What is it with the KEF Blade (meta)?

[NYfan2]

I have heard the KEF Blade 1 meta now on several occasions and every time I'm impressed by the clean sound especially the lows.
For me it feels like that they are completely ignoring room modes (which should be physically impossible).
I heard KEF reference 5 meta, Kef R5 meta, KEF LS60 (these come close to the Blades) and Dynaudio Confidence 30 in the same room and with all these other speakers the bass is more boomy (room mode). I'm pretty sure no room correction was applied to any of these speakers (maybe a bit of eq was applied to the LS60).

Anybody have an opinion or explanation why the Blades have this ultra tight lows.

 

[MarkS]

My guess: woofer location is different on the Blade vs the others (excepting the LS60), so interaction with room modes is different. Whether the result is better or not depends on the room and placement within it.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Maybe the nice bass from the blades are due to force cancelling thing. Also blades really do lows, they are tunning for LFE, even more than Reference series.
(somebody please post the blade and the coin meme, thanks)


This looks awesome

Uncredited Grpah removed by Moderation. Please always give credit for and link the source of your references.

 

[Soniclife]

My guess: woofer location is different on the Blade vs the others (excepting the LS60), so interaction with room modes is different. Whether the result is better or not depends on the room and placement within it.

Are the drivers not higher up on the blade?

Distortion will be lower on the big blades in the bottom end, maybe that's giving them a pass to your ears.

 

[Koeitje]

Maybe the nice bass from the blades are due to force cancelling thing. Also blades really do lows, they are tunning for LFE, even more than Reference series.
(somebody please post the blade and the coin meme, thanks)


This looks awesome

That's impressive.

 

[Pearljam5000]

But OCD Mikey said that KEF isn't high end

 

[egellings]

Now you can go to your local audio salon and ask the salesman, "How are you fixed for Blades?". (an expression used in a shaving razor commercial long ago)

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

But OCD Mikey said that KEF isn't high end

Said who

 

[fpitas]

But OCD Mikey said that KEF isn't high end

It's worth what you pay, so not high end.

 

[Pearljam5000]

It's worth what you pay, so not high end.

$35,000 is not high end ?

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

$35,000 is not high end ?

If they sound like a 35,000 speakers it should cost 9,999,999 usd plus a 9,999,999 cable
Value per dollar is not hi end :/

 

[pablolie]

I actually think the Blades are a bargain compared to a lot of the other $25k+ stuff that is out there - provided you enjoy finesse and balance sprinkled with some magic warmth dust. They are definitely on my horizon when I settle in my new place. Plus they look sculptural and come in red, and I am a sucker for sleek design. Magico stuff also sounds awesome to me, but the looks are boring (but the craftmanship and feel is awesome).

 

[Doodski]

finesse and balance sprinkled with some magic warmth dust.

I've never heard the new KEF Blades. What sprinkles have they added to the coloration? I'm really curious because I've owned several KEF speakers and sold them for 5 years too and it was a wonderful product and company to deal with. The old Reference Series sounded good and that's what I owned and I also sold the C Series and the Reference Series as a retailer.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

One of my problem with blades is how are they are made
For example, the surround of the drivers in Kef reference is a cute alum thing, and the blades are much like the R series ? xD that was a big error by KEF design team.

The foot from blades should be a metal thing, pretty sure even the foot from the reference would looks like better than the plastic circle from the blades.

Why this is plastic ? this looks like a blades R series.

This looks nice.




I'd say the blades are made in that way for being CHEAPER than the references, but is quite the opposite.

Hope one day kef stop doing these '' classic '' design and start pushing more blades ls60 kind of things. Cheaper. But also, not made by plastic with crazy prices, to me these blades are crazy expensive already, they cost like a house here.

 

[John Atkinson]

Maybe the nice bass from the blades are due to force cancelling thing. Also blades really do lows, they are tunning for LFE, even more than Reference series.
(somebody please post the blade and the coin meme, thanks)


This looks awesome

As always, please include a link to my Stereophile website measurements page in instances like this: https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-blade-two-meta-loudspeaker-measurements

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

 

[AdamG]

As always, please include a link to my Stereophile website measurements page in instances like this: https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-blade-two-meta-loudspeaker-measurements

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

Original posted uncredited graphic deleted. Thank you John. Next time please report this to us. We do not permit this type of intellectual property misuse.

 

[steve59]

Haven't heard the blade meta's, but in my listening room speakers with side firing woofers, VA Strauss, DSP 8000 and now Blades avoid the bass null conventional at my listening chair other conventional designs have. I have owned earlier generations of the uniq driver and the blade is by far the smoothest without sacrificing resolution. The concept blades used a carbon fiber cabinet that surely had greater visual appeal and I wonder if A CF cabinet was an option at a $10k upcharge(random number) and perhaps an aluminum base plate, upcharge would audiophiles be moved to try them, or would Rockport and Magico owners be swayed? Vivid loudspeakers use similar tech as kef regarding cabinet design extremes and side firing woofers, aluminum tweeters instead of diamond or Beryllium yet charge considerably more and are considered high end.

 

[NYfan2]

Haven't heard the blade meta's, but in my listening room speakers with side firing woofers, VA Strauss, DSP 8000 and now Blades avoid the bass null conventional at my listening chair other conventional designs have. I have owned earlier generations of the uniq driver and the blade is by far the smoothest without sacrificing resolution. The concept blades used a carbon fiber cabinet that surely had greater visual appeal and I wonder if A CF cabinet was an option at a $10k upcharge(random number) and perhaps an aluminum base plate, upcharge would audiophiles be moved to try them, or would Rockport and Magico owners be swayed? Vivid loudspeakers use similar tech as kef regarding cabinet design extremes and side firing woofers, aluminum tweeters instead of diamond or Beryllium yet charge considerably more and are considered high end.

I heard the Vivid Giya once but that was in a very big room with (too) many people, although I liked what I heard I didn't have time to get a very good impression. The dealer where I heard the KEF also sells Vivid so I'll check if they plan to do a demo with the Vivids, that will be interesting to compare to the Blades.

 

[Descartes]

One of my problem with blades is how are they are made
For example, the surround of the drivers in Kef reference is a cute alum thing, and the blades are much like the R series ? xD that was a big error by KEF design team.

The foot from blades should be a metal thing, pretty sure even the foot from the reference would looks like better than the plastic circle from the blades.

Why this is plastic ? this looks like a blades R series.

This looks nice.




I'd say the blades are made in that way for being CHEAPER than the references, but is quite the opposite.

Hope one day kef stop doing these '' classic '' design and start pushing more blades ls60 kind of things. Cheaper. But also, not made by plastic with crazy prices, to me these blades are crazy expensive already, they cost like a house here.

The only thing I agree with your post is why a plastic foot instead of aluminum for the Blades?

 

[Ciobi69]

I would like to know if someone has the blade 1 the old one, or heard it somewhere, is the horizontal directivity too narrow? Can you share your experience? The new blade should be slightly wider