Help with KEF ls50's

[vagabondo]

Hi all

I have 3 KEF ls50s for L-C-R channels - a couple of less ambitious rears to come. Emotiva bass s8 sub. 5.1 channel home theater and music (70/30). Moderate volumes...lovely townhouse, lovely wife and lovely neighbors.

I do not have a lot of rack space for separates but the ls50's are not efficient and demand power...known to dip below 4ohms. 
I was looking at a possible mc700+a700...or a5175.  I'm just not sure.  Looking at specs for these amps I'm not sure now they would deal with 4ohm speakers.

any advice or recommendations welcome..many thanks

--edit---
forgot to mention size of room is 13x15 but open to dining area - 10 ft distance from seating to speakers.
hope that helps - I'm a video guy who just upgraded my video to near "dream come true" situation so looking to do it justice (the ls50's came along in a deal that was too good to pass up)

[Loop 7]

I'm envious. LS50's are remarkable and, I think, visually striking - speakers you want to display.

An A5175 would be fine but consider a used XPA or other used amp.

[mshump]

If you are only doing 5.1 I would suggest the A-500 or the A5175. The a 5175 would give you some extra headroom for those scenes or passages that require a little extra power.

Mark

[leonski]

KEF is frequently shown with Parasound. A very nice match.
The A23 of 125x2 for a stereo setup would be the last small system you EVER bought.

An ALL LS-50 5.1 system with the A51 would be a DREAM come true.

www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAHA51

Far more power than you'll ever use, this is a 'forward compatible' amp for your NEXT set of speakers.

[mshump]

Aug 28, 2017 17:32:55 GMT -5 leonski said:

KEF is frequently shown with Parasound. A very nice match.
The A23 of 125x2 for a stereo setup would be the last small system you EVER bought.

The Parasound A23 is a very nice amp. I have one in my 2 channel set up.


Mark

[novisnick]

Ive run my LS50's in stereo with a UPA-500 which is 80 wpc into 8 ohms all channels driven and 140 wpc into 4 ohms all channels driven.
For stereo this amp does a very good job and doesn't come up short. With all channels driven for HT I believe it should have what you need. IMHO I'd go for the 5175 unless you can come across a good deal on a XPA-5 gen one or two.

Good luck

[novisnick]

Folks, he 70% HT and only 20% 30% 😋  stereo, please keep this in mind. 😁

[vagabondo]

Thanks everyone. What a wonderful community here.
I will check out parasound assuming they offer something for 5 channels. And it seems as though a5175 would be ok - but xpa (any gen) would be even better. Ok.

Btw, Your cricket sounds re my pre-amp/processor question (mc700) is deafening. LOL. I'm assuming you suggest something else.

[teaman]

Aug 28, 2017 18:13:04 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Folks, he 70% HT and only 20% stereo, please keep this in mind. 😁

What is the other 10% spent listening to?....maybe the crickets on the MC-700....lol

[leonski]

Aug 28, 2017 18:38:47 GMT -5 vagabondo said:

Thanks everyone. What a wonderful community here.
I will check out parasound assuming they offer something for 5 channels. And it seems as though a5175 would be ok - but xpa (any gen) would be even better. Ok.

Btw, Your cricket sounds re my pre-amp/processor question (mc700) is deafening. LOL. I'm assuming you suggest something else.

Parasound makes some HT installer gear.    Like this.     www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAZM650         This is a 6 channel amp but is bridgeable to 3!
Power appears adequate but only YOU can decide what your needs are.

The Cost-No-Object Parasound is from the Halo series and is the A51.   This is 5x250 and 5x400@4 ohm.   

Not that it matters, but I have a pair of the A23, one behind EACH of my panel speakers.    I bought them in preverence to a single A21, since long term plans include going
to a line-level active crossover.

[novisnick]

Aug 28, 2017 18:54:11 GMT -5 teaman said:

Aug 28, 2017 18:13:04 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Folks, he 70% HT and only 20% stereo, please keep this in mind. 😁

What is the other 10% spent listening to?....maybe the crickets on the MC-700....lol

           Caught me, LOL

                         

[vagabondo]

The issue with these amps for me now is space. I'm using up my inches available.
Seriously, no recommendations for a processor/pre-amp? Reason I liked the mc700 was that it was slim. I can't find the outlaw counterpart in Canada (Im in Toronto).

You see, this is why those ht receivers that sends you guys into fits can be very attractive - I may only have less than 10 inches in height to work with. I swear I was looking at that rotel RAP1580 seriously for that very reason...

[garbulky]

I would go with the Basx amps instead of the x series amps for your application. The processor, I can't reccomend the MC-700. But then again I don't know another processor to reccomend either. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on front end electronics for the LS50. Maybe a used UMC-200 if you are okay with the non 4k capability?

[rbk123]

I think what Gar is recommending is the BasX over the current X series; I believe he would recommend a used XPA G2 (or G1) over the BasX. I too, would recommend a used XPA G1/2 over the BasX.

For the MC, on the one hand it sounds great and sonically I love mine. On the other, it has a lot of warts and Emo knew it would and released it with the same ones they did twice before. By purchasing it, you are rewarding that behavior and I personally can't recommend that. If 4k is required, like Gar, I'm not sure what else is out there for you now. If it's not, then there is a ton of impressive non-4k gear you can get for peanuts to tide you over until you have to go 4k.

[garbulky]

Aug 28, 2017 20:18:02 GMT -5 rbk123 said:

I think what Gar is recommending is the BasX over the current X series; I believe he would recommend a used XPA G2 (or G1) over the BasX. I too, would recommend a used XPA G1/2 over the BasX.

For the MC, on the one hand it sounds great and sonically I love mine. On the other, it has a lot of warts and Emo knew it would and released it with the same ones they did twice before. By purchasing it, you are rewarding that behavior and I personally can't recommend that. If 4k is required, like Gar, I'm not sure what else is out there for you now. If it's not, then there is a ton of impressive non-4k gear you can get for peanuts to tide you over until you have to go 4k.

rbk123 Well usually yes that's my recommendation - old school x series no matter what! But in this case any basx or u series amps would be a more appropriate (cost effective) front end for the KEF LS50. Not saying better stuff wouldn't be better. But I think these are more appropriate for them and I think the user won't be let down by them.

[vneal]

MC700 should do fine with someone that is 70% video

[vagabondo]

Aug 28, 2017 20:48:22 GMT -5 vneal said:

MC700 should do fine with someone that is 70% video

Yup, mostly video - and frankly I don't like passing video through anything other than the oppo. 
Just need the mc700 for sound from oppo and TV...nothing fancy.   I'm reading the forums to educate myself and seems most problems come with people doing things with hdmi etc. purist in me has no intention to do that so maybe it's a viable option after all. 

On the the amp side - just want to be sure the a5175 can handle the speakers.  I would hate to regret not just going for an anthem 720 after all..

[leonski]

VagaBondo? Nobody can really recommend what YOU like. Anything I recommend, like the Parasound stuff is stuff I LIKE. I'm also admittedly NOT an HT guy. So you are on your own there, but I do know that several other lines exist besides the 3 or 4 which have been mentioned here.
Make sure the PrePro you buy will pass HDR signals, too, as well as 4k. That'll help you be 'future proof'.

And for the sake of Tonal Matching, and by any means, get another pair of the LS50. That would make an awesome surround setup. That and a good sub (or pair, depending on size / shape of room) would be icing on the cake.

www.stereophile.com/content/kef-ls50-anniversary-model-loudspeaker-measurements

Reading thru the measured data, I'd judge Stereophile to be very On Point when they recommend a good amp rated at 4ohms. This speaker kind of wanders, impedance-wise, and has a couple phase angles which will suck the life out of inferior amps. If you go EMO, the XPA series works.

[novisnick]

By the way, a pertinent question,,,,,,,,what your budget for prepro and amp? This really would help narrow things down a bit.
Thanks

[leonski]

Budget? What's THAT? I don't need no Stinkin' Budget!