KEF LS50 Wireless ‘Nocturne’ Special Edition is music to our eyes and ears
KEF has collaborated with Dutch designer Marcel Wanders to launch a design-orientated version of its superb speaker system.
Picking up a What Hi-Fi? 2017 Best Buy in the ‘all-in-one system over £1000’ category, the £2000 KEF LS50 Wireless, to quote our own review, sound at least as good as the best comparably featured separates combinations available for similar money.
MORE: KEF LS50 Wireless review
And while we’ve no qualms with the way the KEFs look either, what with their striking Uni-Q driver (in red, blue or copper, depending on the colour of the cabinet finish), the Marcel Wanders-designed 'Nocturne' Special Editions are a sight to behold.
As far as product design goes, interior designer Marcel Wanders has dabbled in everything from ostentatious tableware and stylish air pollution masks to braided-cord gold chairs and upended sofa seats. For the KEFs, Wanders has complemented the circular nature of the Uni-Q driver with musical notation symbols.
Selected glow-in-the-dark elements of the design are revealed when the lights are dimmed and the speakers subject to a blue UV light. Let us hear you say "...oooh..."
"There is an orchestrated tempo to this medley. By allowing for individual discovery of the musical elements, the design possesses a distinctive rhythm all of its own" says Wanders.
The 'Nocture' edition LS50 Wireless are priced at £2300 and are available to order now.
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Simon Lucas is a technology journalist, with a strong emphasis on the audio/video side of consumer electronics and home entertainment, and has been since 2003. He worked for more than 14 years at What Hi-Fi?, the last six of which were spent as the editor of the magazine and website. Since then he's written for Wired, The Guardian, TechRadar, Stuff, GQ and many more besides.
In the course of his career he's developed a pretty deep understanding of the way both the publishing and the electronics industries function, as well as the sort of intimate knowledge of audio products (both specific and general) that can make people very wary of him at parties.
