KEF Reference 5 VS Blade 2 vs Muon

[MattHooper]

I haven't heard much of the KEF Blades except for an encounter at an audio show. I just remember hearing the most realistic reproduction
of a piano piece that I've heard.

I just helped a non-audiophile friend (who started desiring better sound) purchase some KEF LS50's second hand. Wonderful speakers (though not perfect) and he and his wife are thrilled with the new level of spaciousness and tonal detail they are hearing.

 

[thewas]

Because he didn't design them.

He was at KEF since 2004 and Head of Acoustics there at least when Blade 2 were released and also involved at the Uni-Q of the Blade concept http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/kef-concept-bladea-state-of-the-art-not-for-sale-concept-speaker/

 

[Pearljam5000]

How close could you get to the Blade 2 with a pair of LS50 Meta +2 or even 4 subs?

 

[thewas]

How close could you get to the Blade 2 with a pair of LS50 Meta +2 or even 4 subs?

Hard to say as it was quite some time ago I enjoyed the Blade 2 at the KEF HQ (one of my all time best hifi experiences) and its very subjective to give numbers to those, plus different rooms, but my purely subjective and fun guess at a Meta plus sub owner would be something like 70-80% which imho is quite a great achievement for the small budget.

 

[bo_knows]

How close could you get to the Blade 2 with a pair of LS50 Meta +2 or even 4 subs?

I will just say, Blade 2 uses a 3-inch voice coil with the neodymium magnet for the midrange driver!

 

[Pdxwayne]

How close could you get to the Blade 2 with a pair of LS50 Meta +2 or even 4 subs?

The distortion numbers for LS50 meta are worse than original ls50 below 200hz.

A while back, I asked owners of Reference 1 with similar question. How close is LS50 + subs to reference 1. Their answer was "not close".....I am assuming the answer for your question is the same.

 

[thewas]

The distortion numbers for LS50 meta are worse than original ls50 below 200hz.

Nope

Source: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ama-and-measurements.18353/page-3#post-603870

 

[Pdxwayne]

Nope

Source: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ama-and-measurements.18353/page-3#post-603870

Oh, I just realized the comparisons done by Amir was not apple to apple at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ef-ls50-meta-review-speaker.25574/post-871425

Anyway, answer still the same. Not close.
: P

Per kef web page, Blade 2 distortion:
<0.5% 40Hz - 100kHz
<0.2% 200Hz - 10kHz

 

[steve59]

How close could you get to the Blade 2 with a pair of LS50 Meta +2 or even 4 subs?

If you’re using them in a 10x10 room the sound might be preferable, but the bass is just part of the story with the blade and I think it would be pretty tricky to get a small 2 way with subs to manage the mid and upper bass like the blade/2.

 

[richard12511]

It hurts me to see super expensive audiophile systems(up to and over $1 million) on youtube with no form of room EQ to fix the bass .

 

[ernestcarl]

It hurts me to see super expensive audiophile systems(up to and over $1 million) on youtube with no form of room EQ to fix the bass .

IMO, "super expensive" active/passive speaker system designers should also be able to provide "recommended" speaker EQ correction of sorts based in their anechoic measurements -- if they don't want to do that (don't want to ever admit pure unprocessed response is less than optimal), then at least provide enough data than having to wait for someone with Klippel spins to come up with better optimization EQs. Some pro audio speaker companies have been doing this already for a long time.

 

[SS55]

Hard to say as it was quite some time ago I enjoyed the Blade 2 at the KEF HQ (one of my all time best hifi experiences) and its very subjective to give numbers to those, plus different rooms, but my purely subjective and fun guess at a Meta plus sub owner would be something like 70-80% which imho is quite a great achievement for the small budget.

As a owner of both LS50 (with SVS sub) and Blade 2, I respectfully diagree. The LS50 or even the Meta with subs is at max 40% of Blade 2. There are certain songs where the gap increases even more.

 

[Ron Texas]

As a owner of both LS50 (with SVS sub) and Blade 2, I respectfully diagree. The LS50 or even the Meta with subs is at max 40% of Blade 2. There are certain songs where the gap increases even more.

Yeah, in your humble, unbiased opinion after double blind tests. 40%, is that the difference between 40 mph and 100 mph?

 

[SS55]

Yeah, in your humble, unbiased opinion after double blind tests. 40%, is that the difference between 40 mph and 100 mph?

No double blind tests done. Just my simple biased subjective opinion on two different speakers. In other words the difference between M106 and Salon2. By 40% I mean it’s good enough just not at the level of Blade 2, the difference could be because of my room.
My reply was to @thewas saying the LS50 with subs was 70-80% of the Blade 2.

 

[Ron Texas]

@SS55 percentages are meaningless. Maybe if one system had a preference score of 8 and the other was 3.2 one could say 40%. Never mind, I would love to have those spaceships in my room.

 

[richard12511]

No double blind tests done. Just my simple biased subjective opinion on two different speakers. In other words the difference between M106 and Salon2. By 40% I mean it’s good enough just not at the level of Blade 2, the difference could be because of my room.
My reply was to @thewas saying the LS50 with subs was 70-80% of the Blade 2.

M106 + subs vs Salon2 is a test I really hope to try at some point. I'm curious what the difference will be.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Why did they reduce the woofer size from 9 inch in the original Blade to 6.5 inch in the Blade 2?
Feels like you're getting less for the same price.

 

[Beave]

Not the same price.

You're getting less for less.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Not the same price.

You're getting less for less.

In my country the difference between them is only 1500$

 

[Zvu]

@SS55 percentages are meaningless. Maybe if one system had a preference score of 8 and the other was 3.2 one could say 40%. Never mind, I would love to have those spaceships in my room.

Preference score is as flawed almost as subjective opinion. While you've had no problem believing that there is a difference of only 20% (what thewas wrote) you have a problem believing when a guy who owns both says the difference is greater. What's the catch ?