KEF Blade 2 Meta review by Erin's Audio Corner

[CleanSound]

Not so with Audio/HT.. You'd have a bank/credit officer rolling their eyes in disbelief, were you to invoke the notion of financing a $10k a pair speaker ...

That is the skewed societal standard/norm that is set.

From a logical point if view, buying a $75k car when a $25k car functions the same is no different than buying a $30k speaker.

If one prefer the latter, why should they let societal standard/norm dictate to them which one is "reasonable" and which one is not.

Anyway, I'm the one who started this analogy, but I was only sharing that my wife brought into this societal norm, until I talked some sense into her and since, she does not give me grief on my audio spending habits, which if you sum it all up, it is still significantly less than some of my neighbors spending $75k on a Tesla or BMW.

 

[Sokel]

Now this is almost driving towards the extreme where the "speaker" gets hidden in something else. My project list still has plans for trying to bury tactile transducers into framed art to hide surround speakers in the room.

My wife initially approved my CBT towers but lately seems to have soured on them. May be posturing to keep them from moving with us to our next residence. 

Please forgive my veering OT, but luxury-class audio really needs an occasional reality check in my opinion.

I think you nailed it,it's the absence of visual drivers that makes it.
I don't think it's OT talking about visuals as great effort goes into it.

Just looking only at the variety of colors Blades gives us proves the point right away,without even mentioning the effort to both sound and look nice.

 

[Grandzoltar]

You could get W371A with 8351/8361 and it would perform better in every metric, be fully active and still cheaper at least in Europe. The looks however... (both bad)

The website states it has a -6db at 23hz for a 10k subwoofer I would want much better performance. Flagship monoprice svs jtr and rbh subs would out perform at a 1/3 of the price. Synergy between sub and speaker from any brand can be achieved with dsp.

 

[Mnyb]

I think you nailed it,it's the absence of visual drivers that makes it.
I don't think it's OT talking about visuals as great effort goes into it.

Just looking only at the variety of colors Blades gives us proves the point right away,without even mentioning the effort to both sound and look nice.

A lot of thinking . The Engineering model migth have been a column with a half cylinder as front to begin with , bet some brands would have stopped there . It’s cool when form and function really gets together

 

[Sokel]

The website states it has a -6db at 23hz for a 10k subwoofer I would want much better performance. Flagship monoprice svs jtr and rbh subs would out perform at a 1/3 of the price. Synergy between sub and speaker from any brand can be achieved with dsp.

The difference is that W371A is not a sub,is a woofer.
You can have actual mid-bass with it which is not the case with many other subs.

 

[holdingpants01]

The website states it has a -6db at 23hz for a 10k subwoofer I would want much better performance. Flagship monoprice svs jtr and rbh subs would out perform at a 1/3 of the price. Synergy between sub and speaker from any brand can be achieved with dsp.

it's not a subwoofer and in room it's flat to 20Hz. BTW Blade 2 Meta manual states -6dB at 30Hz

 

[Grandzoltar]

it's not a subwoofer and in room it's flat to 20Hz

But it is designed to play hertz in the subwoofer frequency range?

 

[Purité Audio]

When I visited Genelec they told me ( and they had set-up) subs under the 371, but I suppose they would.
Keith

 

[tmtomh]

Someone please help me out here - what on earth are some folks on about when they question whether speakers with virtually zero compression at 102dB SPL - which translates into 105 for a stereo pair - can play at adequate volume?

 

[Grandzoltar]

The difference is that W371A is not a sub,is a woofer.
You can have actual mid-bass with it which is not the case with many other subs.

How high would you crossover

 

[Sokel]

How high would you crossover

The go up to 500Hz (-6db) so up to 300Hz is a safe bet.
Under or really close to mains of course.

 

[diddley]

Fixed it for you.

Thanks English is not my native language, so I'm doing my best and could use the help you provided me with.

 

[holdingpants01]

Anyone wonders why Amir got the lower model and Erin higher end one? Maybe KEF wanted Blade to be listened to in stereo lol

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Nah, I want an all in one system with amps designed specifically for the speakers, I'll leave the other stuff for the cable tinkerers

"...amps designed specifically for the speakers"? Nah, in general, the amps are selected specifically for the speakers and tend to be OEM modules from the usual suspects. The specificity lies in the DSP/voicing and one can easily do that externally

 

[fredoamigo]

https://trptk.com/studio/

 

[CleanSound]

I wouldn't say better in every metric, but rather not significantly worse as for example the directivity gradient of the Blades is in some regions more continuous.

This almost sounds like "component matching" that the old school YouTube reviewers would swear by.

So long as the amp has enough power to drive the speakers at their rated impedance, there really isn't much to "match."

 

[CleanSound]

https://trptk.com/studio/

As cool as this looks, I am not convinced that mixing and mastering with these KEF will give better results than professional studio monitors of the likes of Neumann and Genelec.

 

[Sokel]

This almost sounds like "component matching" that the old school YouTube reviewers would swear by.

So long as the amp has enough power to drive the speakers at their rated impedance, there really isn't much to "match."

It is if the amp is load dependent.
Try listening to such an amp with a bright speaker and you will confess sins that you haven't committed yet!

 

[fredoamigo]

As cool as this looks, I am not convinced that mixing and mastering with these KEF will give better results than professional studio monitors of the likes of Neumann and Genelec.

Would it be enough to buy a copy of their production? Would it be interesting if Blades owners like Kal auditioned? I am sure that their production is of high quality.
https://trptk.com/shop/

 

[CleanSound]

It is if the amp is load dependent.
Try listening to such an amp with a bright speaker and you will confess sins that you haven't committed yet!

You are correct. I'm assuming a reasonable performing amp and any reasonable performing amp, at least in my book, is not load dependent.