STANDMOUNT SPEAKERS

These standmounters represent the very best ways to conclude your music's journey to your ears

KEF LS50 Meta

₹1,24,900

Somehow, unbelievably, this iteration of our beloved LS50s is even better than the one that first landed in 2012. With these Metas, KEF has improved upon an already winning formula.

Looks-wise at least, the LS50 Metas are hard to differentiate from their predecessors, KEF having concluded that little could be improved on its beautifully made enclosure. The only obvious changes are to the back panel, which has been tidied up and made to look neater. The Uni-Q driver array, though, has been thoroughly reworked, taking in the refinements KEF has developed over the past few years and, crucially, adding something new in the form of MAT (Metamaterial Absorption Technology).

Here, the rearward sound feeds into something about the size of a hockey puck that looks like a plastic circular maze. It is layered and made up of 30 tubes, each tuned to absorb a different frequency. KEF claims that, once combined, the tubes absorb a wide range of frequencies – from around 600Hz upwards – much more effectively than alternative methods. The result should be cleaner, less distorted highs.

And, sure enough, it doesn’t take long to realise that the LS50s have improved significantly. The basic sonic character is instantly familiar, but the new Metas have gained a level of clarity and finesse the originals only hinted at. They sound so much more transparent, and render low-level details, such as instrumental textures, much more convincingly.

It’s a full-bodied presentation with a good degree of authority for such compact speakers. Large-scale dynamics are handled well and there’s a good amount of muscle for a speaker of this size. These are refined and composed performers that rarely sound stressed unless volume levels are high.