Poor synergy of the combination. Don't discount the KEF, it's the Hegel. Just recently heard a Hegel integrated playing through a pair of Focal's. The Focal's sounded terrible. The Hegel is the common denominator!
BTW, heard a pair of the LS 50 Meta's thorough a Prima Luna integrated in a small room. I could not believe the bass that the little guys produced. We tested them against everything up to $5K, nothing compared!
I hope you are wrong about the Reference 1's, just ordered a pair!!