power. If the amp can’t give that you will hear lack of bass and distortion in high frequencies.
I used to have NAD D3020 dac/amp with similar specs and sold it due to the above issues.
If you get an amp that can deliver 40W into 8 ohm and 80W into 4 Ohm - that would work much much better with LS50s, although still won’t sound as good as it can at realistic volume levels due to LS50s’ low sensitivity.

 

I was just about to write the exact same things

 

I don't mean to tell you how to spend or not spend your money, but I'll say that, personally, I've found the combination of an NAD integrated amp (C 368 in my case) and KEF Q100 speakers to be surprisingly pleasing. Like you, I have slightly complicated placement issues: the only place for the speakers in my living room is on a built-in bookshelf that flanks the fireplace (I have one speaker on each side). There are lower cabinets that are deeper than the upper bookshelves, so I'm able to give the speakers roughly a foot of space from the wall, better than nothing, but no one would say that this is an ideal placement. Still, it works well. The speakers are on low IsoAcostic stands that at least somewhat reduce vibration and reflection from the surfaces of the shelves. I do my listening at low to moderate volumes, and the sound I get (mostly from a Rega Planar 3 turntable and an Onkyo C-7030 CD player) is smooth and surprisingly natural. I've contemplated upgrading the speakers, but given how satisfying I'm finding my current setup and how uncertain the results would be from other speakers (anything with a rear port is out, I think), I may just stick with what I have.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

in that space, i'd be interested in trying out a Naim Mu-so. Not sure if they have analog inputs for the turntable. could be a nice clean look

 

Thanks, good to hear someone having good results with a similar combo of components, granted your Amp is a higher model than mine though.

I'm not that critical a listener, I just enjoy the music. The room isn't set up for it, I sit off to one side. I'm just trying to get more detail from my system I guess. But I might just be throwing money at something that can't be accomplished with my constrains. I figured that a "better" speaker put into the same situation would give me a jump in quality.

 

KEF B1 Wall Bracket for LSX Wireless Speakers

you'd have to deal with cable management but that might be a nice way to go

 

Do you have any friends who could bring over other bookshelf speakers (even if not the LS50), just so you could get a sense of how different speakers might sound in your space?

The one upgrade possiblity that I've considered to replace my Q100 is the Harbeth P3esr. The Harbeths are a sealed-box design, so they're more likely to work on an actual bookshelf than a rear-ported design (the Q100 is of course front-ported); they're supposed to excel at reproducing the human voice, which would fit nicely with my singer-songwriter tastes; and they're also supposed to excel at low to moderate volume, which would match my typical listening practice. On the other hand, they're expensive speakers (Harbeth's least expensive, but rather more expensive than the Q100), and their bass range only goes down to 75 hz. I wouldn't even consider them if a friend (who unfortunately lives about 90 minutes away) didn't have a pair, and if he hadn't offered to bring them over for me to try in my living room. We'll see what the results are. But it's worth remembering (for both of us) that spending more money is no guarantee of better sound in a particular listening space.