Lacking punch in current system....

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Chester0711, Jun 28, 2020.

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  1. Chester0711

    Chester0711 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Minneapolis,MN
    Before civility is lost over the simple sound of speakers, I’ll jump back in with some findings...

    1) got to listen LS50’s hooked up to Peachtree Decco125 (a friends amp he has laying around and not using) and they sounded great and definitely had a bit more push.
    *one variable however is that it was through the onboard phono stage of the peachtree. even this sounded better than my lounge Pre running through my Yamaha. His room is a touch smaller then mine but not by much.

    I liked enough to try it out and sure enough sounds nice in my room too. Have not run it through the lounge yet, just the onboard phono.

    thinking I may buy it off him for $700. Also wondering though if the Nova150 gets me that much more to make it worth it? I have no local dealers so will be looking online.

    interesting what more power in the amp can provide. It is a different sound from the Yammy though.
     
  2. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Sub, sub, sub, sub!

    Closets thing to live music...
     
    Gibsonian likes this.
  3. murphythecat

    murphythecat https://www.last.fm/user/murphythecat

    Location:
    Canada
    imo, they dont punch, they distort severely.
    and the amount of bass it gives is boomy, coloured and fake sounding.
     
    noway likes this.
  4. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    Well you certainly have me on first hand experience with the subject of this thread.

    Would not surprise me if the LS50's punch above their weight in the "punch category".

    I however would never recommend to anyone who asked specifically for recommendations for speakers that would supply "bass punch", to buy any 12" by 11" by 8" speaker with 5" drivers to satisfy that request. Not happening.
     
  5. noway

    noway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Had the LS50s with a 350wpc power amp and an SVS sealed sub but they were bettered in "punch" by a pair of powered studio monitors with 8" woofers and no sub for a fraction of the money. The powered monitors are not better in all areas, but overall I prefer the new system over the old. The LS50 is a fine enough speaker but in order for it to provide fantastic value for the money depends on how it fits in with the user's musical tastes, listening room, volume levels and other stuff.
     
    Chester0711 and pdxway like this.
  6. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Are the speakers connected in phase ? Inversion of phase sucks out the bottom end and muffles the trble, which can be mistaken for the ¨warm¨ and ¨non-punchy¨ sound the OP describes. The KEF are neither puny or ¨warm¨ speakers. Maybe the OP should get Klipsch floorstanders.
     
    timind likes this.
  7. dennem

    dennem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bangkok, Thailand
    KEF LS50 absolutely need subs, especially in small rooms. Below is low frequency response curve measured in my 4x3 meters room, see how much bass information is missing?
    [​IMG]
    Same room, KEF LS50s with a pair of REL T5i subs. RELs are connected via miniDSP to flatten the curve below 100 Hz:

    [​IMG]
    RELs are fast musical subs, so the whole setup sounds phenomenal, very punchy and lifelike.

    The amp does matter and affect punch too. LS50s are notoriously hard to drive and like to drop below 4 ohms in low frequencies. A proper amp for them is the one that can deliver at least 70w into 8 Ohms and 140w into 4 Ohms (2x current).
     
  8. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    LS 50s require gobs of power a small to medium room and sitting less than around 10' from the speakers. Only time I heard them in demo that sounded good but the amp cost £9K. (not a KEF demo). They seemed to provide decent bass for the size. Also were on some fancy stands and isolation devices that I believe were costly. So think they are a rather specialised product sold as a general mass market product. For most people I suggest something like Wharfedale Evo 4.2 at a similar price.
     
  9. Steweygatz

    Steweygatz New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh,PA
    Hey Chester. Did you ever buy that decco125? I’m interested in what you learned after hooking up the lounge. Does the decco preamp still hold its own? I’m considering buying one used...any details you can provide are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
     
  10. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    depends on height of stands, positioning from walls and use or not of port plugs.
    when i had the LS50s they had excellent bass and punch and were 3db down at 40 Hz !
     
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