STANDMOUNT SPEAKERS

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BEST STANDMOUNT SPEAKER £750-£1500

KEF LS50 Meta

£999

We still find it hard to believe that this iteration of our beloved LS50s are even better than the ones that first arrived in 2012. But somehow, unbelievably, with these Metas KEF has improved upon an already winning formula.

They don’t look any different from the LS50s – KEF having concluded that little could be improved on their beautifully made enclosure. The only obvious changes are to the back panel, which has been tidied up and made to look neater. The Uni-Q driver array, though, has been thoroughly reworked, taking in the refinements KEF has developed over the past few years and, crucially, adding something new in the form of MAT (Metamaterial Absorption Technology).

Here, the rearward sound feeds into something about the size of a hockey puck that looks like a plastic circular maze. It is layered and made up of 30 tubes, each tuned to absorb a different frequency. KEF claims that, once combined, the tubes absorb a wide range of frequencies – from around 600Hz upwards – much more effectively than alternative methods. The result should be cleaner, less distorted highs.

And, sure enough, it doesn’t take long to realise that the LS50s have improved significantly. The basic sonic character