Moving the speakers downstairs into our dedicated music room confirmed the findings and sonic signature of the nearfield. Here the lower reverberation times and lesser background noise allowed me to adjust the DSP from lively to neutral room. The qualities of the LS50 Wii now shone at lower SPL but their overall sonic profile remained similar. When set up properly these image superbly. That should have been no surprise given a small point-source speaker with four mono amplifiers but I was still surprised. When everything locked into place, I ended up in a bubble of sound that would likely please even the most demanding visual listeners amongst us. I'll confess that it didn't take much for them to deliver a 3D soundstage that put my refrigerator-sized Ocellia to shame. Small speakers have a way to disappear that big behemoths simply can't match. Of course the Ocellia powered by the Enleum amp have far sharper dynamics, greater resolution and more life-like tonality but the KEF at 1/10th the price of my total system didn't feel embarrassed at all. In fact, for some listeners favouring smoother midrange comfort over lifelike dynamics, the KEF might actually suit better. Male vocals especially had a level of realism and presence that I've only heard from much more expensive systems until now. Unfortunately this didn't always translate to female vocals. Those could sound a bit too smoothed over for my taste especially when the DSP was set for a lively room. But the benefit was to never turn aggressive and confirm that this speaker was voiced for ease and comfort, not ultimate intimacy at all frequency ranges.

Overall the KEF LS50 Wireless II proved to be a delightful surprise by combining beautiful style with superb ease of use and sonic qualities bordering on excellent when set up properly and certainly exceeding anything one could put together with separates for the same price. At the same time, their forgiving voicing makes older recordings and lower-resolution streaming enjoyable which strikes me as a reasonable design choice for such a lifestyle-oriented speaker. Within their limitations I can't recommend these active monitors more highly!