Loudspeakers

In the decade since the launch of the LS50, in celebration of KEF's 50th birthday [HFN Jul '12], there have been rumours about a floorstander to complement the popular bookshelf model. But whatever these wishful thinkers had in mind, I'm pretty sure it wasn't as outlandish as the LS60 Wireless. As the name indicates, it's both a nod to the 60th anniversary of the brand and its technical evolution by incorporating active electronics – DSP, DAC and amplification – and streaming.

The result is a pair of matched speakers that connect with each other, wirelessly (up to 96kHz/24-bit) or wired (up to 192kHz). No further kit is required, just a power outlet per speaker. But don't wander off muttering 'this isn't real hi-fi'. Sure enough, at £5999 the LS60 Wireless isn't 'entry level', but it might still be the most accessible or realistic way to get something akin to a KEF Blade [HFN May '22] parked in your living room.

Slim And Sonic
Facing the super-slender, but not super-light 32kg LS60 Wireless, it's hard not to be impressed. At barely 13cm broad, it's remarkable that KEF has managed to fit a 100mm Uni-Q driver into the baffle. The 109cm height certainly makes for unusual proportions for a loudspeaker, but visually this 'way of the monolith' does work – even if you add in the broader plinth which is necessary to keep the LS60 Wireless stable.

Three colour finishes are offered, including the Royal Blue with gold-coloured Uni-Q pictured here, but it's the small footprint that's the real design statement. Of course, while this brings more flexibility as to where you might choose to place the LS60 Wireless, the presence of side-firing woofers also means you should be mindful of adjacent walls – and although there's some mitigation for this in the speakers' accompanying app, there's no global 'room correction' on offer.

Impressive as the LS60 Wireless looks, it's in the technology where KEF has moved the goalposts out of the football field and into the car park. The Maidstone-based company has leveraged a number of its proven concepts, including the 12th-generation coaxial, time-aligned Uni-Q driver with rear output-absorbing metamaterial disc [HFN Jun '21], and, from the Blade flagship, pairs of force-cancelling woofers to complete this Single Apparent Source (SAS) design.

However, as the LS60 Wireless is a lot smaller, KEF couldn't use the Blade's passive bass drivers. Instead, it incorporates the Uni-Core array first seen in the EISA Award-winning active KC62 subwoofer, where two long-throw woofers are planted back-to-back and use differently sized, overlapping voice coils to keep the unit compact. The LS60 Wireless contains two such arrays, for a total of four 135mm drivers.

The entire three-way ensemble is then governed by phase-corrected crossovers in DSP and three amplifiers. Notably, KEF selected 500W and 100W Class D modules for the bass and midrange sections, respectively, but a 'traditional' 100W-rated Class A/B amp for the tweeter.

Streamer's Dream
When it comes to connections and streaming, the LS60 Wireless takes its cues from the LS50 Wireless II. This includes an HDMI ARC input, next to optical and coaxial digital inputs, plus an analogue RCA input to connect any legacy line source (including a turntable and phono preamp). With the addition of KEF's second-generation W2 streaming platform, driven by the KEF Connect app, the platform extends to Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and Roon compatibility, Spotify Connect, UPnP, and Bluetooth. All told, you're set to stream music in just about any way you could wish.

Now, if you are wondering if KEF might be contemplating a passive version of the LS60 then, well, don't bother. KEF's VP of Technology, Jack Oclee-Brown, is adamant it won't happen. The only way the slim design of the LS60 Wireless can function is through DSP control and the active Uni-Core force- cancelling woofers – the same just can't be done passively, we're told. 'In terms of both absolute performance and flexibility, active has a significant advantage.'

Ready To Rock
Even though these are reasonably heavy loudspeakers, installing the LS60 Wireless proved to be refreshingly easy – in part thanks to some nifty packaging, but mainly because of the well-designed app. After setting the duo up in my room it took only a few minutes to start listening.