KEF Blade 2 Meta review by Erin's Audio Corner

[Waxx]

The measurements are almost perfect, but the looks are so bad that it's a no go for me. I'll take the JBL4367 with less perfect measurments (but still off the best arround) any day above this one. But on engineering level this one is amazing.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

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.

That's what give me pause with the LS 60's. I could stretch for them, but there's always the concern that at some point Kef will stop supporting them. And there is the issue with the limiter. If you look at Erin's compression diagram, 102 db is barely even on there, showing up a couple of mole hills at select frequencies, indicating it can't play very much if at all above 100 db. Even $5k is a lot to ask for a system with those kind of limitations.

 

[MacClintock]

The measurements are almost perfect, but the looks are so bad that it's a no go for me. I'll take the JBL4367 with less perfect measurments (but still off the best arround) any day above this one. But on engineering level this one is amazing.

Amazing how tastes could differ, for me the JBL's look like a DIY project in comparison to the Blades.

 

[MacClintock]

They’re nice looking, bet they sound fantastic but I couldn’t be bothered with using a separate amp, not after using active monitors for 20 years, make them active with dsp and I’d be happy with them.

If you have the money for the Blades, you should be able to also get e.g. the Benchmark AHB2, MiniDSP SHD with Dirac and some nice-looking cables, all for 5 grand and state of the art.

 

[Mnyb]

That's what give me pause with the LS 60's. I could stretch for them, but there's always the concern that at some point Kef will stop supporting them. And there is the issue with the limiter. If you look at Erin's compression diagram, 102 db is barely even on there, showing up a couple of mole hills at select frequencies, indicating it can't play very much if at all above 100 db. Even $5k is a lot to ask for a system with those kind of limitations.

I bougth the LS60 anyway despite having the same thougths . The limiting sets in in the sub bass first. So this can be fixed by integrating subwoofers which i also did . Sub has not arrived yet so listening to them as they are now .

I’m very into the idea of active speakers for all the reasons we can think off

But its a bit of gamble to trust KEF here.
They have done something. There is now a passive cooling channel for the electronics.

 

[fredoamigo]

KEF Blade's just have slig

Amazing how tastes could differ, for me the JBL's look like a DIY project in comparison to the Blades.

The Blades will score higher, go better with any interior and I find them really beautiful with their timeless look, they remind me of a sculpture. But even if their measures are excellent, are they the best passive measures? It's not that simple unfortunately. What we know for sure is that they are some of the best and they can't be bad. In any case, these are not the kind of speakers that I would buy simply by looking at the measurements and even less by reading necessarily glowing reviews. If they had the dynamics of the JBL (which I doubt), if they were much more efficient and "easy" (which I also doubt), they would probably be perfect speakers.

 

[Mnyb]

I bougth the LS60 anyway despite having the same thougths . The limiting sets in in the sub bass first. So this can be fixed by integrating subwoofers which i also did . Sub has not arrived yet so listening to them as they are now .

I’m very into the idea of active speakers for all the reasons we can think off

But its a bit of gamble to trust KEF here.
They have done something. There is now a passive cooling channel for the electronics.

In a medium sized room . I’m 2.7 meters from the speakers they are loud enough. And fit for purpose. I think they are sized for european apartment not a big American house

 

[Keith_W]

This review by Erin has prompted me to make an appointment with the KEF dealer to go and listen. My bank account might suffer because of him!

 

[Axo1989]

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

I find these beautiful...

Purely aesthetically, I like my glass-faced rectilinear prisms vs these Brancusi forms. But delivered in all-black (gloss/matte/anthracite/charcoal even) with no contrasting co-axial colour nonsense, I reckon I'd cope. I'd cope nicely.

 

[Ciobi69]

Best speaker i ever had, they can play loud without hearing distortion. I use them for my multichannel and stereo. With the subwoofer they can play even louder

 

[Penelinfi]

I'm not a fan of the base; it kind of reminds me of a cheap home theatre speaker.
Or Sony SA-VA15

Making the blade enclosure "float" would be interesting.

 

[Mnyb]

They are stunning , but my 5,5m*3m room is simply to small

I have a somewhat problematic room it's just medium sized but with large openings to other rooms (basically the rest of the house ) and only one wall is solid brick/concrete .

So it could very well take the bass energy from a Blade and not overwhelm but they protrude to much and would be to close to me and and a hurdle to walk by .

So that's a reason for a smaller speaker and dual subs for me ( and EQ is planned )

 

[Sokel]

Their appearance has to do 100% with the environment one would put them in but they can also dominate it too as they are not 2 meter tall,broad ones but they are not small either.
Depending the style of the room they can integrate nicely or seem totally out of place.
Agreed about the base,is like they were in a rush to finish them and they just put a whatever base which is not the same color with the rest of the speaker unless the speaker is black.

Their bigger model looked closely to other high end speakers in the same room (maybe not as premium) and could not match with the "traditional" ones.

Taste is totally subjective though,so...

 

[thewas]

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.

On the other hand Erin said subjectively there is no comparison to the LS60 and from my own listening experiences (unfortunately in different places and times) I can confirm that.

 

[thewas]

I think our society has been brainwashed us where money spent on cars as a luxury is much more accepting than money spent on other luxury, irrespective of income level. I personally am no longer a car guy, so I talk about the phenomenon of our skewed social acceptance with my wife, and talked some sense into her that spending 30k on HiFi audio is the same thing as others spending $30k on a second car or $75k on one car, where they have to take out a loan for.

Exactly, most find it normal to spend over 40k for a car every some years while on the other hand find it strange to invest less for a hobby which lasts and can give them big pleasure a whole lifetime.

 

[thewas]

But isn't this a great investment ? For $56k you get a new kitchen, a happy wife, great measuring, awsome looking speakers and a smile in your face for years to come....

Or you save the $28 for the kitchen and get a new life without a wife (I know a divorce can cost a lot more though )

 

[Sokel]

Judging by that half of the thread (or more) is about price and not their very nice measurements we better not see A Halcro Eclipse reviewed here

 

[thewas]

If they had the dynamics of the JBL (which I doubt), if they were much more efficient and "easy" (which I also doubt), they would probably be perfect speakers.

What do you mean with "easy"?

The data anyway of both show that up till 102 dB per loudspeaker the compression is not an issue.I agree that above that the KEF would most probably first reach its SPL limits but in most typical living rooms and listening distances those 102 dB are already more than enough.

 

[Vacceo]

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.

Do you use them to watch films too? Do they sound as good as for music?

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.

A single case is an anechdote and not relevant at all, I know, but I have used them for a couple of years without a single issue. Cross fingers so it stays that way...

That said, I can perfectly understand you preference: you can get similar performance with passives, but with a set of electronics that you prefeer for reasons of usability, interface or any other consideration.

The measurements are almost perfect, but the looks are so bad that it's a no go for me. I'll take the JBL4367 with less perfect measurments (but still off the best arround) any day above this one. But on engineering level this one is amazing.

On the other hand, I absolutely love the aesthetics. But hey, it´s not compolsory to like Brancusi, so nothing wrong with not liking them.

Or you save the $28 for the kitchen and get a new life without a wife (I know a divorce can cost a lot more though )

Or spend the money on the kitchen and get your cooking to the stratosphere, which is not a bad option!

But the car would be, as a car, not nearly as nice as this speaker is, as a speaker, we are not talking Porsche or Mercedes money here.

If you told me a year ago, I´d get the car due to working 70 km away from where I live. Today, walking to my job, I´d get the speakers.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

The debate between car and stereo is to me done at this point... I do however believe that they make it easier to finance a car. You get to the car dealership and by the time you're done haggling, you get a pretty interesting financing package for $30K. 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 ...

Peace.