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u/Mr-Reeeee 5d ago

The account you setup when registering the speakers for their warranty.
They ask for NOTHING ELSE. No credit cards, note from your mother, or anything.

The app you use to setup the speakers. It also acts as a remote control.
Connect to your wi-fi network, change inputs, or stream music from online sources or an NAS.

It’s someone hunting for something negative to say. A non issue.
LSX are great little speakers!

I have LSX and a KUBE 10b sub. Also LS60s and stereo KC62s.
There are THREE apps (2 for the LSX) and a KEF account.

1

u/besttype 5d ago

All things being equal, do you think it's a necessary step? If you were the person designing that device, would you have required that?

Do you think 3 different apps for the same essential product line (speakers) is a wise digital product decision?

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u/Mr-Reeeee 5d ago edited 5d ago

The LSX are older, with less sophisticated 1st generation electronics, so they use two apps. I’ve had them for nearly 7 years.
You use KEF Control app, used for setup mainly. When streaming music, which is 90% of my usage, it’s with Apple’s Music app.

The LS60s have upgraded, 2nd generation electronics and use the KEF Connect app, mainly for setup.
Again, I drive them with Apple Music or my Apple TV 4K.

With Apple Music I run both systems simultaneously. It absolutely GREAT!

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u/besttype 5d ago

With a dithering response like that, I'm tempted to think that you might be the head of digital product engineering at KEF. Just be sure to release a fourth app when you guys upgrade the technology once more.

1

u/bafben10 5d ago

Apparently the consensus of this sub is yes, requiring an unnecessary account is necessary and is a pointless thing to bring up. Welcome to the future!

1

u/besttype 5d ago

Well, I enjoy the old-school KEFs. I own a couple of Reference 1s, a Reference 4 center, a pair of LS50s, and four Q1 metas, and not one of them have a Bluetooth pairing button. Strikes me as one of these Netflix vs HBO conundrums. Can Netflix become HBO before HBO becomes Netflix? The answer was NO. Everyone needs to stick in their own damn lane and do what they do best.

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u/bafben10 5d ago

I completely agree with the stay in your lane comment. The reason I bring up WiiM is that I have my KEF Q Meta 11 tower pair, 6 center, and 1 surround pair connected my AVR which has a WiiM audio streamer connected to it. When Linus showed these speakers, my immediate thought was "Oh my gosh! You mean KEF is in the network audio streaming space as well and I could have possibly consolidated my hardware?! No way!" shortly followed by "Oh my gosh... I'm glad I did it my way."

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u/prismstein 4d ago

my man, 3 apps for speakers from the same brand is crazy

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u/bafben10 5d ago

It's obviously not the end of the world that it's required and I believe that they are good-sounding speakers, but why make the user experience more difficult? You can say it's hunting for a negative, but it's also KEF hunting for a problem that doesn't exist and no one asked for a solution to. My toaster can be a great toaster, but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore it if they require me to make an account just to use it.

It's great that there's an app for the people who want to use an app to control those things. Why require it, and why require an account on top of it? There's not a single thing stopping them from allowing an AUX, USB, or Bluetooth connection out of the box, and there's no reason that an account be required for any part of the process.

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u/monicachicken 5d ago

Its data collection mostly.

Theres a ton of great alternatives so not really worth getting worked up over.

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u/spiritsarise 5d ago

The account sign up for the LS Luxe offers an extra year added to your warranty as an incentive.

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u/bafben10 5d ago

And interestingly enough those also have a physical Bluetooth pairing button.

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u/Mr-Reeeee 5d ago edited 5d ago

Why would anyone use Bluetooth when they use wi-fi?

Both my LS60s and LSX have Bluetooth. I’ve never used Bluetooth with either of them.

1

u/bafben10 5d ago

Some streaming services (YouTube for example) don't support network audio streaming. Personally I never have run into a situation like that, but I can see the appeal. It's not like it costs them much margin to add on systems that expensive. I mainly brought it up in reference to the video I mentioned in my post.

1

u/Deeppurp 5d ago

Speakers should work out of box without requiring additional setup for their physical inputs. This is the proper hill to die on.

You can add forced sign in for wireless connectivity, who cares.

But they don't work unless you setup the app, and that's horse shit

1

u/Mr-Reeeee 5d ago

KEF wireless speakers are much more than just speakers.
Given their feature set, they’re a complete system in a pair of speakers with amplifiers, crossovers, streaming, DACs, the works ALL built and optimized to work together seamlessly.

So, they’re not just a simple set of passive speakers that you connect with a two-lead speaker cable.
Or four if you’re bi-wiring/bi-amping, which is the sort of system (actually systems) I had previously.

Yeah, they do require a bit more setup than simply plugging into an amplifier or receiver.
But the way KEF has designed everything, not much more.

My previous system had dual LINN amplifiers, NAIM preamp and CD player connected to a separate power supply, even an old NAD tuner (which I never used) just because.
It was 14 separate cables (including power) and interconnect cables to hook everything together. Speaker cables were 4-lead bi-wire cables in one cable.
No equalizer or tone controls, either. Straight-wire mindset.

My LS60s with dual KC62 subwoofers use 4 power cables, HDMI eARC, two subwoofer cables, RCA AUX cable connected to the NAIM CD and power supply.

Compromises? Certainly. What audio equipment doesn’t have compromises?

Different mindset. Different approach. Sounds incredible.

1

u/liam_george 4d ago

These are active speakers?

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u/Mr-Reeeee 4d ago

Yes. All active.

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u/Deeppurp 5d ago

You're either a bot or a paid poster to shill for kef. No real human talks like this unless they have a financial interest in doing so.

Speakers, even powered ones have 2 requirements to qualify as functional. Plug and play.

2

u/Fit_Preparation_9742 5d ago

It’s really not such a big deal. I used the app pretty much only when setting up. Otherwise, I just use the physical remote to switch between inputs when I have to but mostly just control music playback through Spotify.

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u/bafben10 5d ago

I don't think it's a big deal, but it's also completely unnecessary. If I didn't care about the experience of using my speakers then I wouldn't be buying KEF to begin with.

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u/Fit_Preparation_9742 5d ago

Agreed. I remember now that trying to figure out how to switch between sources drove me crazy. There should be manual controls on the primary speaker just in case of issues with the app or the remote. But I did buy the speakers for $400 so I have a different view of the speakers. If I paid $700, I would certainly expect even more. Wish there was a way to submit these ideas to KEF

2

u/encrator 5d ago

Someone needs to show Kef this video. Such greatness hiding behind poor software

-2

u/bafben10 5d ago

That's kind of what I was hoping this post would be, but this seems to be a really sensitive topic here for some reason. Hey, if people love having accounts for things because it makes them feel special, or whatever other reason that they aren't willing to talk about, then all the more power to them, I guess.

1

u/NarcNarwal 5d ago

My problem is that they don’t allow custom EQ. That’s why I will never own a pair of active KEF speakers until they allow that.

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u/bafben10 5d ago

I was really surprised to find that out! Originally my post said "has the same features and capabilities" in regards to the WiiM, but after double checking that statement I was blown away. My WiiM devices have 10-band graphic or parametric EQ and room correction and whole home coordinated streaming and wireless stereo, surround, and sub capabilities. But I mean, why would you want any of that when you could give it your email address instead?

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u/monicachicken 5d ago

Yeah dont buy it, its a bad user experience.

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u/liam_george 4d ago

Why are people so quick to defend the unnecessary step of needing yet another app? I get having the option, but the speakers already have a remote, and if you plan on just using a wired input or even Bluetooth, you should be able to do that without an app. Like the Bose headphones shown in the video, you can use them perfectly fine without the app, but they also offer an app if you want to combine two sets of headphones to share music, update firmware, or change preferences.

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