KEF LS50 Wireless II now Roon-ready

So now it’s done, the outstanding KEF LS50 Wireless II active loudspeaker system can also be designated as Roon-ready and can therefore be used directly via Roon to its full extent and with all its benefits.

KEF LS50 Wireless II is the latest generation of the active loudspeaker system from the English loudspeaker specialist KEF. As the name suggests, “wireless” control plays an essential role in this solution; the user should be able to access various network sources in the simplest way possible. This now includes direct support for the Roon software from Roon Labs LLC. With immediate effect, the KEF LS50 Wireless II can be designated as Roon-ready.

KEF LS50 Wireless II receives Roon-ready certification

Roon has become, without a doubt, the most important media management and multi-room audio streaming solution on the market. Not only does this software have a unique way of sorting and displaying music by albums, artists, composers and genres, using information within a media library as a link, and thus virtually inviting users to discover their own music collection in a completely new way, but a very important aspect is that Roon combines the most diverse streaming solutions from a wide range of manufacturers into a complete system.

Roon Labs LLC. has been working on a partner programme from the very beginning, within which various manufacturers can certify their solution for Roon and thus make it usable in the best possible way.

RAAT as the central interface

A very important point here is the support of RAAT. RAAT stands for Roon Advanced Audio Transport and ensures so-called bit-perfect music streaming. Ultimately, this means that the complete signal path is used optimally, thus ensuring the best possible music reproduction. In addition, solutions that are designated as Roon-ready are automatically recognised by Roon and can therefore be used immediately without further configuration, either as a single streaming component or in combination with other solutions in the network as a multi-room audio streaming system with central, convenient control via apps for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Google Android and Apple iOS.

KEF LS50 Wireless II first Roon-ready speaker from KEF

As we’ve already mentioned, it’s essential for KEF to use Roon software for a solution like the KEF LS50 Wireless II, because it’s a solution that’s likely to appeal to a target audience that also relies on Roon.

The loudspeaker system that KEF launched in September 2020 is the current generation of this product concept, which was already extremely successful in the first generation and has now been improved in significant areas in the second generation.

KEF sees itself as a pioneer in the development of acoustic technologies and the KEF LS50 Wireless II is the epitome of what drives the developers and designers in England.

This is a solution that embodies an innovative, networked active loudspeaker of the latest design.

Innovative technologies and state-of-the-art features

The KEF LS50 Wireless II uses the 12th generation KEF Uni-Q driver, with KEF’s all-new Metamaterial Absorption Technology, or MAT for short, playing a key role in the quest for accurate imaging.

The KEF LS50 Wireless II is driven by digital signal processing in the form of the KEF Music Integrity Engine and a remarkable 760 watts of power.

Alongside the usual analogue and digital inputs, the main focus is on the KEF W2 platform for versatile streaming, allowing access to your own content on the network as well as a wide range of streaming platforms – including Roon – and streaming services. It goes without saying that the KEF LS50 Wireless II supports all relevant formats such as Linear PCM data at up to 24-bit and 384 kHz, DSD and MQA content.

For the sake of completeness, the KEF LS50 Wireless II is available in four versions. The customer can choose between Carbon Black, Titanium Grey, MIneral White and Crimson Red Special Edition. The recommended retail price is € 2.499,-.

From the field…

To use the KEF LS50 Wireless II via Roon, you need the latest firmware, firmware 1.7, which is available as a download. After updating, if you are using a running Roon system, you need to restart the central server such as a Roon NUCLEUS or Intel NUC with Roon ROCK and thus the Roon Core, and then also any Roon controller apps. The KEF LS50 Wireless II will then be recognised without any problems.

Getting to the point

KEF can now tick off a very important point about the KEF LS50 Wireless II. The outstanding active loudspeaker system from England is now officially Roon-ready. This is an immensely important point, especially for a solution that relies so heavily on “wireless” integration of a wide range of sources and is essentially a complete high-end hi-fi system in the most compact form.