Kef Blade 1 Meta or Kef Blade 2 Meta

[quattro98]

The color scales aren’t the same number of steps, but the Blade 2 Meta doesn’t have radically wider horizontal directivity than a standard forward facing speaker like the R11 Meta. I don’t know if they’re that much more sensitive to room placement just because we can see the woofers on the side instead of the front.

You can click through the links to see the difference in vertical directivity which is where the real difference lies (and thus doesn’t affect placement relative to side walls). For the forward firing speakers, the Reference 3 Meta and R7 Meta will have a smaller spacing between the woofers than the arrangement on Reference 5 Meta and R11 Meta, corresponding more even vertical dispersion.

The Blade is elegant in reducing diffraction in the upper frequencies (fewer squiggles on the graphs) relative to the box speakers and providing greater woofer area in a small vertical distance for the driver spacing.

KEF Blade 2 Meta Speaker Review

KEF Blade 2 Meta Speaker

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

KEF R11 Meta Tower Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the KEF R11 Meta floorstanding speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $3250 each. The R11 Meta is gorgeous looking with high gloss finish and cabinet that has been shrunk as much as possible to basically hug the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[John Kettlewell]

Update:

I had a chance to listen to a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 50 Loudspeaker at a local store. They were integrated with a pair of Rel 31’s. My first impression was the huge soundstage. Greg Lake’s vocals on “From The Beginning” (Live 2012) was centered and about 7 feet high and four feet wide and about 3 feet behind the speakers--Huge. However, I felt his voice was a bit hollow. This could be room acoustics. The Confidence’s 50 did a great job of separation of instruments with a pinpoint accuracy. The next track that I listened to was London Grammer—"Hey Now.” Hannah Reid’s vocals again huge; however, I felt her voice was missing a bit of body—a bit of warmth. And of course, the bass—rattled the windows—too be expected with a pair of Rel 31’s. The Confidence’s 50 has a great sound with a large maybe overly-large imaging of voices. In the end I felt the Confidence 50 musicality was a touch underwhelming. To be fair, my room has lots of room treatment. Additionally, I would like to know how well the Confidence 50's meausre anechoic.

I am truly thinking about purchasing a second pair of Rel-31’s for a vertical array of bass. This would probably give me end game bass. Moreover, I will add some more acoustic panels to my room. I will provide some pictures when I finish.

So… I continue my search for my End Game speakers. I am looking for a loudspeaker that has great measurements with musicality. The beauty is that I have the bass covered, thus I do not need a speaker that goes to 25 Hz -3db.

On my short list is Kef Blade Meta 1 and 2, and Q-Acoustics 500 loudspeakers, Quad Esl 2912x (I feel the Quad would not measure well).

I will keep everyone posted.