KEF took a middle road with its LS50 Wireless, of which the esteemed British maker has now released a next-gen edition, the LS50 Wireless II. The new speaker looks almost identical to its predecessor but incorporates numerous innovations to incrementally upgrade sonics. Most notable is a new trick to dispose of the troublesome midrange/ tweeter “back wave” that, to one degree or another, plagues every dynamic-driver design by interacting with the forward radiating output and with the cone itself to induce small but meaningful distortions in both amplitude and time domains. Creative schemes to nullify this have, over the years, including highly damped sub-enclosures, tapered, transmission-line-like rear spaces, and strategically deployed wads of fuzz (pardon the technical terminology).
KEF’s solution in the LS50 Wireless II is a disc comprised of a newly developed Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) located behind the radiating surface of its concentric Uni-Q woofer/tweeter unit. This is molded with a labyrinth-like raceway pattern—likely the fruit of many hours of high-MIPS computer-simulation time—that acts as a Helmholtz resonator (absorber) to trap unwanted sound, from a few hundred Hertz on up, before it can reflect back upon diaphragm surfaces.
Fundamentally, the LS50 Wireless II is an active, wireless evolution of a passive design KEF originally introduced to mark its 50th anniversary. (A passive edition of this upgraded design, the LS50 Meta, is also currently available.) The LS50 Wireless II retains KEF’s hallmark Uni-Q concentric woofer/ tweeter configuration, now up to a 12th generation, which positions the tweeter in the space where the dust cap of a conventional woofer would be. This layout is said to promote the smooth, controlled directivity and even off-axis response that mitigates the impact of room interactions.
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The Big Clean
Chances are you probably do not think about the state of your electronic devices too often. Oh, you might think about all the upgrades you would like to make; where you would put those new tower speakers, or how a second or third subwoofer would really tame those bass modes in your room, or how much more cinematic a larger screen would be. Sure, you think about that part of your system. But how often do you think about the well-being of your system?
Planar-Magnetic Attraction
THE DIPTYQUE DP 115 speakers are a new model 2-way, ribbon, and planar magnetic driver dipole \"isodynamic\" speaker system designed and built in France.
Full-Featured 4K
THE QN95D is one of two televisions we went hands-on with on a recent trip to Samsung's New Jersey QA Lab, the other being the S95D quantum-dot OLED.
Party Animal
FOR ANY party, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus Outdoor Bass Bluetooth Speaker is an essential invite.
It's the End of the World. How About Popcorn and a Movie?
Attention all preppers! Today's column is right up your alley-or, more precisely-your tunnel to your underground bunker.
Bridging the Analog-Digital Gap on a Recliner
When I shopped for a motorized recliner, I rejected models with their own Internet Protocol address and built-in speakers. No need. I had already placed a smart speaker on an étagère beside the space where I had planned to put the chair. I'd have a smartphone in my hand and the room would be bathed in Wi-Fi.
BACK TO THE GARDEN
AN AQUARIAN EXPOSITION in WHITE LAKE, N.Y.
Big Sound, Small Price
DOLBY ATMOS, once a costly premium, is enjoying a surge of popularity across a range of new audio gear.
Classic Sound with Streaming Smarts
THE TWENTIETH century had its Roaring Twenties; welcome to the twenty-first's Streaming Twenties.
Stand and Deliver
IT DOESN'T seem all that long ago that SVS first entered the audio scene.
