The only place I could find to audition the Kef Blade 1 meta was Magnolia. I liked the KEF sound but no matter how I got them to move these around in the room, the imaging was horrible, which is what I expected them to be best at. The soundstage never went beyond the two speakers, and closing my eyes, I could easily point to both speakers. I currently have Goldenear Triton1r's and they image great, disappear in the room. My only issues with the GM's is the treble can be a bit harsh at times and the bass could be tighter though they do go very low. I know that there must be something wrong with the set up or equipt being used as the Blades should have imaged better than the GM's based upon their technology. Anyone have a similar experience and/or have these speakers in AZ who would let me hear them set up correctly?
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Kef Blade 1 meta disappointed
- Thread starter Goldenear
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Keith_W
Major Contributor
Imaging depends on how the speakers were set up. Out of curiosity I tried to do a search for that hi-fi dealer you went to and I was somewhat surprised to find:
... a KEF dealership in a Best Buy? I am guessing they did not have the speakers set up in a listening room?
Yeah I think you need to find another pair to listen to. I think Erin (from Erin's Audio Corner) is in Arizona. Maybe reach out to him?
Oh, and welcome to ASR!
... a KEF dealership in a Best Buy? I am guessing they did not have the speakers set up in a listening room?
Yeah I think you need to find another pair to listen to. I think Erin (from Erin's Audio Corner) is in Arizona. Maybe reach out to him?
Oh, and welcome to ASR!
terryforsythe
Major Contributor
He's in Alabama.
He was loaned the Blade 2s for the review, then returned them back to KEF. But his video of the review is worth reading/watching - a completely different take than the OP.
Selkirks
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I guarantee you the problem was both room and positioning. I've also seen salesmen wire speakers out of phase for demo and not notice.
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Thanks for the welcome!
Yeah, no other Kef dealer has the blades to demo. And yes, I did suggest that they might be out of phase but the B+W 801's in that room didn't sound much better and they were powered by a different amp. The salesman was getting pissed that I kept telling him there must be something wrong, I may go back in the evening and try for a different salesman. I know the room treatments were done arbitrarily, just spaced around the room evenly with no bass traps. But despite what some folks may think due to the price difference, it's possible that the Goldenears in my properly treated room are just really dialed in and are the equal of the Blades. Both are A rated by Stereophile.
Yeah, no other Kef dealer has the blades to demo. And yes, I did suggest that they might be out of phase but the B+W 801's in that room didn't sound much better and they were powered by a different amp. The salesman was getting pissed that I kept telling him there must be something wrong, I may go back in the evening and try for a different salesman. I know the room treatments were done arbitrarily, just spaced around the room evenly with no bass traps. But despite what some folks may think due to the price difference, it's possible that the Goldenears in my properly treated room are just really dialed in and are the equal of the Blades. Both are A rated by Stereophile.
Magnolia was a high-end, small chain in our area. Bestbuy bought them, only to proceed to close down all of their stores and create these "Magnolia" corners in their stores. Every time I go there, there is hardly any staff. Stuff is just thrown around. The old Magnolia stores were quite nice.
I also demoed the KEF Blade Meta when I visited the Best Buy/Magnolia Hifi next to the Portland, Oregon airport. The sales rep was very accommodating and explained that this location was the "premier" Best Buy location in the greater Portland metro region and that most Best Buy locations will not be so well equipped. I cannot be absolutely sure, but I believe that they were the Blade Meta 1 model not the Meta 2 model. They were powered by a couple of very large Macintosh amps from a streaming service (Might have been Qobuz through Roon?). do not have a huge amount of experience with high end systems speaker system as I am more into headphones, but it sounded very good to my ears. I have owned a pair of KEF R3 speakers in the past, and I did attend the Pacific audio fest where I heard some pretty high end systems. Granted, I doubt that the hotel/conference rooms the Pacific audio fest used were ideal acoustic environments. If I had to criticize anything about the Blades, the high end seemed like it might have been a touch rolled off, but it was still think that it was probably the best speaker system that I have heard with an expansive soundstage and deep bass.
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Keith_W
Major Contributor
I don't know about Best Buy - I am Australian, I have never been to a Best Buy, but to me it sounds like some kind of chain electronics store. We have similar stores here, but none of them sell such expensive equipment.
Most salespeople would be happy to accommodate you if they knew you were serious. Who knows why the salesman was so unhelpful - I have found that simply turning up and grabbing a salesman is not the best approach. I always make an appointment to view something I am interested in which costs a lot of money (car, speakers, etc). That way, they know I am serious.
I suggest you email the dealership and explain that you are serious about buying a pair. Tell them you were disappointed with your previous demo, because there were obvious audible issues, and the salesman did not take your observations seriously. Before you drop umpteen tens of thousands on a speaker, you need to be confident that the speakers are suitable. Ask for a proper in-store demo, with the speakers set up in a listening room. Ask to inspect the cabling to make sure nothing is wired out-of-phase. And finally, ask for a home demo. If they refuse, offer to pay 100% of the asking price of the Blades with a right to return for a 100% refund minus restocking costs within one week.
If all that fails, then find a Blade owner who lives locally and purchase your Blades from another dealer.
I have heard them, and I can assure you that my impression was similar to Erin's.
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Sokel
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I believe OP 100% and I agree with the rest about set-up.
My similar impression in typical show hotel room was the same but not entirely about imaging,that is highly depended on the material too.
The "flaw" with bad set-up probably is that you have two big-ish speakers in front of you that sound "small".No "big" sound as one would expect by the real estate alone.
The rest are probably nuances,personal to each one.Any speaker thrown away in a space can be bad,no matter how good is by its own.
My similar impression in typical show hotel room was the same but not entirely about imaging,that is highly depended on the material too.
The "flaw" with bad set-up probably is that you have two big-ish speakers in front of you that sound "small".No "big" sound as one would expect by the real estate alone.
The rest are probably nuances,personal to each one.Any speaker thrown away in a space can be bad,no matter how good is by its own.
One of the challenges with this kind of thing is that it can be quite difficult to know what’s going on.
Perhaps the room wasn’t setup properly (good setup matters) (do you have a photo?)
Perhaps the electronics wasn’t wired correctly?
(Were you able to observe all the wires connected properly)
Was their room modes (are you able to play some tests tones/measure with your phone)
Were you able to bring/listen to music you were familiar with?
Finally, perhaps everything was fine but you just didn’t like them, for personal preferences, or other reasons (eg. Didn’t meet your expectations)
The Triton One R is a well engineered speaker. It has wider horizontal dispersion and narrower vertical dispersion than the KEF Blade 1, which has symmetric horizontal and vertical dispersion but narrower narrower horizontally and wide vertically when compared to the One R but symmetric.
What you getting may be a side-step instead of “upgrade”
For instance, I prefer the Reference 5 Meta over the Blade 1, and don’t yet know why.
Did you have another KEF to compare it?
Maybe it’s the modern appearance of the Blade that I’m not quite “ready for”. Maybe knowing that the DI is negative below 200Hz has biased my interpretation against it (I’d like my notes below G3 going predominantly forwards, not sideways)
It’s OK to not like it!
Perhaps the room wasn’t setup properly (good setup matters) (do you have a photo?)
Perhaps the electronics wasn’t wired correctly?
(Were you able to observe all the wires connected properly)
Was their room modes (are you able to play some tests tones/measure with your phone)
Were you able to bring/listen to music you were familiar with?
Finally, perhaps everything was fine but you just didn’t like them, for personal preferences, or other reasons (eg. Didn’t meet your expectations)
The Triton One R is a well engineered speaker. It has wider horizontal dispersion and narrower vertical dispersion than the KEF Blade 1, which has symmetric horizontal and vertical dispersion but narrower narrower horizontally and wide vertically when compared to the One R but symmetric.
What you getting may be a side-step instead of “upgrade”
For instance, I prefer the Reference 5 Meta over the Blade 1, and don’t yet know why.
Did you have another KEF to compare it?
Maybe it’s the modern appearance of the Blade that I’m not quite “ready for”. Maybe knowing that the DI is negative below 200Hz has biased my interpretation against it (I’d like my notes below G3 going predominantly forwards, not sideways)
It’s OK to not like it!
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Theta
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Kef has been out of the High end audio for quite a some time now (a wise business decision). They are now in the Home style audio Market and doing very well.
Keith_W
Major Contributor
The Blade 2's list price is USD$28k. If you consider this to be "home style audio market" you must make enough money to make Elon blush.
Theta
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I was not talking about price alone. That is their flagship for advertising to say they are still in the hi fi market. The Blades represent very little on their bottom line. As for serious audiophiles looking for high end speaker in that price range, The blades will not be on their list.
this is the problem. When top tier engineering isn’t enough to command a high price.
You have to wrap it up and sell it like jewellery, because people like Theta’s associates don’t consider it “high end” enough.
How do you exist in a market where apre-amplifier audio input switcher can be marketed for US$75,000, yet it doesn’t even include a phone stage, optional extra $12,000.
(see Stereophile Jan 2025 edition)…
You have to wrap it up and sell it like jewellery, because people like Theta’s associates don’t consider it “high end” enough.
How do you exist in a market where a
(see Stereophile Jan 2025 edition)…
The last hifi show I went to about 2 years ago had the blade 2 metas there. I don’t like the way they look at all and generally prefer active studio monitors to passive hifi speakers. After walking into every room and hearing most of the speakers there, the blades were easily the best and most neutral speakers there. The Neumann room with Kh monitors was also very good.
Madhuski
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not to mention the Muon…
re: The Blade demo goldenear experienced, that sound atypical.
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Best Buy is basically an “appliance store” that has a bit of everything. The Magnolia Room has their “high end” stuff. The sales folks are not in any way “knowledgeable”, in my experience, about proper setup, the products, and even how to get a combination of sources - amps - speakers - subs selected. Speakers are set up in rows on various walls. Home audition means buying the speakers, taking them home, evaluating, then returning them within the return period - which I think is 14 days. The only advantage over Crutchfield and Music Direct - both mail order with 60 days returns - is the ability to touch the product first and avoid return shipping charges. The high end stereo shops of old with demo units to send home are long gone except for large cities.
See if this is helpful:
Some of us strongly disagree.
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