My review: KEF LS50 vs. Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by action pact, Jan 14, 2017.

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  1. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    Despite the Dentons not being fully broken in yet (check back in March), I couldn't resist hooking the LS50's back up to my Fisher tubes and having a listen.

    I had anticipated finding the LS50's to be screaming bright after having been acclimated to the warm-voiced Dentons for the past couple of weeks. What I am finding is both speakers have comparably accurate mids and bass, and both speakers go approximately down to the same bass depth. Both speakers are approximately equal in their efficiency, and both are superb pairings for my 14wpc Fisher, in my 8' x 12' room. I have not been using my subwoofer, nor does one seem necessary with either set of speakers.

    The Dentons are noticeably more restrained on top, with a gentle roll-off that gives them their "touch of warmth," as their designer described it. In this respect they do remind me of vintage speakers from the '60s, which I believe was Peter Comeau's intention. What HiFi accurately summarized them thusly: "Smooth, rich and expressive presentation."

    The LS50's, despite having metal drivers, are not really bright at all, but they definitely have more top-end clarity and extension than the Dentons, but still they capably reproduce whatever midrange lushness is in the source. Indeed, I find them perfectly smooth and 'musical' with tubes, and yet they were forward, crisp, and slightly strident with a (re-capped) '78 Yamaha CR-1020. Their presentation is very much source-dependent, whereas I would expect the Dentons to be more forgiving. (My plan is to eventually use the Dentons with a Pioneer SX-780 that is currently being serviced.)

    Both speakers are highly capable, with the Dentons leaning more towards a lush presentation and the LS50's offering a more detailed, transparent presentation.

    The Dentons originally retailed for $1000 and the LS50's originally retained for $1500. At those prices, the LS50s were clearly the better buy. However, I paid $399 for the Dentons, and $1200 for the LS50's, and I would not say that the LS50's are 3x as good as the Dentons (especially when factoring in the lovely veneer on the Dentons).
     
    Colin M, JoeSmo, ChrisR2060 and 14 others like this.
  2. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    Details please? :)
     
  3. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    A bit of déjà vu happening in my head right now...
     
    action pact likes this.
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Special limited time price set by Music Direct (though it wasn't advertised as such back then). They shot back up $100 after he and I bought a pair.
     
  5. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    Yes, that's correct.
     
  6. Scott in DC

    Scott in DC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Thanks for the great review. It was interesting to see these two, well liked speakers compared to each other.

    Scott
     
  7. Rentz

    Rentz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
    Yeah I was eyeing them at 399. Then boom 499
     
  8. hesson11

    hesson11 Forum Resident

    I owned the LS50s for quite a while. I thought they were very good. But I listen almost exclusively to classical music, which means a lot of violins. And I found there is a relatively narrow area in the upper registers of the violin that came across as hard and cold on the KEFs. Not strident or overly unpleasant, but it just always called attention to itself. I sold them reluctantly and am wondering whether I might like the Dentons.
    -Bob
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  9. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    Still, not a bad deal.
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  10. nwdavis1

    nwdavis1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    I also grabbed a pair when they dropped to $400.
    I don't really have an application for them but at that price I couldn't pass them up.
     
    toddrhodes likes this.
  11. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    Thanks. :edthumbs:
     
  12. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    You have touched on something I had planned to comment on this morning.

    Last night with the LS50's I was listening to a pretty well-mastered Elvis CD (the "Almost in Love" budget comp), and was detecting a hardness or metallic edge to Elvis' voice.

    Switching from the LS50's back to the Dentons was quite illuminating. The metallic hardness was gone, and Elvis' voice had taken on much more of a buttery midrange glow that was quite engaging. I also observed a more fulsome presentation overall.

    It was also apparent to me that the Dentons are noticeably more effective than the LS50's at communicating rhythmic thrust, which was surprising. The LS50's do fine in this area, but the Dentons encourage toe-tapping just a bit more.

    So it's not so clear to me now which is the preferred speaker. It's much like auditioning an Audio Technica cartridge (crisp, detailed) and then auditioning a Grado cartridge (lush, romantic).
     
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  13. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    I'll give you this too... I listen to a lot more CDs when the Dentons are in place. Much of the digital "edge" is dissipated.
     
  14. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    unfortunately your symptoms were most likely not speaker related. source or amplification more likely. absolutely nothing hard or cold with the LS50s especially with tube amplification.
     
    progrocker and Ponzio like this.
  15. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    My gear mostly leans towards a warmer presentation - TD-124, DL-103, Fisher tubes.

    My CD player (Rotel RCD-1072) does have more of a forward sound though, so that could have been a factor.
     
  16. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    I found them cold and hard with a Brio-R. They liked a lot more power than that.
     
  17. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    Not my experience.
     
    Robert C likes this.
  18. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    I wouldn't call the LS50's cold and hard necessarily, but they are ruthless revealing.
     
    Ponzio, ChrisR2060 and SandAndGlass like this.
  19. hesson11

    hesson11 Forum Resident

    Good info, 'pact. Kind of remarkable that two speakers so disparate in price can offer such comparisons.
    -Bob
     
    action pact likes this.
  20. hesson11

    hesson11 Forum Resident

    Interesting. Thanks for your thoughts. I'd appreciate your comments on why I have not experienced the same thing using the same source/amp (non-tube) gear with so many other speakers (Harbeth, Spendor, Vienna, Rega, other KEFs, PSB, NHT, etc.). What is it about the LS50s that would create this phenomenon with the same equipment that the other speakers avoided? Again, the "hard, cold" sound I heard covered a very narrow range and only on violins. It was not a damning fault, but it bothered me just enough to move on from them. Otherwise a great speaker. THANKS!
    -Bob
     
    Shiver likes this.
  21. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    They like power. In my experience, with a Brio-R they were hard and strained. With a Yamaha A-S2000, they were fantastic. With a Line Magnetic 518ia (22 watts), they sounded good but mostly at pretty low volumes.
     
    Ponzio and avanti1960 like this.
  22. nightenrock

    nightenrock Forum Resident

    I find the LS50s sound best with a lot of power behind them. Perhaps the harshness is actually from under-powering them with a wimpy old low power tube receiver?
     
    Ponzio and sunspot42 like this.
  23. Shiver

    Shiver Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    One local dealer told me he’s had a hard time trying to dissuade ‘I need LS50s’ customers that they require, from his experience, more power to sing than he knows their amps have. Only to see them returned disappointed.

    Personally I’ve always found their treble a bit odd - somehow bright/airy and cellophane-covered at the same time. That includes with one dealer’s hefty Naim pre/power demo rig that I’ve used with other speakers and know doesn’t make that impression in itself.

    Seems an strangely wide range of perceptions and experiences on these.
     
  24. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    My favorite part about this thread is how it went from the OP stating he basically preferred the Dentons and everybody is focusing on the pair that lost.

    Interesting...
     
    JohnCarter17, Kristofa, F1nut and 5 others like this.
  25. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    Well, the LS50's did get a ton of positive buzz and awards, so I can understand the disbelief that I am finding a pair of $399 speakers to be a contender.
     
    Fruff76 and SandAndGlass like this.
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