KEF LS50 Wireless II (Carbon Black)

KEF LS50 Wireless II Wireless Speaker System (Carbon Black)

The KEF LS50 Wireless II is a complete active stereo system in two compact cabinets, finished here in Carbon Black. Each speaker contains its own amplification, digital processing and the twelfth-generation Uni-Q driver array, while the primary speaker adds network streaming and a full set of wired inputs. Nothing else is required to play music at a high level: no separate amplifier, streamer or DAC. Carbon Black is the most understated of the standard finishes, pairing a matte black cabinet with a dark Uni-Q cone that sits comfortably in both media rooms and living spaces. The system is built around the same acoustic design as the passive LS50 Meta, with the considerable advantage that the amplifiers and crossover are engineered for these exact drivers.

Key features

• Uni-Q driver array: 5.25-inch aluminium cone woofer with a 1-inch vented aluminium dome tweeter at its centre
• Metamaterial Absorption Technology: absorbs unwanted sound from the rear of the tweeter to reduce distortion
• Dedicated amplification per speaker: 280 W Class D for the woofer and 100 W Class AB for the tweeter
• Streaming built in: AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Roon Ready, UPnP and Bluetooth over dual-band Wi-Fi
• High-resolution network audio: up to 384 kHz/24-bit, with MQA and DSD support over the network
• Television connection: HDMI eARC input on the primary speaker, plus optical, coaxial and analogue inputs
• 108 dB maximum output: measured at 1 metre, from cabinets 305 mm tall

Uni-Q and Metamaterial Absorption Technology

KEF’s Uni-Q places the tweeter inside the throat of the woofer cone, so high and low frequencies leave the speaker from effectively the same point. The result is a wide, even listening area rather than one narrow sweet spot, which matters in real rooms where people sit across a sofa. Behind the tweeter sits Metamaterial Absorption Technology, a maze-like structure tuned to absorb the sound radiating from the back of the dome, energy that would otherwise reflect inside the cabinet and colour the output. KEF rates the system response at 45 Hz to 28 kHz within 3 dB, extending to 40 Hz at the minus 6 dB point depending on EQ settings.

Amplification and processing

Each speaker is bi-amplified: a 280 W Class D amplifier drives the woofer and a 100 W Class AB amplifier drives the tweeter, with the crossover handled digitally before amplification. That arrangement, part of KEF’s Music Integrity Engine processing platform, lets the electronics apply correction and protection that a passive crossover cannot. The two speakers link wirelessly, resampling to 96 kHz/24-bit, or by the supplied interspeaker cable at 192 kHz/24-bit for the highest-resolution sources. A subwoofer output on each speaker allows a separate sub to extend the bass, with crossover settings handled in the KEF Connect app.

Streaming, inputs and control

The KEF Connect app provides access to Spotify Connect, Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Deezer, internet radio and podcasts, and the system also works with AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Roon. Wired inputs on the primary speaker cover HDMI eARC for television sound, optical and coaxial digital, a 3.5 mm analogue input and Ethernet, with source resolution up to 192 kHz/24-bit on the digital inputs and 384 kHz/24-bit over the network. Supported formats include FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF and DSD files. Each cabinet measures 305 x 200 x 311 mm and the pair weighs 20.1 kg, sized for stands, shelves or a media unit in a main listening room.

As a self-contained system, the LS50 Wireless II removes the rack of electronics from high-quality stereo while keeping the parts that matter: serious drivers, serious amplification and broad streaming support, in the Carbon Black finish.