KEF Blade 2 Meta review by Erin's Audio Corner

[mj30250]

It was confrontational, coming across as a challenge. Kindly don't do it again to me.

No challenge was intended nor implied, but if it came across that way, my apologies.

 

[sigbergaudio]

KEF Blade's just have slightly smoother directivity than 8361's. However KEF Blade 2's the transition from bass to mids in directivity is not as smooth as 8361's, you can see below:

View attachment 359499
This ''issue''(if one can call it that) commonly occurs with speakers that have side woofers. Because the woofers are on the side and not directed to the listener, the transition from omnidirectional dispersion of wide woofers to a directional midrange happens rapidly, which can lead to a sound that is slightly dominated by reflections around 200-300Hz, depending on the crossover frequency of the speaker.
For domestic listening this can result a better envelopment in low mids but for mixing/mastering, Genelec 8361's directivity in low mids can be considered as better.

8361 in comparison.

In my personal opinion, W371 + 8361s are significantly better than any KEF Blade's.

Have you listened to both?

 

[prestigetone]

So other than esthetics, why would someone pick something like these obviously remarkable speakers over something like the Genelec 8361A (8351A for smaller space) or the Neumann Kh 420 (Kh 310 for smaller space)? Not a rhetorical question - I'm thinking of upgrading my family room (television and music listening) area (16'W x 20'L x 18'H) with a stereo speaker setup and just recently started shopping. Based on Amir's testing, I had pretty much narrowed down my choices to the flip of a coin/availability of the Genelec vs Neumann but these Kef's seem to be so good - maybe worth investigation. I guess back to my original question, are these speakers "that much" better than the other choices given the massive difference in price. BTW: Current setup is a pair of old Tannoy 10"/1" 2-way passive monitors (don't remember the model but from the 90s) attached to a Bryston 3B amp from the same period.

You wouldn't. I think the KH420 would be the whole deal once they have their calibration integration. Not saying they aren't the real deal now. They just would be more so once updated.

 

[ban25]

Ok, Erin sold me on them...

 

[mj30250]

So other than esthetics, why would someone pick something like these obviously remarkable speakers over something like the Genelec 8361A (8351A for smaller space) or the Neumann Kh 420 (Kh 310 for smaller space)? Not a rhetorical question - I'm thinking of upgrading my family room (television and music listening) area (16'W x 20'L x 18'H) with a stereo speaker setup and just recently started shopping. Based on Amir's testing, I had pretty much narrowed down my choices to the flip of a coin/availability of the Genelec vs Neumann but these Kef's seem to be so good - maybe worth investigation. I guess back to my original question, are these speakers "that much" better than the other choices given the massive difference in price. BTW: Current setup is a pair of old Tannoy 10"/1" 2-way passive monitors (don't remember the model but from the 90s) attached to a Bryston 3B amp from the same period.

It would be a very interesting comparison. The 8361A/KH420/Blade 2 Meta all measure far more similarly than not. Even their horizontal dispersion patterns are rather close so the resulting "soundstage width" should subjectively be in the same ballpark. Probably the biggest difference is in the vertical radiation of the coaxials, but if listening while seated, I don't imagine this would make much of a difference.

Who's going to set up the blind test?

 

[Blockader]

Have you listened to both?

I did, but unless I compare them blind in my own room, I can't make a conclusion. According my sighted tests which have 4 months in between, they didn't sound different to me from my memory except KEF Blade's sounded a bit brighter to my ears.(I have x2 8361's and one... yes one W371... me poor.)

 

[Ron Texas]

No challenge was intended nor implied, but if it came across that way, my apologies.

OK

 

[amper42]

Ok, Erin sold me on them...

That's what KEF is hoping. It's rare to find a pair of KEF Blade 2 Meta to listen to locally. And even if you did find them there are so many other speakers that sound absolutely fantastic for less than half the price. To sell the Blade 2 Meta you have to build a desire among readers and give healthy discounts to reviewers and influencers so they keep talking about them. It's an interesting marketing plan. It's like BMR speakers that only sell by word of mouth but with a reverse value equation. Instead of trying to give you the biggest bang for the buck with BMR, the Blade 2 Meta is 500% more expensive for 5-10% difference in sound. These days with an RME ADI-2 FS DAC, and a few measurements a $1700 speaker can sound terrific and the Revel F328Be absolutely fantastic. The psychology behind selling expensive items by word of mouth should be a college credit class.

 

[mj30250]

Most of the Best Buys with a Magnolia seem to have them set up to listen to (or maybe it's the Blade 1 Metas, similar enough in any case), so anyone within driving distance of such a store should be able to listen to them. Unfortunately, they're often not in a great environment and you aren't going to know exactly what's going on downstream of the speakers.

And while they are very expensive, they are at least objectively extremely-well engineered. There are multitudes of 5 and 6(!) figure speakers full of built-in audiophile silliness that would get stomped into the dirt by these. I do agree that I would only ever pay a used-market price unless I had a very generous and accommodating dealer. And yes, you can likely get "close" for much less. But for some, "close" isn't close enough.

 

[itai]

I was lucky enough to get the Blade One Meta with the help of feedback from this forum. I am not surprised by the review as it echos a lot of our family experiences.

Fun story, I have been listening to a dedicated stereo setup for about 20 years (god I feel old just writing that) and while the rooms and every piece of equipments has changed the one constant has been my chair. After the Blades arrived, for the first time ever my wife started to listen to music with me. After 3 nights of joining me without a prompt, we moved the single chair out of the stereo room and swapped with the loveseat.

I am not sure that in my world, there is a better compliment. I get to share this hobby with my wife!

Itai

 

[flowjm]

No challenge was intended nor implied, but if it came across that way, my apologies.

There was no need to apologise, the other guy was just being a drama queen. It doesn't do anyone any good to enable such behaviour.

 

[Sokel]

Oh,that looks like a nice one with some hints of serious mid-bass.
The bigger brother which I listen too at least,delivers in that area.

If the lows are also close there's nothing missing and no sub needed (at least with classical and with material with low's going down to 30's) for a medium or even larger room (up to 50-60 m² )

Some argue about the plastic enclosure but the grey-mat ones are really nice and the finish gives a premium feeling,feels more like alu than plastic.

 

[kemmler3D]

For a truckload of money it better be good. Someone tell me about towers for under $5k that don't need subs. That's what we really need to know about.

LS60 arguably. And they have a bit in common with these bad boys...

 

[CleanSound]

Coincidentally he made a disclaimer at the beginning of the video saying skip if you don't care for the subjective portion, I think that is a nod to the discussion we had on the FR10 thread.

Anyway, I don't feel the measurements reflects "the best speakers I've heard ever" as I think the D&D 8 measures better in many aspects.

 

[CleanSound]

I was lucky enough to get the Blade One Meta with the help of feedback from this forum. I am not surprised by the review as it echos a lot of our family experiences.

Fun story, I have been listening to a dedicated stereo setup for about 20 years (god I feel old just writing that) and while the rooms and every piece of equipments has changed the one constant has been my chair. After the Blades arrived, for the first time ever my wife started to listen to music with me. After 3 nights of joining me without a prompt, we moved the single chair out of the stereo room and swapped with the loveseat.

I am not sure that in my world, there is a better compliment. I get to share this hobby with my wife!

Itai

I got my dear wife into this bobby too, although not as serious. She asked for a decent system in her office after hearing my systems. I gave her a Revel M16 that was recently demoted from our living room. She said, it sounds really good, of course compared to her old Bluetooth speaker.

 

[zgmf_x10a]

Coincidentally he made a disclaimer at the beginning of the video saying skip if you don't care for the subjective portion, I think that is a nod to the discussion we had on the FR10 thread.

Anyway, I don't feel the measurements reflects "the best speakers I've heard ever" as I think the D&D 8 measures better in many aspects.

Just from eyeballing the graphs I don’t see what the 8c does better. Their spinoramas are both about as good as it gets but the Blade 2 meta does better in both THD and compression graphs.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

You could well be in the minority there .. A poll? people!? to back up my asssertion.. Please!?

I find these beautiful...

Peace.

We are just completing a significant renovation of our apartment and, thanks to my wife, the Blade 2 Metas are the focal point of the living room.

 

[CleanSound]

Just from eyeballing the graphs I don’t see what the 8c does better. Their spinoramas are both about as good as it gets but the Blade 2 meta does better in both THD and compression graphs.

Bass extension and horizontal contour as a result of the cardioid design.

 

[Rick Sykora]

While can appreciate the fun of giving a design team an open checkbook, struggle with the price. Are these really worth 4 times the R11 metas? Not end game for me, more like end of marriage!

 

[Ron Texas]

LS60 arguably. And they have a bit in common with these bad boys...

If you don't mind having a bunch of proprietary electronics in a $7k speaker the LS60 gets rave reviews. Just remember the LS50 active does not have a good reputation for reliability.