Le Kef LS60 were born, as can be easily guessed from the initials, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the English company. We have already talked about the Kef LS series and then we also had the opportunity to test the Kef LS50 Wireless II less than two months ago. The test, which I recommend you to read, was positive, because that system (do not simply call them speakers) was probably the link between theaudiophile and musicphile. Now the Kef LS60 trying to further increase performance while maintaining that simplicity and practicality of use typical of its younger sisters.
What are the KEF LS60 Wireless?
Don’t just call them speakers, le Kef LS60 are a real sound system that will allow you to listen to your music or your movies without adding other electronics, in addition, the word wireless will have made you realize that the wires scattered around the house are very few, if desired, only two power cables are sufficient. Inside the Kef LS60 you will find the beauty of 6 amplifiers (3 for each speaker) of which the image below will clarify the ideas:
In total we are talking about an overall power of well 1.400 Watt that will make you dance as hard as you can but above all they will keep you safe from clipping, the first annoyance factor perceived by our brain. We told you that everything is integrated and in fact in addition to the amplifications you will find one DAC for each amplifier in addition to a preamp / streamer to play your favorite music. They complete the whole one DSP for each speaker able to make the Kef LS60 perform at its best in any type of environment.
Kef LS60: streaming their daily bread
Streaming is becoming more and more daily bread for music lovers and the Kef LS60 have decided to make this process as simple as possible. All of this is possible via the platform wireless W2 that we have already seen on the LS50s. Through a mobile phone and the App Kef Connect you can stream your favorite singers in a simple and intuitive way. LS60 Wireless is able to cover almost all streaming services via wireless connectivity thanks to the Wi-Fi, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast e al Bluetooth. With the Kef Connect App you can listen in streaming Amazon Music, Qobuz and Deezer or tune in to Internet radio and podcasts. If you prefer, you can use the native apps to stream directly from Spotify Connect, Tidal e QPlay. The LS60 are also Roon Ready and support file streaming PCM fino a 24 bit/384 kHzas well as the MQA and DSD decoding. When we talk about Roon Ready we mean that Roon finds and connects, providing bit-perfect audio to the LS60 Wireless without the need for any manual configuration.
A speaker in a closed case… ..finally.
There are various types of speaker charging, the most widespread and used, even on the LS50 Wireless II, is the bass reflex. Kef, for the LS60 has decided to use a type of loading very popular in the past years: the closed case. Put simply, there is no outlet in the cabinet that the air comes out of. This, according to what is written on the website of the Italian distributor, will help in positioning, which can also take place near the walls. The English company, however, recommends leave at least 20, 30 cm of air between the diffuser and the side wall considering the presence of the side woofers. Having said that, the positioning is not the only aspect to take into consideration, there is also the sonic one and in this regard we do not want to tell you much more than to go and listen to these speakers at one of the many points of sale around Italy. . A little clue, however, is a must: focus on the low range while listening and then tell us.
The dress does not make the monk but it certainly helps.
A floorstanding speaker from which world and world has been an important presence in a home environment and the Kef engineers are well aware of this and have worked a lot for this model also in this respect.
The front of these speakers has a footprint of only 13cm. Nevertheless the structure, the wide base and an extremely low center of gravity make them speakers very stable, difficult to move and to swing which will hearten many fans with small children at home ready to test the newcomers. A problem that could arise with such a structure was that of vibrations but to overcome this possible problem, the technicians have created force-canceling woofer which we will be happy to know more about as soon as possible. As with the LS50 sisters and LSX cousins, the LS60 can also count on one infinite series of colors to choose according to the destination environment.
Kef LS60: you pay for quality …. the right one.
The Kef LS60 are a novelty presented a few days ago. We witnessed their online presentation glued to our screen and from what we could understand and see the price of 6.599 Euro list seemed adequate to the equipment. Obviously, to be more precise, it will be advisable to carry out a field test which we hope to carry out as soon as possible.
Before concluding, allow us a small digression:
There is real progress only when the benefits of a new technology become for everyone.
Henry Ford
Henry Ford’s words find a home in the Kef LS60 that take charge of making a listen to high fidelity within everyone’s reach. By “within everyone’s reach” we mean that with a few simple steps anyone can take advantage of a real Hi-Fi system. To survive, a brand must always keep up with the times without forgetting its past, an operation that is often not easy and risks satisfying one or the other faction. The LS series is a fine example of how to combine both barricades.
Are the LS60s over budget? rest assured, you can always fold either on the Kef LS50 Wireless II or on the Kef LSX.
For more information on availability and technical characteristics, you can consult the website of the Italian distributor Hifight.