Has Anyone ACTUALLY Listened to the Kef Blade?

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ajharris:I also believe psychology plays a HUGE part in it! If I was to sit someone down and say to them this system is worth £100,000. Then play some music, they would automatically think WOW. However, if I told them that system is worth only £2,000, they would most likely be far more judgemental.

I disagree. Even IF they were impressed, they're more likely to say "well it sounds good, but it's not worth £100,000".
 
bennyboy71:What makes me laugh the most is the fact that someone with enough money to afford them probably has such rubbish music taste they shouldn't legally be allowed to buy them in the first place.

Also like those who can afford supercars. No appreciation of what they've bought at all - for them it's a social statement.
 
Hark at you lot - very:

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When the Blades were being explained in the demo, it was clearly said that it was an engineering excercise - they were built as an experiment to learn from, and to bring new technologies to the current speaker market. Obviously being a one off, they're priceless, but from these, a new breed of Reference can be born, and the current Reference technology can filter down to XQ and iQ (some of it has already), and keep KEF competitive. Who knows, in 20 years time, we might be buying an evolution of Concept Blade for £10,000. And they'll sound far better.

I think a lot of people don't get the KEF sound. If the amplification is insufficient you end up with a flat sounding speaker that lacks bass. I think a lot of people haven't heard KEF properly, including some dealers. This is especially true of the current Reference range.

Personally I was initially underwhelmed by the Blades (as with the Muons), but then I thought that that's actually a good thing. These are an understated thrilller rather than a full on action movie. Unfortunately, most people nowadays are impressed by the latter. Many speakers that immediately impress go on to become annoying or reveal their flaws after extensive listening. Speakers like these weren't doing anything wrong from the off - their clear and clean bass and mid didn't sound like it was coming from a box, the usual UniQ soundstage was present, but very open (the guy's vocals on the Faithless track sounded amazingly immediate and real). I think to hear the real qualities of the Blades, you'd need to spend far more time with them then 10 minutes, and with a wider and more familiar range of music.
 
1978, here is where to buy speaker drivers...

http://timberworx.net/

Warning, they are a business and probably like to make a profit (so they can eat and pay people and invest and stuff) so maybe these people are better for you....

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/?_requestid=109043

They do veneer and MDF and tools.

This lot will sell you all the stuff for your crossovers etc....

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/

Hopefully by next year we will see your new range, unique for their low cost due to the manufacturer only charging for components.
 
ajharris:However, companies like these don't sell much, so they have to have huge profit margins to keep them rich.

ajharris:By the way, I don't know that they do.

Unbelievable...
 
chebby:
1978, here is where to buy speaker drivers...

http://timberworx.net/

Warning, they are a business and probably like to make a profit (so they can eat and pay people and invest and stuff) so maybe these people are better for you....

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/?_requestid=109043

They do veneer and MDF and tools.

This lot will sell you all the stuff for your crossovers etc....

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/

Hopefully by next year we will see your new range, unique for their low cost due to the manufacturer only charging for components.

Hey, thanks Chebby. I'll get working on them right away ;-)
 
1978:And the company all of a sudden shows something extremely good , expensive and lovely sounding at the expos. I don't think it's the way - each company should start with making good entry ones and then show off what they can do....but I would like clearly say that I'm writing this having read various reviews - I haven't actually heard many Kef speakers myself , just a few. Am I right / wrong ?
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Fairly wrong, given that KEF has been in business for the better part of 50 years, and started with relatively modest speakers. But even back then it was experimenting with novel materials and construction methods.
 
PJPro:Hey, thanks Chebby. I'll get working on them right away ;-)

Yes but I am only buying them if you can maintain your usual standards of fit and finish....

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1978:
And just to make lovely clear why I might've been too hard on those KEFs in the first place. There is a reason. Most of the companies try to make profit and sell products that are recommended by others. In case of KEF it goes like this - they produce budget speakers from entry to mid-level which are the basic profits of this company and major product lines I guess ( I omit their high-end ). Yet, these speakers vary strictly from being lower quality ( sometimes 2 stars out of 5 ) to quite average and sometimes good. Juding by the many reviews. And the company all of a sudden shows something extremely good , expensive and lovely sounding at the expos. I don't think it's the way - each company should start with making good entry ones and then show off what they can do....but I would like clearly say that I'm writing this having read various reviews - I haven't actually heard many Kef speakers myself , just a few. Am I right / wrong ?
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Wrong. And I think your phrase 'all of a sudden' is a little hard. KEF (and others) have produced many flagship products over the years, to allow expensive and time-consuming technology development to come to market and trickle down as David points out.
 
I heard the Kef Blade and really liked them. I was quite surprised at how low they could go.

I also liked the Kef demonstration last year, with their £12,000 floorstanders.

Personally, I think one of the reasons both speakers sound so natural, effortless etc is because they use relativley large bass drivers. I'm not sure the exact size used, but I think they are 8 - 12".

People think large bass drivers will give too much bass, but more offten that not, this extra bass is hardly intrusive. Large PMC speakers are a perfect example.

The problem with small drivers is that they sound fast and punchy, but they go artifically low, through the design of the crossover and cabinet etc.

Using a large driver, gives bass that natural, effortless quality that far too many speakers are lacking.

I've be brought up on Leak's 2075's with 15" bass drivers and they really did sound effortless.

As for the Blades, they are only a concept product. the £1m figure, has kept countless people in the job developing the technology and will no doubt be used in future speakers for many years to come. If the product were to be sold, then its retail price would be much lower, but still in keeping with "highend" prices. Manufactures and Dealers do deserve to make a living, after all, how many people could actually have one in their home.

£1m to develop a product is cheap, to put this into perspective, the original mondeo cost ford $6 billion dollars.
 
chebby:
PJPro:Hey, thanks Chebby. I'll get working on them right away ;-)

Yes but I am only buying them if you can maintain your usual standards of fit and finish....

467910415_0ee4ba2c0f.jpg


Just to restore a bit of balance (form a DIY perspective), take a look at these....
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The builder's name is Ferrari and he makes some lovely amps.
 
1978:And just to make lovely clear why I might've been too hard on those KEFs in the first place. There is a reason. Most of the companies try to make profit and sell products that are recommended by others. In case of KEF it goes like this - they produce budget speakers from entry to mid-level which are the basic profits of this company and major product lines I guess ( I omit their high-end ). Yet, these speakers vary strictly from being lower quality ( sometimes 2 stars out of 5 ) to quite average and sometimes good. Juding by the many reviews. And the company all of a sudden shows something extremely good , expensive and lovely sounding at the expos. I don't think it's the way - each company should start with making good entry ones and then show off what they can do....but I would like clearly say that I'm writing this having read various reviews - I haven't actually heard many Kef speakers myself , just a few. Am I right / wrong ?

Well, KEF as a business appear to be solvent, very much so if they can afford the £1m to invest in R&D to produce something like the Concept Blade, and if you were right, then presumably they wouldn't be doing so well. The fact that they're in business at all indicates that they must be doing something right, as people are buying their products, regardless of what the reviews say.

I'd also imagine that KEF believe they do make "good entry ones" for the class and budget range they occupy. Are they the best in the world? Probably not, but they're clearly good enough, you wouldn't be able to buy them if they weren't.
 
1978:In case of KEF it goes like this - they produce budget speakers from entry to mid-level which are the basic profits of this company and major product lines I guess ( I omit their high-end ). Yet, these speakers vary strictly from being lower quality ( sometimes 2 stars out of 5 ) to quite average and sometimes good.

As with any other speaker company......

And the company all of a sudden shows something extremely good , expensive and lovely sounding at the expos.

As stated, KEF have been at the forefront of new technologies and design for 49 years. A huge majority of speakers in the 70's used KEF drive units, along with the BBC for their monitors. The Reference range has been setting standards since 1973. They've not been scared to push forward and try new things, hance projects like Blade and the Muons. These speakers will dictate KEF's future loudspeaker designs. Unless some huge breakthrough happens in the meantime.
 
I'm actually quite excited to see what KEF will come up with next for the Reference range. Maybe some elements of Blade? Cabinet shape and size? Mmmmmm......
 
Yeah, I don't think we'll be seeing anything in the next range - can hope though
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And I just want to make something absolutely clear, before anyone misreads what I've out - Reference isn't changing! It continues....
 
1978:The good example can be BMW company that releases concept cars only to trickle down technology onto the lower ranges which by themselves are very good cars.

I think you'll find almost every car company does that...
 
Andrew Everard:Just a shame about the people who drive them...

Oi! 🙁

I must admit, when you do something bad in a BMW you do just think "ah well, it's expected of me anyway..." 😉

Oh and I'd expect to see something trickle down from the "Blades" as I saw one of our MDF cabinet manufacturers having a chat with the Kef guys about what could be done... Hmm, maybe I should rephrase the first part of that as it could be taken completely the wrong way!
 
KEF are one of the most innovative and successful speaker manufacturers of all. Even some of their older designs can still sound magnificent now. I've got a pair of late 80s C30s that can still give many speakers a real run for their money. The Coda 7, 8 and 9 budget boxes of the early 90s were phenomenal for the money and gave the likes of the Mission 760i a hard time. True, the current entry-level C-series speakers don't seem to be favourites at present, but I've come across people who really like them and there are lots of people who can't praise the mid-range iQ range enough. Then there is the Reference range and the ever-popular KHT series of home theatre speakers. I don't think anyone could really accuse KEF of not delivering the goods.

I think we should be celebrating the fact that a mainstream manufacturer still has the technical expertise and financing to produce a concept such as the Blade. It shows that Cooke's vision is still very much alive and well and that audio is in good health.

As others have stated, the eventual trickle-down can only help to raise the playing field further down the food chain. The similarity with cars has been mentioned and I'd suggest Volkswagen Group is a perfect example. The technology starts in expensive Audis and, over time, trickles down to VW badged cars and then to Skodas and Seats. What starts out as out-of-reach is suddenly available to the mass car buying public.
 
To be entirely open and transparent I currently run a front set of ten year old KEF Cresta 2's (it's either the 2's or the 20's I can't remember) and a Cresta C. They sound pretty good to me but then I've had ten years to get used to them and I've never really compared them to anything else, so I've no doubt they can be improved upon.
 
AEJim:Oi! 🙁

Having already done the M25 from M3 to Heathrow, Heathrow to Croydon and Croydon back to Guildford this morning, I stand by my previous statement. To misquote the Toyota slogan, 'The car in front of you exiting the motorway from Lane 4 with only 200 yards to go is a BMW'. And why do BMWs always enter motorways from a sliproad and aim to get to the outside lane before the slip has even run out?

Mind you, I like Toyota's new campaign:

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I feel a bit disappointed with Kef to be honest. I bought a pair of their speakers in the 1980s and they were the bees knees - Kef seemed to be leading the field in balanced domestic speakers. The 1990s reference 2s and 3 s were also very fine. Somewhere about the time B&W went into hyperdrive after their Nautilus thingy, Kef lost their way (the last Ref series seems to have been a direct copy of B&W, but with a UniQ driver on top), and now we've had two expensive concept speakers in about 3 years, with only home cinema left on their current price list.
 
the_lhc:To be entirely open and transparent I currently run a front set of ten year old KEF Cresta 2's (it's either the 2's or the 20's I can't remember) and a Cresta C. They sound pretty good to me but then I've had ten years to get used to them and I've never really compared them to anything else, so I've no doubt they can be improved upon.

I remember when the Cresta came out. For me, they were the best sounding budget speakers around. They weren't the most powerful around, but in a good system they were quite musical for what is classed as a budget speaker.
 

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