Kef Blade one Meta - How is the sound ?

[Tangband]

Kef Blade one Meta seems to be a loudspeaker where they have thought of everything .

The crossover frequency for the uni - Q driver seems to be set at 350 Hz . The baffle is about 36 cm wide .

Using the formula by Troelsgravesen for baffle stepcorrection 11600/36 = 322 Hz , this means they have thought of having a wide enough baffle to go down almost to the rooms transition frequency , without using any eq. This is only one of many factors Kef have thought about .
Maybe some of you have heard the Blade 1 ? How did it sound ?

Read more here :

KEF Blade One Meta Loudspeaker

KEF's flagship Blade cuts to the heart of the music, and with 'MAT' on board its edge has never been keener More than a decade after their launch, there's still nothing quite like the KEF Blade One speakers. Well, OK, there's the smaller Blade Two [HFN Jul '15], but the point still stands! The...

www.hifinews.com

 

[Soniclife]

I heard the previous version, it was really good.

 

[thewas]

I had the luck to hear the previous Blade Two (which measures better than the old Blade One) at the KEF headquarters in UK, it was one of the best stereo experiences I have ever had.
The corresponding white paper is also an interesting read https://www.shop.us.kef.com/pub/media/reference/KEF_Blade_Ref_Meta_Tech_Paper.pdf

 

[Absolute]

Not heard the new version, but have heard both Blade One and Two many times. Once I compared the One with Kii BXT over a few hours and found the KEFs to sound sweeter and more friendly from the mids and up, even with the Kiis set to -3 dB from 2 kHz (-1 dB more attenuation than Erin had for his review of Kii).
Even though the BXT just blows the Blade away when it comes to

bass, both me and my friend preferred the Blade overall.

The Blade Metas looks to have some of the same mellow mid-tuning so I would expect them to sound very good on all kinds of music. My friend's ears in the picture are very fond of metal, symphonic metal and the like and found them to be little boring for that type of music compared to my DIY JBL M2's at home, but that could very well change if compared in the same room. To my ears the KEFs have only been rivaled by Grimm Ls1 and Piega Master Line Source at this dealer.

 

[Vacceo]

Measures aside, what I listened from them was an incredible point source like I had never experienced before. The feeling of all the sound reaching you all at once is not just marketing.

 

[AwesomeSauce2015]

My 2 cents:
I "listened" to a pair of blade 2 at a store real quickly. Good bass, and everything else was kinda "meh" - unmemorable. The demo models were probably not setup correctly, but the room was reasonably well built.
The JBL HDI-3800 + matching subs + SDP-55 (IIRC) + JBL amps, system at the same place just sounded more enjoyable to listen to, to me. But I like the lively sound given by horns, and I was listening to rock music, which also favors the dynamic capabilities of a horn driver. The Blade 2 did not have subwoofers, but had similar bass power to the dual 12" JBL subs in the other system, at the level I was running at.

 

[bo_knows]

You mean these?

Yes, they sound great if you have a good size room with acoustical treatments.

Vocals, strings, horns (any brass section), soundstage size, and focus are hard to beat.

I would think that Blade 2 meta would sound better in most of the normal size rooms.

 

[this is me]

I went to the local dealership to listen to the new Ref5 Meta. I liked it. After about 2 hours, we talked about pricing and wait time. I was ready to order the Ref5m
I returned a week later with the intention of putting a deposit of the Ref5m but I was curious of how the Blade One Meta sound. After about an hour in, I put the deposit on the Blade One Meta instead.
The Blade One Meta(BOM) is one of the few speakers that wowed me this much. I demoed the BOM with the Luxman595ASE. The sound stage was huge. I'm not too familiar with other terms to describe it but the sound came at me in all directions. It was 3D-like sound.
I put in a deposit for a pair of white with blue driver and was told the wait time is around 6 months. I'm okay with the wait(or at least that's what I tell myself) since I need to shop for a good matching amp. I'm about to go back to demo it with the Luxman M-10x and possibly a Luxman 509x or 507z to see what works better for me.
The amps I'm looking for to go with these are
Luxman595 or 509x. The M-10x will have to be much better for me to spend that kind of money. Right now, the Luxman 595 is very high on the list.
Rotel Michi X5
Hegel H590 just because I heard good things about it and something that's worth demoing. Although I can't stand a company that is deceptive and secretive on where their product is made. If it's made in China, just say it's made in China and not "Designed in Denmark" and nothing else. It's not the fact that it's made in China that bothers me, it's the principal thing.

 

[Tangband]

KEF Blade Two Meta loudspeaker

www.stereophile.com

KEF Blade Two Meta loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

”Conclusions
The Blade Two Metas are consistently rewarding and satisfying and gave me great pleasure with all the recordings I played. They offer a remarkably open, transparent, coherent soundstage and taut, extended bass. Are they flawless? That would be a strong claim, but I have not yet found a flaw.”

 

[Absolute]

Excellent read @Kal Rubinson

Reading the examples of music played I see that source quality is a major priority of yours. With a design like the Blades I can imagine many buyers would put them in the living room as TV speakers and perhaps use something like YouTube or YouTube Music through the TV apps for source material from time to time.

We know the quality is poor, of course, but how does it sound through such linear and revealing speakers like the KEFs and Revels? Is it tolerable?

Asking for a rich friend who regularly use YouTube due to nice pictures.

 

[thewas]

”Conclusions
The Blade Two Metas are consistently rewarding and satisfying and gave me great pleasure with all the recordings I played. They offer a remarkably open, transparent, coherent soundstage and taut, extended bass. Are they flawless? That would be a strong claim, but I have not yet found a flaw.”

Also it seems Kal Rubinson liked them so much that they will replace his Revel Ultima Studio 2, https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ess-just-announced.33705/page-77#post-1287637

 

[sweetsounds]

I heard the Blade Two Metas twice at dealers with typical jazz and rock pieces. I really would like to listen to a Blade One for a comparison.

The Stereophile measurements are surprisingly clean. It is interesting that there are today so many speakers which basically measure flat also with a homogeneous lateral sound dispersion which still sound very different.

I would have expected a dip in the upper mids as the sound seemed a little cold and distant.

My preference is an uncolored/undistorted, dynamic sound with punchy drums and bass and a wide, deep soundstage.

There was no real tonal flaw in the presentation of the Blades Two. It was good, but it is clearly not one of my favorite speakers.

Deep bass was missing. It sounded a little thin, resembling the Revel F228 (also a speaker which didn't draw me into the music).
So if you like a clear monitor sound, you will like the Blade 2.

Of course the phantom image is there, but the Soundstage wasn't wide and despite its size, it doesn't sound big.

From the dynamics I would prefer a Kii BXT. It had a better defined bass (maybe due to its closed design).

Speakers which impressed me more were Joseph Audio, von Schweickert, Magico, Wilson.

 

[Vacceo]

Excellent read @Kal Rubinson

Reading the examples of music played I see that source quality is a major priority of yours. With a design like the Blades I can imagine many buyers would put them in the living room as TV speakers and perhaps use something like YouTube or YouTube Music through the TV apps for source material from time to time.

We know the quality is poor, of course, but how does it sound through such linear and revealing speakers like the KEFs and Revels? Is it tolerable?

Asking for a rich friend who regularly use YouTube due to nice pictures.

When I listened to them, my impression was that you get the source and nothing but the source, for good or ill.

 

[Absolute]

I heard the Blade Two Metas twice at dealers with typical jazz and rock pieces. I really would like to listen to a Blade One for a comparison.

The Stereophile measurements are surprisingly clean. It is interesting that there are today so many speakers which basically measure flat also with a homogeneous lateral sound dispersion which still sound very different.

I would have expected a dip in the upper mids as the sound seemed a little cold and distant.

My preference is an uncolored/undistorted, dynamic sound with punchy drums and bass and a wide, deep soundstage.

There was no real tonal flaw in the presentation of the Blades Two. It was good, but it is clearly not one of my favorite speakers.

Deep bass was missing. It sounded a little thin, resembling the Revel F228 (also a speaker which didn't draw me into the music).
So if you like a clear monitor sound, you will like the Blade 2.

Of course the phantom image is there, but the Soundstage wasn't wide and despite its size, it doesn't sound big.

From the dynamics I would prefer a Kii BXT. It had a better defined bass (maybe due to its closed design).

Speakers which impressed me more were Joseph Audio, von Schweickert, Magico, Wilson.

Picture of room set-up? Because I found absolutely no problems with width, space and size in all the auditions I've had with the Blade One and Two. I've only listened to them in a rather large room, though.

Other than that, I agree about the Kii BXT. That thing is just insane and is on a whole other level for kick, impact and dynamics in the bass range. Closed design has probably little to do with it, the acoustical benefits of many drivers and cardioide combined with timing and oodles of power is more likely imo.
SBIR cancellations are so destructive to sound quality it's not even funny.

 

[bo_knows]

When I listened to them, my impression was that you get the source and nothing but the source, for good or ill.

Agree, I believe that was the intent of KEF engineers. Now, that being said, the KEF sound may not "impress" most people. When I asked BestBuy/Magnolia sales employees, which speaker they prefer between KEF Blade and B&W 8* D3/4 series, their preference was unanimously B&W.

 

[Vacceo]

Agree, I believe that was the intent of KEF engineers. Now, that being said, the KEF sound may not "impress" most people. When I asked BestBuy/Magnolia sales employees, which speaker they prefer between KEF Blade and B&W 8* D3/4 series, their preference was unanimously B&W.

Their preference should be more lively music then.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Would be Interesting to compare them to Genelec 8351+W371

 

[steve59]

I've only had my Blades a year so no matter how much better the meta might be, mine still fascinate me every time I sit to listen.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Reading the examples of music played I see that source quality is a major priority of yours. With a design like the Blades I can imagine many buyers would put them in the living room as TV speakers and perhaps use something like YouTube or YouTube Music through the TV apps for source material from time to time.

We know the quality is poor, of course, but how does it sound through such linear and revealing speakers like the KEFs and Revels? Is it tolerable?

Asking for a rich friend who regularly use YouTube due to nice pictures.

I have no idea. I don't listen to that.

The one place where it can really crater is with dynamic range and things like classical music. If the overall levels are low, there are a lot of audible compression artifacts, which is probably to be expected.

Perhaps that's why.

 

[HooStat]

I like subjective reviews that are very practical -- A/B comparisons, quasi-blind listening, etc. Nice read.