The KEF LS LUXE are a $4,000 all-in-one wireless speaker system aimed at listeners who want serious hi-fi performance without building a traditional stack of amplifiers, streamers, DACs, and speakers. Although the name may suggest a connection to the smaller LSX II, the LS LUXE are much closer to the LS50 Wireless II in size, capability, and ambition. Their most obvious point of separation is the enclosure, created by renowned industrial designer Ross Lovegrove, who also designed KEF’s radically sculpted Muon loudspeakers. The rounded cabinets give the LS LUXE a far more distinctive visual identity than KEF’s other wireless models and make them as much a design object as an audio system.
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Inside, KEF uses its 12th-generation Uni-Q driver array with a 6.5-inch aluminum-cone woofer and 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeter, along with Metamaterial Absorption Technology and the company’s Music Integrity Engine DSP. The LS LUXE also introduce VECO, which monitors driver movement and compensates in real time, along with KEF’s Current Drive amplification technology designed to further reduce distortion. Amplification totals 280 watts of Class D power for the woofers and 100 watts of Class A/B power for the tweeters, while connectivity includes HDMI eARC, optical, coaxial, 3.5 mm analog, Ethernet, subwoofer output, AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Bluetooth 5.3, and internet radio. There is no phono stage or RCA analog input, so turntable users will need an external phono preamp and, depending on their setup, an adapter.
Do the LS LUXE improve on the LS50 Wireless II? In some respects, yes. KEF has added newer driver-control and amplification technology, the Lovegrove-designed cabinet is far more visually ambitious, and the sound is exceptionally clean, neutral, detailed, and controlled, with impressive bass speed and very low perceived distortion. But the jump is not transformative enough to make the LS50 Wireless II obsolete, especially when you consider the roughly $1,000 premium and the inevitable diminishing returns at this level. Buyers are paying for both the engineering and the industrial design. For a closer look at how the LS LUXE perform with music and movies, and whether they can really justify that $4,000 asking price, watch our full video review on YouTube.
The Bottom Line
The KEF LS LUXE earn our Editors’ Choice designation because they combine exceptional ease of use, superbly clean and controlled sound, and a genuinely distinctive industrial design in a compact wireless system that looks unlike anything else in the category. Ross Lovegrove’s sculpted enclosure, KEF’s latest driver-control technologies, HDMI eARC connectivity, and excellent overall refinement make the LS LUXE one of the most complete premium wireless speaker systems we’ve tested. They are also unusually versatile, working equally well as a serious music system or an elegant alternative to a conventional TV audio setup.
The catch is value. Buyers are clearly paying a premium for Lovegrove’s design, the compact form factor, and KEF’s newest engineering, but the sonic improvement over the LS50 Wireless II is not large enough to make that model suddenly irrelevant. Klipsch’s The Sevens II remain the stronger value, particularly for TV use, at half the price. But if design matters as much as sound and you want a compact, beautifully finished, genuinely high-end wireless system that requires very little fuss, the LS LUXE occupy a space that few competitors can match.
Pros
- Incredibly clean, precise sound
- Easy to setup and use
- Gorgeous industrial design
- HDMI eARC for connecting to TVs
- Digital connectivity options
- Included high quality remote control
- Supports Hi-res audio up to 192 kHz/24-bit
- Optional finishes
Cons
- Doesn’t glow up lesser recordings
- No RCA or Phono Inputs
- No volume/play controls on speaker itself
Our Ratings
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality
★★★★★★★★★★ Build Quality
★★★★★★★★★★ Usability
★★★★★★★★★★ Value
Where to Buy
Related Reading
- KEF LS LUXE vs. LS50 Wireless II vs LSX II
- Klipsch The Sevens II Wireless Speakers Review
- KEF LSX II Wireless Speakers Review
- PSB iQ2 Wireless Speakers Review
