Amp for KEF LS50?

B

bleagh

Weaksauce
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
100
Hi,
I am looking for suggestions for a good but inexpensive amp to drive a pair of KEF LS50 speakers for desktop use. I currently have the Emotiva Fusion Flex. And while it seems decent, I am concerned that it has high THD+N at lower frequencys (around 1% at 200Hz rising to around 4% at 50Hz from the emotive report).

I don't think it is a bad amp, but I think I want something better...
 
Are you limited to those tiny amps like the Emotiva? All those little ones like that have shit THD specs so you'll have to get something bigger if you want better THD specs, now if you can hear a difference is up to debate... You might want to list budget. Unless you can't get those KEF's loud enough with the Emotiva I'd just leave it alone cuz you're probably not really pushing it hard for desktop/nearfield use.
 
Budget? I would LIKE to keep it under $500, but if I need to pay more to get something better then...?

As for size, it does not need to be tiny, but it will likely need fit on my desktop, so shouldn't be too big.

The only other amp I know of right now would be the Parasound Zamp v.3
It is actually a bit smaller than the Emotiva Fusion Flex, and has a lower power rating. But both it's noise and distortion ratings seem to be better.

The Emotiva Fusion Flex seems to have two flaws (and maybe why it is being discontinued?):
1} It's distortion seems to be quit high at lower frequencies (goes from about 1% at 200Hz to about 5% at 20Hz, from about 300Hz and up is all well below 1%).
2) It does NOT have very linear output (almost 2dB more output below 200Hz than at 1kHz and above)
[This from Emotiva's own test data.]

The only review of the Zamp that actually shows test data doesn't show any such obvious faults. So right now it seems the obvious choice...

But I was looking for suggestions from others.
 
Visit audiogon.com and look for a used NAD 3020 hybrid or 356BEE. There is also a Music Hall A15.3 right now for just over $400.
Cambridge, Vincent, Peachtree - all good integrates as well.
 
bleagh said:
As for size, it does not need to be tiny, but it will likely need fit on my desktop, so shouldn't be too big.
Click to expand...
This too big?

The Emotiva Fusion Flex seems to have two flaws (and maybe why it is being discontinued?):
1} It's distortion seems to be quit high at lower frequencies (goes from about 1% at 200Hz to about 5% at 20Hz, from about 300Hz and up is all well below 1%).
2) It does NOT have very linear output (almost 2dB more output below 200Hz than at 1kHz and above)
[This from Emotiva's own test data.]
Click to expand...
1) Just for reference, see NRC measurements for the LS50's THD at 90dB. Looks like about 2% at 200Hz and 10% at 100Hz, so the amp's distortion isn't really a big deal.

2) This kind of thing bugs me, especially since most of the little speakers this boost is supposed to help already have the same kind of boost... Emotiva, at least make this kind of thing defeatable!
 
Small amps and small speakers are a bad combination. Get a proper amp.
 
As others have said you need to use a proper amp for the LS50s. They are excellent speakers. I personally would use a Schiit Ragnarok to drive them as that combination brings out every nuance those speakers can produce. That being said that's a bit spendy.

As others have said NAD makes some great gear. I am actually a huge fan of Lenbrook, they own NAD, PSB, and Bluesound. They have an excellent class d design with nice punch.
 
I am using a OPPO HA-1 as my daily pc dac and it powers everything pretty good although it uses a ESS Sabre Dac which is not everyone's cup of tea . MSRP is $1000 so its a little out of your price range though but maybe a use one can be around your range.
 
for me if i owned LS50 i would be looking at ATI amps. Note $500 aint going to get you much especially for that speaker.
 
I would look for a preowned audiophile amp. You can get a decent amp for 500 bucks preowned.
 
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