TechAudioSpeakersKEF LSX II review: a sensational speaker packageThe second-gen KEF streaming speaker package is seriously stellar, as we explore in our LSX II reviewWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictThe accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivityReasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spacesWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechAudioSpeakersKEF LSX II review: a sensational speaker packageThe second-gen KEF streaming speaker package is seriously stellar, as we explore in our LSX II reviewWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictThe accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivityReasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spacesWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
The second-gen KEF streaming speaker package is seriously stellar, as we explore in our LSX II review
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictThe accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivityReasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spaces
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
T3 VerdictThe accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivityReasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spaces
T3 VerdictThe accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.
T3 Verdict
The accommodations you need to make are few, and mostly concern the straightforward scale of sound you ought to expect. Get beyond this and there’s not a lot of downside to KEF LSX II ownership – it’s a great-sounding system with excellent flexibility, and so is cracking value for money.
Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivityReasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spaces
Reasons to buy+Potent and enjoyable sound+Diminutive good looks and great finish+Extensive connectivity
Potent and enjoyable sound
Diminutive good looks and great finish
Extensive connectivity
Reasons to avoid-Sound better with speakers wired together-Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey-Struggle to fill larger spaces
Sound better with speakers wired together
Optional stands and brackets are quite pricey
Struggle to fill larger spaces
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Almost four years since KEF first miniaturised its excellent LS50 Wireless streaming speaker system into something a little more handily sized, the company is back with an upgrade. Or, at least, that’s what KEF claims – at first glance, it doesn’t seem that much has happened beyond adding ‘II’ to the KEF LSX model name and a couple of hundred onto the asking price.
Almost four years since KEF first miniaturised its excellent LS50 Wireless streaming speaker system into something a little more handily sized, the company is back with an upgrade. Or, at least, that’s what KEF claims – at first glance, it doesn’t seem that much has happened beyond adding ‘II’ to the KEF LSX model name and a couple of hundred oto the asking price. least…
KEF LSX II review: price and release date
The KEF LSX II is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it’ll set you back £1,199. That puts it at around $1,399 in the United States, and AU$2,199 or thereabouts in Australia.
Despite a price rise over the model it replaces, the LSX II nevertheless looks to represent decent value for money when you consider the extent of its functionality.
That’s not to say it has the field clear, though – wireless audio systems, both true stereo and single-box alternatives, from the likes ofDevialet (with its Phantom),Naim (Mu-so 2)and Q Acoustics (Q Active 200), are all vying for your attention.
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KEF LSX II review: Features and what’s new
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The LSX II use the same driver arrangement as the outgoing model – it’s the 11th generation of KEF’s remarkable Uni-Q arrangement that positions an aluminium tweeter (19mm in this instance, and behind an elaborate wave-guide) in the throat of an aluminium mid/bass driver (115mm). At 200 Class D watts (30W to each tweeter, 70W to each mid/bass driver), power is unchanged too.
Connectivity is improved, though, and significantly. As well as the Ethernet, digital optical and analogue 3.5mm inputs on the left-channel ‘primary’ speaker, there’s now also HDMI ARC and USB-C.
The original LSX’s subwoofer pre-out is retained, and there’s still an Ethernet-style CAT 5 socket for hard-wiring this speaker to the ‘secondary’ right-hand channel. They can be paired wirelessly too (each has a ‘pairing’ button), but a hard-wired connection is preferable if for no other reason than it allows the LSX II to function at 24bit/96kHz. Paired wirelessly, they max out at 24bit/48kHz – although no matter how you connect them they’re always compatible with MQA and file sizes up to 24bit/384kHz and DSD256. They just downsample them.
KEF LSX II review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
But as long as you’re not expecting unlikely scale, the rest of the news regarding the way the LSX II performs fluctuates between ‘very good’ and ‘great’. The addition of extra functionality hasn’t compromised the way the system sounds – it’s just made its sound available to a great variety of sources.
And anyway, don’t think that just because the KEF don’t generate significant scale they sound in any way cramped. The soundstage they describe is well laid out, easy to understand and allows every element of even a complicated recording a little elbow room in which to do its thing.
As far as tonality is concerned, the LSX II is just slightly warmer than absolutely neutral. It’s not in any way overheated, you understand – it almost makes the KEF system sound more accommodating and welcoming than it otherwise would.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Those pesky physics laws insist that these speakers don’t dig as deep or hit as hard in the low frequencies as bigger alternatives, but the bass the KEF system produces is nevertheless solid, textured, detailed and really well controlled.
The attack and decay of individual bass sounds is straight-edged and convincing, and the LSX II generates more than enough momentum to keep rhythms and tempos moving forward in a natural-sounding manner. The midrange is equally accomplished, with the KEF extracting even fine details from a singer’s performance and making them available. And the top of the frequency range is almost a mirror-image of the bottom: there’s substance, detail and control, all delivered with real energy.
KEF LSX II review: design and usability
As far as design goes, there’s virtually nothing to differentiate the LSX II from the model it replaces. Same looks, same dimensions, same driver array… only a long stare at the spec-sheet reveals any meaningful differences.
Mind you, that’s not automatically a bad thing. The original KEF LSX was a good-looking thing, and just because the design is getting on for four years old that doesn’t mean it’s any less attractive.
LSX II is available in five different finishes – satin matte for ‘mineral’ white, gloss for ‘lava’ red, and Kvadrat acoustic cloth for ‘carbon’ black and the ‘cobalt’ blue of this review sample. There’s also ‘Soundwave’, a finish created in collaboration with the late Terence Conran.
At a useful compact 24 x 16 x 18cm (HxWxD) per speaker, the LSX II is simple to position more or less anywhere you like – as long as you bear in mind each speaker has a rear-facing bass-reflex port, that is. They’re happy on a shelf, a speaker stand or even a desk (for those who take their desktop listening very seriously indeed and have quite a large desk). There are some bespoke KEF speaker stands available (the S1) for £320 a pair, as well as the B1 wall bracket (£190) and P1 desk pad (£140) – so your placement options are extensive.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
KEF LSX II review: verdict
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
If you already own a KEF LSX system and you’re not desperate to introduce your TV into its sphere of influence, it’s hard to make a case for upgrading to the LSX II. If you want to fill a pretty big room with sound, you should probably look beyond this system too.
For the rest of us, though, it’s hard to make a case not to investigate it fully – the LSX II is small, perfectly forward, expansive in its functionality, features a well-implemented control app, looks the business and sounds the business too.
Also consider
They’re not as desktop-friendly as the LEF LSX II and they’re more expensive, but the Q Acoustics Q Active 200 system addresses the few shortcomings of the KEF system while adding a unique aesthetic into the mix. You’re trading a little warmth for a lot of scale, which for some listeners could be just the ticket.
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Today’s best KEF LSX II and Q Acoustics Q Active 200 dealsKEF LSX II$1,289ViewSee all pricesQ Acoustics Q Active 200$1,999ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best KEF LSX II and Q Acoustics Q Active 200 dealsKEF LSX II$1,289ViewSee all pricesQ Acoustics Q Active 200$1,999ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best KEF LSX II and Q Acoustics Q Active 200 deals
KEF LSX II$1,289ViewSee all pricesQ Acoustics Q Active 200$1,999ViewSee all prices
KEF LSX II$1,289ViewSee all prices
KEF LSX II$1,289ViewSee all prices
KEF LSX II
KEF LSX II
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Q Acoustics Q Active 200$1,999ViewSee all prices
Q Acoustics Q Active 200$1,999ViewSee all prices
Q Acoustics Q Active 200
Q Acoustics Q Active 200
$1,999View
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