Amp/Receiver for KEF LS50 Meta
Amp/Receiver for KEF LS50 Meta
Hi there,
First of all, a little backstory. Three to four years ago I got into Hi-Fi audio because of Reddit advice from people. I bought the HD6XX with the JDS Labs Atom stack. And I am still in love with them to this day. I have been working in the summer holiday as a software developer at the company I did my internship at, which left me with some spare money. My mother’s birthday was coming up so I wanted to surprise her with a speaker setup for the living room. Did quite some research in the past couple of weeks, and discussed the idea with her on her birthday. I showed her some different speakers and asked her what her preferences were. She liked the Q350, LS50 Metas and the Klipsch RP 6000F purely based on design.
Forward to today, I saw a great second hand deal pop up, which allowed me to get a pair of metas, in near brand new condition, for €850. So after checking the history of the seller, I bought them.
I want to pair them with a nice amplifier/receiver that doesn’t color the sound too much (or at all). I’ve done some research and found some options that might be suitable. Based on what others use and specifications. (Min. of 2.1 channels, for a subwoofer in the future, min. 50W output per channel, etc.)
- Yamaha A-S501
- Yamaha A-S301
- Fosi Audio V3
But I was wondering if people here could help me make a decision, or suggest some other suitable Amps/Receivers that I haven’t listed, preferably under €500.
I run my LS50 off of an emotiva mini-x a100. It's a no-frills amp that does the job.
I also have a Yamaha S501 powering some vintage JBL monitors and like it a lot.
I'd check out the little peachtree audio stereo amp too, those are a pretty popular pairing with the kefs.
You really can't go wrong in this tier of amps, just get one that has the connectivity and features you're looking for.
Just checked the prices of the peachtree amps, they look gorgeous, but are about 3-5x my budget.
Still a bit out of your price range, but the nova 150 is super nice. A friend of mine has one.
https://www.peachtreeaudio.com/collections/integrated-amplifiers/products/nova150
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I haven’t been able to find the “emotiva mini-x a-100” for sale anywhere in Europe, so I guess that won’t be an option.
Good to know that the S501 works well with those vintage speakers. Then I guess it will probably work fine with the LS50s as well.
Definitely adding that one to the comparison, never heard of it before.
Thanks again :)
I dunno if you can find this one in Europe, it's the updated version of what I have. Looks about the same except mine has no headphone output.
https://emotiva.com/collections/basx-series/products/basx-a2m-stereo-flex-amplifier
Cambridge Audio pairs nicely with Kef. I'm in Canada so am not sure the price in Euros but the AXA35 is a good little amp. I work in home audio so have the AXA35 hooked up to a CXNV2 which sound good through the LS50Metas.
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll add it to the comparison!
The AXA35 is €410 over here, just wasn’t sure if 35W would be enough to drive em after reading online that people prefer 50-100W.
It should drive them just fine. I don't worry about wattage too much when I'm discussing with customers. I'll demo a 100W amp vs the AXA35 and, generally, the Cambridge will give a much better sound. I sold some Kef R11 Metas yesterday which were powered by a Cambridge EVO150 and they match sonically very well.
The AIYIMA A08 PRO is quite tough to beat below about €300 and cost much less. Allows for a good DAC like the SMSL SU-1 or Topping E30II (both really excellent). If your mother will be streaming, then the WIIM also includes a DAC.
Read Archimago's review below. If you are less interested in measurements, skip straight to the Subjective listening section below the charts https://archimago.blogspot.com/2023/08/review-measurements-aiyima-a08-pro-ti.html
Of the amplifiers you have listed the Yamaha would be my choice simply because the build and features. The A-S301 is plenty powerful enough for the LS50 Meta.
I would add a WiiM Pro streamer and be set.
Hi everyone, just wanted to post an update. I decided to go with the Yamaha A-S301 and the WiiM Pro, thank you all very much for all your help, suggestions, and tips!
I'm very excited to try out the new setup once everything arrives.
LAST UPDATE:
I ultimately went for the Yamaha A-S301 receiver/amplifier, paired with some second-hand KEF LS50 Meta speakers.
Around 7:00 PM, I finished work and had just eaten. That's when I got everything connected: I cut the speaker cables to length and connected the wires to the banana plugs. Removed some caps from the amplifier, so I could use the banana plugs, and wired everything up.
However, since I hadn't received all the cables yet, I had to get a bit creative to get some input into the receiver. In the end, I used the DAC from my headphones (JDS Labs Atom DAC) with an RCA cable and a USB-B to USB-C cable, along with my laptop.
My mother cried when she heard it, she thought it sounded so beautiful. I might have shed a tear myself. I've never heard such amazing sound in my life, it's truly magnificent.
In the upcoming days, and years I'm looking forward to enjoying it even more, but I'm genuinely thrilled with this purchase.