KEF Blade -- how good are they?

I found adjusting toe in affects the tone of the lower mids, but that would also be dependent on how far apart the speakers are and the listening position. 

Now that Best Buys carry KEF, you can listen to them at the Magnolia store.  I did, the soundstage is unbelievable, in terms of tonality, I could not really appreciate them as they were not really well setup, and the only material they could play was spotify mp3...

yyzsantabarbara2,444 posts07-12-2021 10:21pm@steve59 Have you ever tried the Blades very close to the front wall? Like a few inches away. 
There's 2 rear facing ports and if you're asking me to try to help you determine if they'll work in your room I will, but doesn't overall room size also account for bass output? 


audition__audio898 posts07-13-2021 6:09amI heard them at Axpona and was not impressed. But this is really not fair as I think they deserved better electronics and were played far too loud. I expected the KEF guy to start passing the bong at any time. I like the Hegel stuff, but I dont think it was a good match for the KEFs. I think Pass might even be a worse match. My guess is some of the bigger buck Euro S.S. would be your best bet.

I would suggest the hegel int connection was more to show the Blades could perform with 'sane' amounts of power. They're being drivin' in my 17x27x7' listening room by a h360 and are capable of full range high spl output, something some of the other speakers fell short of with the h360.

Only heard them once, but very clear and detailed.

I heard them at Axpona and was not impressed. But this is really not fair as I think they deserved better electronics and were played far too loud. I expected the KEF guy to start passing the bong at any time. I like the Hegel stuff, but I dont think it was a good match for the KEFs. I think Pass might even be a worse match. My guess is some of the bigger buck Euro S.S. would be your best bet. 

@steve59 Have you ever tried the Blades very close to the front wall? Like a few inches away. 

Yes, I agree. The po had them connected to tubes and the balance was warmer tho’ the hegel is a pretty good partner and with carpeted floors, acoustic tiles over Sheetrock and plenty of distance from the sidewalls these do well however there are some recordings that I would consider your description of the upper midrange spot on. 

I liked what I heard from the Blades on two different occasions -
-blown away by their sound stage and sheer power over the room.
-did not care for their overall tone which was an odd mixture of warmth and coolness.  lots of midbass warmth yet at the expense of transparency.  upper midrange had a cool metallic after taste.  
-take care in amplifier partnering.  something like pass labs might work.  

I listened to some raidho’s at axpona, the D1.1 and D5.1, I loved the 1.1 and couldn’t get out of the d5.1 room fast enough. I really believe speakers need to be the right size for the room to make a fair assessment. Wilson speakers generally sound great at shows because for 1 thing they show their speakers in appropriately sized rooms and actually know how to place them. 

The Blade is the best sounding speaker I’ve ever heard in a real world setting(my room, my gear) and there’s been some impressive contenders.

I heard them at a show in a large room—didn’t do a thing for me but I’m not often impressed by systems I hear under show conditions.

I believe the reviews that claim the blades have a higher ceiling than other speakers in their price range. Kef has been improving on the uniq driver for something like 11 generations and the first one that was in the r105/3 was no slouch. I would think getting the electronics matched to the speakers for a rooms acoustics will make or break them, just like any other system. They're on my bucket list.

I like my blades.. Only other speakers I had were Kef 105/3.

There have been quite a few negative comments on this site over the years about the Blades. I personally think they are the best speakers for what I appreciate the most, incredible placement of performers on the soundstage.

One difficulty in owning the Blades (especially in California) is having enough space for the side firing drivers. In about a year, I think I will have a room big enough for them. This living room is 12’W x 20’L x 25’H . This room is barely large enough for the Blades along the 12’W front wall. Wish it was a bit wider. Though a Blade owner told me that his Blades are also in a similar sized space and it works for him.

I find the Vivid Giya lineup similar sounding to the Blades. They cost a lot more but I like the Blades more. I have heard then back to back a few minutes apart, though in different rooms with different gear. The gear on the Vivid Giya Spirit G1 was way better than what I heard on the Blades, but I liked the Blades more. The main reason is that the Blades drew incredible images and placement of those images on the soundstage. It makes me feel like I am watching the performers live. For me, the Blades do that better than other speakers I have heard.

I also like the Paradigm Persona a lot too (heard 5F and 3F). I should listen to the 9H because it is a safer speaker to have around a toddler than the easy to knock down Blade. The Persona also have a great presentation of the soundstage. I think it is also easier to place in a room than the Blades.

I have heard a whole stable of Magico’s up and down the lineup. I remember liking the S3 MKII but I would take the Blades over them. I have not been a huge fan of the other Magicos.

The now discontinued Thiel CS 3.7 is another speaker that I love a lot. I keep looking at used CS3.7’s for my office. I don’t have the space, but Digital Room Correction is something I am looking into for this small room. I like the Blades a bit more but that CS 3.7 was in incredible sounding speaker back in the day. I think both have some similarities in how they deliver the sound. Both have the Coincident driver tech. I think the Blades take it a step ahead with their point source ideas.

One negative for me on the Blades and even the Vivid is that their driver material does not seem cutting edge today, like Yamaha (NS5000), Paradigm Persona, maybe also Magico, Vandersteen and few others. However, what they have done with those drivers is amazing. I am looking forward to seeing what KEF does with the new META stuff on the Blades and the Reference lineup. I also look for companies that build their own drivers and do R&D.

A relevant post from today,
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/paradigm-persona-series/post?postid=2038120#2038120

certainly very good and well engineered from long standing company with established dealer network.

stiff competition from YG, Vivid, Magico, Vandersteen... etc....

go listen, enjoy the journey and the music.

Kef blade dealer we had them ny.audio show 2007 well set up reference system https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-chord-audio-doctor
d own the hall107 00 yg cousticsustics sonya/ solution rig at 400,000 did not sound better then our room a properly set ip blade system is very hard to beat

Dave snd Troy
Audio intellect Nj
Kef blade dealer

Prove it Kenjit. 

They are better than the Kef reference series but not as good as the muons.