I have had the KEF wireless range here for just over a year now, a couple of pairs of the LSXII are dotted around and I thought that now the rear 'Studio' ( small sitting room) is now back in commission I might set up both the LS50IIs and the LS60's side by side and try and draw some more concrete conclusions as to which is the best sounding or at least which offers the better value.
It quickly became apparent that to be a truly valid comparison we would need to add a subwoofer to the LS50's, fortunately I have a couple of the diminutive KEFKC62 opposed force, dual 6.5" drivers in opposed configuration.
The KC62s are small in terms of dimensions but extremely punchy, their aluminium enclosure is sturdy and heavy, opposing the twin 6.5" drivers is designed to cancel vibration and this appears to work as you cannot feel any vibration through the enclosure even when their drivers are close to maximum extension.
This the KC62 seen from above the small box with the blue led is KEF's wireless KW-1 receiver, the transmitter half connects to the main speaker and the receiver/s to the sub/s, allowing you to position the subwoofers wherever you like without unsightly wiring.
Which is convenient.
I set up the sub with the KEF 'Connect' app, I chose the 'KC62' option from the sub menu and the app automatically adjusts parameters to what KEF have determined are the optimum, high pass/low pass , sub gain and whether you choose the sub to play mono or stereo.
You can of course adjust any of those parameters to your taste.
I used pink noise and an SPL meter to adjust the level of both sets of speakers, Roon allows you to switch instantly between speakers and to compare the exact same fragment of music.
Personally I prefer to listen to relatively short bursts of music, just a few seconds and then switch instantly to the other speaker playing the exact same programme.
Ideally someone else would perform the switching so that you can remain unaware which of the speakers you were listening to.
Again ideally one would have access to the Harman 'shuffler' a hydraulic system that can re-position a speaker playing the exact same piece of music at the exact same volume within four seconds, sadly I don't have one.
One can interleave the two pairs of speakers ( LS60-LS50-LS60-LS50 ) and then slightly adjust your listening position, but unfortunately there is no 'ideal'.
In terms of actual listening I found it extremely difficult to draw any definitive conclusions, in terms of tone and timbre they were identical, once the sub level was adjusted ( the LS60's have three sub level options) with the gain adjusted of the KC62 bass response of the two speakers also sounded very similar , perhaps the LS60 presented a slightly more organised image perhaps the 60s were a tiny bit more defined but that could easily be an artefact of their relative positioning.
The LS60s are more expensive than the LS50WirelessII and KC62 sub combination, the LS60's with their 4x6.5" bass drivers have excellent bass response, they are just one complete unit which might be easier to position than stand mounts and a separate subwoofer.
They are both really fine sounding loudspeakers, if you have a really large room or if you sit more than a few metres away then they might find that they just do not have enough output , if that is the case then you might consider something like ( actually there is nothing like ) the Sigberg Audio SBS.1 and Inkognito subwoofer combination.
In terms of sheer ease of use and versatility the KEFS are unparalleled, and now that KEF have reduced prices by 25% they are something of a bargain.
Keith