Unveiling of KEF Blade in Pacific Northwest

[amirm]

I was going to put this in the industry announcement section but seeing how we have this new KEF Forum (thanks Steve), I will post it here.

Here is the announcement: http://www.madronadigital.com/Showroom/KEF and Madrona Event.html

If you are in the area, please come and visit and listen to the blades on the 13th of this month.

We have had the blades for a few weeks. I did some listening to them. They are gorgeously built and have very controlled directivity. Get behind them and you almost hear nothing! The controlled directivity means that they image quite well. They are also pretty easy to drive.

Here is a (poor cell phone) shot of the KEF doing Reel to Reel :

 

[RBFC]

So, how do they sound? Do they require subwoofers? Comparisons to your Revels, etc. would be interesting reading!

Lee

 

[NorthStar]

-- There is some real nice gear there Amir. ...Plus an open-reel-deck.

 

[Bruce B]

that tape must be worn out by now... time for a new one?

 

[amirm]

that tape must be worn out by now... time for a new one?

You called it Bruce! I had to search hard to find playback tracks during that event. Let me know what kind of bribe I need to provide for the next one .

 

[audioguy]

What? No cable elevators? Your membership card is going to be revoked

 

[Steve williams]

I was going to put this in the industry announcement section but seeing how we have this new KEF Forum (thanks Steve), I will post it here.

Here is the announcement: http://www.madronadigital.com/Showroom/KEF and Madrona Event.html

If you are in the area, please come and visit and listen to the blades on the 13th of this month.

We have had the blades for a few weeks. I did some listening to them. They are gorgeously built and have very controlled directivity. Get behind them and you almost hear nothing! The controlled directivity means that they image quite well. They are also pretty easy to drive.

Here is a (poor cell phone) shot of the KEF doing Reel to Reel :

very neat, clean and elegant looking

 

[Popspin]

Why no activity around these speakers?

I was going to put this in the industry announcement section but seeing how we have this new KEF Forum (thanks Steve), I will post it here.

Here is the announcement: http://www.madronadigital.com/Showroom/KEF and Madrona Event.html

If you are in the area, please come and visit and listen to the blades on the 13th of this month.

We have had the blades for a few weeks. I did some listening to them. They are gorgeously built and have very controlled directivity. Get behind them and you almost hear nothing! The controlled directivity means that they image quite well. They are also pretty easy to drive.

Here is a (poor cell phone) shot of the KEF doing Reel to Reel :

amir
I heard about these from a friend a year ago. I find them interesting but have not been able to find much discussion about them. Is there some reason? Has the supply been constricted? It is hard to find dealers where you can demo the speaker.
I will be hearing the Blade 2 this weekend. It seems that set up is critical to this speaker performing well. The pair I will hear have been positioned by KEF so they should sound their best.
I noted your post was short on describing the character of the speaker. And nobody asked. What's happened with the speakers in your store since you last posted?
Since these compete with some very fine alternatives (Atria, S3/5, Salon II) I wondered how they compared?
I'd be interested to hear any feedback you can offer.
Thanks!
Popspin

 

[amirm]

Hi Popsin. I don't have current data to share. Ours was loan and we returned them after a few months (almost all of our business is in custom electronics and not retail so we are not a good destination for such a product). You may be right that there may not be anywhere to listen to them in our area. They are expensive speakers and dealers probably have trouble dealing with them and other high-end speakers at the same time.

On your question, they may need special room/positioning. We initially had them setup in our theater and it did not sound good there. We then put them in our open design center pictured above, and in that larger, more live setting, they sounded quite a bit better. As I noted, there is little back radiation so front wall treatment may not be as needed there.

On the sound, it has been a while and my memory is not as fresh. But my impression was that it was rather neutral in timbre. It has less of that "British" sound which I like (such as in LS50) but tend to prefer speakers with less of a signature.

The Salon 2 is more neutral still. Sadly while I had hoped to do a direct comparisons between these two while we had the Blade, I never got a chance. So this observation is from independent listening which may be faulty .

 

[John Hirsch]

Hi Popsin. I don't have current data to share. Ours was loan and we returned them after a few months (almost all of our business is in custom electronics and not retail so we are not a good destination for such a product). You may be right that there may not be anywhere to listen to them in our area. They are expensive speakers and dealers probably have trouble dealing with them and other high-end speakers at the same time.

On your question, they may need special room/positioning. We initially had them setup in our theater and it did not sound good there. We then put them in our open design center pictured above, and in that larger, more live setting, they sounded quite a bit better. As I noted, there is little back radiation so front wall treatment may not be as needed there.

On the sound, it has been a while and my memory is not as fresh. But my impression was that it was rather neutral in timbre. It has less of that "British" sound which I like (such as in LS50) but tend to prefer speakers with less of a signature.

The Salon 2 is more neutral still. Sadly while I had hoped to do a direct comparisons between these two while we had the Blade, I never got a chance. So this observation is from independent listening which may be faulty .

 

[John Hirsch]

I own a pair of them and can say that they are as perfect as I have ever heard. They do not need a subwoofer. I upgrade from a Kef Reference 4 which is for sale at $2200.

John Hirsch

 

[steve59]

Bump, I brought home a pair of Blades yesterday and spent 12 hours listening, WOW, show conditions don't do these justice. Absolutely amazing and I'm using affordable components.