Any of you Blades owners use 2 stereo amps with Blades. That is 1 amp on the L and R high frequency speaker connection and a second stereo amp for the L and R woofers.
I have an amp that I really like, the KRELL 175XD, but I want to have more power for the Blades (when I get it) than that amp delivers. I was wondering if getting a KRELL 300XD just for the woofers would be similar to getting a very powerful amp that can double from 8-4-2 Ohm.
Getting a second KRELL amp would be cheaper than the other 'super amp' options I was considering.
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@jrn Thanks to you and your wife. Very useful info for me.
Can you tell me what amps the dealer was using? I think I am going to go with the CODA #16 amp for the Blade 2 Meta. I am also very intrigued by the upcoming KRELL KSA 400i amp, but that 25-inch depth of that amp may make it incompatible with the wife.
I have the KRELL 175XD upon which the upcoming KSA 400i is derived from.
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@steve59 I can save up for that crazy KRELL since I have a KRELL Duo 175XD available for the short term for the Blade 2. I tested this amp with my prior harder to drive Thiel CS3.7 and it was excellent.
I would normally never consider such an amp expenditure since there are many other great choices at much lower cost. However, the KRELL 175XD is pretty fantastic and so I will be giving the KSA 400i a good look. The biggest drawback for me is the 25-iinch depth of the casework. I think that is a deal breaker with the wife.
I do think sanity will prevail and I will most likely buy the CODA #16 for the Blades and return the KRELL 175XD to my office system.
@jn Thanks.I heard those amps with maybe Wilson. It was a dealer system that had 4 subs stacked on top of each other. Rather nuts.
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@audiobrian What are you using along with the CODA#16? That is really a great amp. I have the CODA 07x preamp too, but I would use my Benchmark LA4 preamp with any future CODA #16. I loved the LA4 preamp + CODA #8 (now sold).
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The following mono amp was one that I wanted to demo last week.
Michi M8 Monoblock Power Amplifier - The Music Room (tmraudio.com)
The Los Angeles dealer I was close by to only had the integrated amp and not the monos. The integrated amp had a Class AB sound to it and was very good. The CODA #16 and KRELL 175XD are (mostly) Class A and sound smoother. However, I am intrigued by the idea of using really massive power on the Blades.
The Mitchi monos are likely similar sounding to the Hegel H30 mono with the Mitchi 1/2 the price. I have heard the H30 with Blade 1 in an excellent room. It was rather exciting though not the most refined sound, which sometimes is not a bad thing.
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I decided to upgrade my 2012 LS50 with a new LS50 META. I recently found my LS50 lacking after I got my RAAL VM-1a headphone amp paired with the SR1a headphones. The descriptions of the Meta sound was what made me make the switch. My SR1 has more clarity and transparency over the LS50. The Meta is supposed to be improved in those areas, so that will be great if true. It is on order now.
The Blade Meta should also have similar improvements (+ more) compared to the LS50. I decided to be an all-KEF 2-channel household with the LS50 Meta, KC62, and the Blade 2 Meta in the near future.
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What are you guys referring to as passive and active woofers? I am assuming active meaning that there is a built-in amp to drive them. In the case, of the Blades there is no internal amp to drive the woofers, so passive.
In the case of the Baby Blades (LS60) the 4 woofers are active with a built-in Class D amp to drive the woofers.
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It seems the input sensitivity and the output impedance of the 175XD and the 300XD do not match. So my only option to bi-amp would be a second 175XD.
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For me the top of the speaker food chain is the KEF Blade. Everything else is behind them. Now not everyone has the same ears or listening objective as me, but when I heard the Blade 10 years ago I said this is the one to get.
I have heard a lot of speakers in the past decade. Though never had the room to put a Blade until now.
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I took my second stop on the KEF train with the KEF LS50 Meta that arrived today. I spent the past week listening very intently to the old LS50 from 2012 because I replaced the driver. I think my son poked at one. Anyways, the driver replacement was easy and the old LS50 were sounding as they should. I am sending the old LS50 to my college bound nephew.
The new LS50 Meta with only 20 minutes of tunes is easy for me to hear the additional clarity of the sound. It is not as clear or clean sounding as my RAAL SR1a ribbons but it is better than the LS50. However, the goal for me was to get close to the SR1a in terms of clarity and I think the Meta are close.
The third stop for the KEF train will be the Blade 2 Meta. I got into a verbal agreement today to buy the DAC for the Blades, a used Musetec 005.
The Office system is now completed and will not be changed (ever). KEF LS50 Meta | KEF KC62 sub (using wireless) | Benchmark LA4 preamp | Benchmark AHB2 monos | Audience FrontRow speaker cable | Musetec 005 DAC
Still thinking of the amps for the Blade 2 Meta. I will try my existing KRELL Dou 175XD on them first with a CODA 07x peramp. It may need more power.
@ricevs I got your speaker tweak this weekend and have yet to try it out. I wanted to wait for the KEF LS50 Meta. Once the speakers are broken in I will plug then into the speaker terminations and give it a go. Unfortunately my speaker termination are banana. Spades would have been better for your tweak.
BTW - when Ric gives me some advice I listen, such as his recommendation of the Musetec DACs. He modded them in the past and told me to check it out.
Just listening to YYZ by Rush on the Metas. Wow, great choice to buy this speaker.
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You can put the Blades 9 inches from the front wall (per KEF UK and the manual). The Reference line needs 1 foot.
If you put the Blades along the 19 foot wall it would work rather well. Other people have put the Blades along a 14 foot wall but I think that would be a waste of the Blades ability to create a massive soundstage.
I will put mine on the LONG wall which opens up to the Family room. I also have 25 foot ceiling, so when you add up the volume of the space it is like a big room. Volume is important to consider because the Blades have bass.
The online Stereophile review of the Blade 2 talks about room size and the Blades. That review was a bit puzzling. More info about the music reviewed rather than writing about the speaker.
I spoke with Vivid Audio about their side firing woofers and proximity to side walls. They said it depends on the building matter used in the walls. I think brick was bad (I need to search my emails).
If the room turns out to be too small, and you are a ROON or JRiver streaming user, you can contact Mitch Barnett at Accurate Sound and let him do his magic on your room + speaker + placement = accurate sound.
I used his remote service for my small office when I had Thiel CS3.7's in there. I doubt I will need help setting up the Blade 2 in my Livingroom, but that security blanket exists for me. He does an incredible job.
Search on A'gon if interested. I wrote a lot of my experience using the Convolution filter of ROON that was created by Mitch for my room and speakers.
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My LS50 Metas are maybe broken-in today and I am amazed at how much better it is than the old LS50. So much more clarity, better imaging, and a real effortless sound. I never felt that the LS50 sound veiled but today I do. In comparison, the old LS50 seems to be constrained somehow. Though I never had that feeling prior to comparing with the LS50 Meta today.
The Meta also seems to have better bass. I do not even have the fast KEF KC62 sub back in the system yet. KEF Support is holding my sub hostage. Not sure what the heck they are doing with it.
I cannot wait to buy the Blade 2 Meta for my Livingroom. The Blade 2 Meta must be phenomenal.
I was DM’ing someone about a speaker for the Krell K-300i integrated they just bought and I mentioned the TAD ME1, which were great with Luxman gear (slightly warmer than Krell). After today’s LS50 Meta revelations I told him to try the LS50 Meta or Reference 1 Meta (depending on room size) before the much more expensive TAD ME1. The ME1 has a bit more detail but I do NOT feel the sound is overall better than the LS50 Meta.
I thought the TAD ME1 was better than the old KEF Reference and the old LS50. However, today I think the Reference 1 Meta could be as good as the TAD ME1. The LS50 Meta sure sounds as good as the ME1 in my 12 x 11 x 9 treated office. The ME1 is too big for this room.
I was planning on buying the $12K CAD Yamaha NS3000 from Canada, if the LS50 Meta was not great. Those plans are off.
I have about $15K of real clean sounding gear in front of the LS50 META and close to 400 watts of power so that must help the LS50 Meta a lot.
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blade uniq was already addressing the backwave to a level none of the other non meta speakers did.
Can you reference more info on this statement. My understanding is that the old Blade uniQ is slightly compromised in relation to the uniQ in the old Reference line so as to fit the enclosure.
Audiotroy also posted some info about the Blade driver having some upgraded part compared to the LS50 non-Meta but nothing related to back wave elimination.
Most companies that address the back wave use something elaborate such as the tube in the Yamaha NS5000, the tapered tubes in the Vivid lineup. I believe the Meta is Kef’s first real push into this area.
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I spoke with a KEF Blade and KRELL amp dealer today on the East Coast. The dealer loves the KEF Blade and knows it very well. We had a superb conversation about amps for the Blades. One of the most knowledgeable dealers I have ever spoken with.
He said that in his experience the Blade Meta is a bit more detailed, a bit faster sounding, and tighter bass than the older Blade. However, he has an older Blade that they have in the shop and he wants to keep that for himself. He said that the changes on the old Blade to new Blade Meta are not that big. He did say the changes from old LS50 to the new LS50 Meta are much bigger sonically.
In terms, of amps he loves the new KRELL XD amps on them. the DUO 300XD model and up (unfortunately I have the lower power DUO 175XD). He also said the CODA #16 is great with the Blade (does not sell CODA).
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@audiobrian He did say that he sometimes likes the old Blade more. I forgot the reason for that but I do know that the changes in the new Blade are right up my alley. Not that I have an issue with the old Blade.
The dealer confirmed to me that my KRELL DUO 175XD is really not powerful enough for the Blade. As did the old COO of KRELL. So I am putting up my 175XD up for sale tonight.
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@rick2000 What was the difference for you? I have heard both myself (prior to Meta).
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