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KEF's meta material gimmick?

Hi,

A thought just occured to me recently. Is KEF's Meta material just a genius marketing gimmick? I mean everyone and their grandmas reviewed the KEF LS50 Meta and they spent way too much time explaining the purpose of the meta material. I know white papers were published with conclusive results. KEF is beloved by the "measurements first" crowd so nobody bats an eye. The illustrations for the Meta material portray an intricate maze made of a some kind of gel. But isn't that just $1 piece of molded rubber? It's just a coaster relax. 

I wanna bet real money that the 365+ cork coasters from IKEA ($2.50 for 2) would accomplish the exact same thing. Cork is a great sound absorbing material. It's complex. Just glue that at the back of the driver. Mission accomplished? Am I missing something? 

 

128x128kokakolia

Showing 4 responses by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
4,530 posts
 

The LS50 Meta is much better than the older LS50 non-Meta. A serious improvement in my system. So much so that I cancelled plans to buy another monitor that cost 6X more. The LS50 Meta and a KEF KC62 sub are my all-done speakers for my small office.

The better the upstream equipment the better the sound.

Why not glue the cork and post your impressions. Maybe you have discovered a new way to design speakers.

 

yyzsantabarbara
4,530 posts
 

The LS50 Meta and the KC62 sub in a small room is reference level sound. At least with the gear I have hooked up to them. Benchmark LA4 preamp + AHB2 amp | Lumin X1 DAC.

I am getting the Blade 2 Meta for a big room and that should be incredible.

yyzsantabarbara
4,530 posts
 

@seanheis1 I get fatigue very easily. The current office system is totally fatigue free. I do not really listen to many bad recordings though I listen for a about 12+ hours a day. I work a lot these days in the office.

I do have a warmer CODA#16 amp sitting idle in my office. I flip it back and forth with the AHB2's. Though I seem to prefer the AHB2 in this system more. The AHB2 has great speaker cable while the CODA uses lower end. I cannot use the good cable on the CODA, so that has to play some role in my preferences.

 

yyzsantabarbara
4,530 posts
 

@panzrwagn  I agree 100% on the small room setup, like my office. Especially with the matching KC62 sub. However, for me the improvements over the old LS50 were huge. The Meta is a much cleaner sounding speaker that just disappears. Now I have my best gear on them, so I do know that makes a difference.

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