KEF LSX II: a high-end HI-FI SYSTEM for small rooms, desktops & TVs

👉🏻 This episode is brought to you by Marantz:

🎥 Camera: Olaf von Voss
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

🛋 My listening room in 2022:

0:00 Intro
0:26 Side-by-side w/ LSX
4:10 More thoughts on sound
7:07 Side-by-side w/ SVS Prime Wireless Pro
15:00 Side-by-side w/ KEF Q150 + streaming amp

KEF LSX II

KEF S1 stand

KEF LS50 Meta

KEF KC62

KEF Q150

KEF LS50 Wireless II

SVS Prime Wireless Pro video review

#KEF #hifi #spotify

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[futures]

had these for 6 months, incredible sound in such a compact well designed unit, connectivity also brilliant and so much better than the first version.

[sorgill]

I have the Kef LSX IIs connected with USB-C and sitting on Kef P1 desk stands. The Kefs sound astonishing for their size and look fabulous. While expensive, the Kefs are worth every penny -- highly recommended. John, thanks for another super video and for turning me on to these Future Fi speakers in the first place.

[carpetcrawler]

I always like your electronic music choices John. We need a John Darko Tidal playlist!

[alexbakuta]

I went to find replacement for my Sonos ARC and Beam at a HIFI store today….i listened to B&W Panorama 3, Beosound Stage, Sennheiser Amber Plus. These sound way better than all of those as TV speakers….i don’t understand how such tiny speakers can fill a big living room…unbelievable. Thank you for great advise

[vladimirfreddie]

As an Aussie I did chuckle in the outtakes with "a piece of piss" comment. Thanks! BTW your content is awesome!

[gcruishank]

Just picked up the LSXII's with the Kube 10 MIE sub for my computer system, can't wait to try them out. I do my main listening on a pair of ATC SMC25'S and a JBL sub which sound FANTASTIC!.

[professorgrasstov]

My story with LSXs. I have the first KEF LSX green ones which look stunning btw. Bought em as a TV speakers for quite a small room, 4*3 sqm. I did felt that even for such a small room it was not enough to fill the room acoustically and I also felt sound was somewhere else but not around my listening position. It also did not give me the level of sound entertainment so much required while watching movies. I watched DARK series that time and KEFs just don't play sound effects well. I put them to my work desk then and WOW, how good they are from a short distance in my damped room. It is a pure pleasure and I do not even need a sub. Accompanied them with Kanto S2 desk stands and the overall look and sound is really great. For the TV I then bought just a Sonos Beam Gen 2 which serves perfectly and provides more than enough of sound entertainment so much required by TV shows. More bass, more stage, more surround sound.

Overall, John, thank you for the review!

[curryconsult]

I love to watch your small room videos. I live in a remote, rural area in an almost 200 year old house. My listening area is an alcove at the top of the stairs. It's before your time I know, but I'm extremely happy with my Spica TC-50, driven by an A & R Cambridge A60 amp. Source is a RaspberryPI Squeezebox streamer with HiFiBerry DAC that I built after watching one of your videos a year ago. I also just bought a Wiim Mini rocking Tidal. Happy Happy!

[beachroadfilms]

the outakes really show how much work is involved in each of these videos. < bows >

[ChrisWhittenMusic]

Really impressed with my original LSX, purchased after the Darko review.

[virensakhrani]

Only video that spoke about the sound with movies. Good job! Very clear way of exposing things too

[wills]

Enjoyed this v. much John. My audio 'consumption' is mainly in my home office using a Mac as the source. I tried out the LSX2 for a few weeks but opted eventually for Kanto TUK and Kanto SUB8 (2022) subwoofer. No regrets. An excellent combo for me. I don't do 'desktop' because to my ears all speakers sound better on stands even in nearfield which in my office is about 1.5 metres.

[russcudmore]

I picked up a set of these recently. They are a little large on a desktop compared to most computer speakers. They sound great and work well but did have a couple issues. They cut out sometimes when the cable is not connected between them, only 6 feet apart. Also I would get some cutout when connected to my pc usb port. They work well on the optical connection. And also work well on bluetooth and wifi with tidal.

[greatm]

Again, spot on. You covered the audiophile side and you mentioned TV/movie results as well. Thanks

[RyanZNO]

The ls50 absolutely makes a great desktop speaker. I have them on my American sized 84” desk 😂

[janderson]

I had these throughout August and September. It had to sent them for repair due to the constant hiss I could hear at least a meter away coming from the drivers (even with no source playing), KEF sent them back saying they matched factory specifications... oh dear.
It was past the retailers return period so I swapped them for LS50 Meta, audiolab 6000 and a Cambridge audio cxnv2. A more expensive package but an all round better solution (TV is optical instead of HDMI)

[hennied]

As long as we're comparing Kef speakers: I would (and did) go for the Kef R3. They're about €1300, - these days and those are full range 3-way speakers so no need for a sub.

[BrianMackinnon]

I have had mine for a couple of months and enjoy every minute I listen to them as my PC desk top speakers :) !!

[stephannordmann]

I want it small and good looking including a great sound the room is 3 x 4 meter and the LSX 2 is perfect for this size 👍

[eggnought]

I have a pair of these and they're great for desktop use, but yeah I'd say they're not really "audiophile" sound. Still much nicer than other conventional desktop speakers, aesthetically pleasing too.