Kef Blade to Blade meta?


I've gone as far as reaching out to KEF directly to find a pair to demo, unfortunately their choice of retailer, best buy, doesn't hire the most savvy sales rep's so the list of stores that the KEF rep told me had the meta's was incorrect and I haven't been able to find a pair to listen to. I'm not even sure what I'd like improved in the meta's, If anyone can describe the differences they hear in the blade meta's and what listening conditions were at the time I'd appreciate it. tia

steve59

Showing 2 responses by deep_333

I have heard the original Reference 5, Reference 5 meta and the Blade on different occasions with different equipment, never got to hear the Blade Meta. You are not going to get too much of a sonic upgrade once you get past this price bracket just by getting the Meta version, especially with the same manufacturer and what they claim they improved (that metamaterial whatever, otherwise known as tech saturation).

So...if we're thinking about other manufacturers, I got to hear the Reference 5 meta against some much more expensive Sonus Fabers and a flagship B&W in the same room. The KEF was just a superior speaker sonically for just around 23k, walked all over them. The only true competitor i can think of in terms of bang 4 buck around that price is the Borresen X6.

You could keep the Blade and get a Borresen X6, which would leave you with 2 pairs of very different speakers & different flavors...instead of listening to the same 1 pair of speakers over and over or chasing some miniscule upgrade that may or may not be worth it/audible. It might be a better way to spend your cash...

Since the X6 is also cheaper than the Blade Meta, you could add some some very high quality subwoofers with the cash saved.

@deep_333

which B&W model did you compare them with?

801D4, the lack of tonal balance is a no-go for me..it could appeal to guys who’re into the V-curvy thing perceptively however. I am not accusing it of a hot tweeter. It did have a hint of spatial qualities at relatively higher spls (as if one wore spatial headphones momentarily), which i very much like, but not to the extent of something like the big Borresens or even the JBL DD67000.

Older KEFs have always lacked perceived dynamics to the degree i like, but, the bigger and newer the KEF, the better it seems to get... especially when you get to the size of the Reference 5 meta, probably even better than the non-meta Blade.