![]() Original LS50 featured a rose gold-coloured 130mm Uni-Q array with 25mm tweeter mounted at the centre. While I've used LS50s since they first appeared, they are one of many speakers I have for reference. I say this so as not to create anxiety in those audiophiles who think their lives have been diminished because a new model 'something' has arrived, and there are tens of thousands of owners of passive LS50s. I emphasise here that the original remains both a magnificent and affordable speaker, while pointing out that an additional £200 in this sector is a huge percentage increase for an entry-level or financially-restricted customer. This foreknowledge is the only way one can even begin to appreciate precisely what KEF has achieved here, and there is also the £200 price differential between the outgoing LS50 and the LS50 Meta to address. Please go directly to PM's technical description of 'Metamaterial', then the interview with design prodigy Jack Oclee-Brown, followed by the Lab Report. Many of you read these reviews in the order they are printed but I would ask you, instead, to pause here. The new LS50 with the Meta suffix (£999) is KEF's The Godfather Part II. In the interim, there have been active and wireless versions of the speaker, but the passive original is a much-loved default purchase in the under-£1000 sector. KEF faced this with the LS50 which (terrifyingly) will be ten years old in 2022. I don't care if you're talking about cars, cameras or cookers – whatever the classic, the follow-up is metaphorically referred to as 'that difficult second album'. Hardly a curse, but it's still a massive challenge for any manufacturer to improve on a smash hit. ![]() We compare the original with the latest 'Meta' variant After nearly a decade in production, KEF's iconic LS50 compact monitor has been comprehensively updated. ![]()
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