For such a diminutive, discreet system of unremarkable power and modest driver dimensions, it summons unlikely low-frequency drive and presence. Bass sounds are deep enough to make the idea of an external subwoofer seem a bit much, and they’re controlled at the attacking edge with proper authority.
Detail levels are high (as they are across the board, to be fair), so there’s plenty of information available regarding texture and tone. The LSX II LT is able to make even minor low-end dynamic variations apparent, and where straightforward punch is concerned they outperform their physical dimensions to a remarkable degree.
The opposite end of the frequency range is equally well served when it comes to detail retrieval, dynamic impetus, and simple fidelity. Treble sounds are bright and ringing, but even if you decide to test the upper limits of the system’s volume they never cross the line into hardness or glassiness. There’s ample bite and crunch should the music demand it, but none of the edginess that less capable loudspeakers can threaten to introduce.
And in between, the KEF creates more than enough space in the midrange for a vocalist to express themselves fully. If there’s information regarding character, technique, or attitude in a recording, there seems little doubt the LSX II LT is ignoring it.
Tonality from the top of the frequency range to the bottom is even and consistent, and there’s sufficient dynamic headroom available to let the quieter moments of a recording contrast nicely with the moments of all-out attack.
The soundstage the system can generate is appreciably wider and taller than the speakers from which it emanates, and it’s organized and controlled with confidence. The relatively complicated driver arrangement demonstrates its worth (again) with a presentation that’s neatly unified and of an appreciable whole.
The LSX II LT proves remarkably tolerant when it comes to lower-resolution content, too. A bog-standard 320-kbps Spotify stream of The Record by Boygenius sounds compressed and compromised, sure, but not to a fatal degree. Some systems can be overtly sniffy about poverty-spec audio files like this, but the KEF is not so judgmental. It does what it can with the information it’s given, attempting to open it up and find the light and shade within it rather than throwing its hands up in despair.
Sizing Up
Photograph: KEF
In performance terms, there’s really only one significant caveat to KEF LSX II LT ownership, and that concerns out-and-out scale. For all the dynamism of its sound and the expansive, organized nature of its soundstage, the KEF can’t muster the sort of outright scale that can fill a larger room with sound.
For the majority of customers, that’s unlikely to be an issue. The LSX II LT is no shrinking violet, after all, and in a typical room-sized room it has no problem with spreading sound all around. Those prospective owners who are hoping to fill a big space with sound from little speakers, though, are advised to think again.
Otherwise, there’s not an awful lot to take issue with. An analog input or two wouldn’t go amiss—after all, if you want to involve your TV in your system, why wouldn’t you want to include, say, a turntable, too? But given what KEF has managed to provide both in terms of sound quality and flexibility with the LSX II LT, I feel a little mean-spirited even bringing it up.
For KEF, the elevator continues to move upwards, even when it’s heading down to what it considers to be the bargain basement.
