To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the British manufacturer will unveil the KEF LS60 Wireless speakers on May 12. To date, KEF has only communicated the name of its future speaker and an illustration of its front panel. Without going into details, however, we can already announce that this will be the brand’s first connected floorstanding speaker. It should follow in the footsteps of the famous KEF LS50 Wireless II .
KEF: 60 years of innovation
KEF is an emblematic brand in the world of English hi-fi. It takes its name from the Kent Engineering and Foundry workshops where it all started. Founded by electronics engineer Raymond Cooke who was trained at the BBC, the brand has stood out since its inception with its atypical loudspeakers, with the implementation of new materials and concepts. KEF is now a renowned player when it come to both Hi-Fi and home theater, and the brand continues to stand out through the use of innovative technologies. In 2016, KEF revolutionized wireless sound with the KEF LS50 Wireless, an amplified version of its iconic KEF LS50 speakers. This model was followed by the KEF LSX Wireless released in late 2018. This more compact model was designed to be installed anywhere in the house. In late 2020, after four years of good and loyal service, the KEF LS50 Wireless was upgraded to the MKII version (read the review of the KEF LS50 Wireless 2), with the addition of new acoustic technologies, extended connectivity and a revised user experience to make it an even more efficient and user-friendly speaker. For its 60th anniversary, the manufacturer wants to further expand its range of connected speakers with the next KEF LS60 Wireless column speakers.
KEF LS60 Wireless: Uni-Q driver?
KEF has kept all information about the KEF LS60 secret. The manufacturer has yet to reveal specific details about the speaker, but we can make an educated guess thanks to the visual teaser released by the brand. The front of the speaker features a single driver, without the slightest doubt a coaxial Uni-Q model. It is likely that this is an optimization of the 12th generation model used by the KEF LS50 Wireless 2 loudspeaker. It could also be associated with woofers arranged on the sides of the enclosure, as the British manufacturer already does with the KEF Blade speakers.
KEF LS60 Wireless: what functions?
The functions of the KEF LS60 Wireless are also unknown as of yet. If they use the same system as the KEF LS50 Wireless 2 and the KEF LSX, we can expect at least AirPlay 2 compatibility, Chromecast, Bluetooth and access to many streaming services from the KEF Connect mobile application. It remains to be determined whether the manufacturer will integrate new functions and up to which sampling rate the music files can be played.
There are still a lot of unknown and expectations regarding the KEF LS60 Wireless and we will have to wait until May 12 to discover this wireless floorstanding that the brand is already announcing as revolutionary.
