Hello, all!
Just wanted to chime in on the pending release of the Blade/Blade 2 Meta editions. I visited my local Kef dealer today looking to audition some speakers in the $5k-$10k range (they carry full lines of Klipsch, Whaferdale and Elac as well). Interestingly enough, they had a pair of current, brand new Blade 2’s sitting out with a “special” price of $15k…$10k off retail list! I inquired about them and they were definitely new, complete, un-registered units that were replacing floor samples that someone had bought. The price reduction was due to the Blade Meta’s imminent release. The salesman I was with said Kef was authorizing deep discounts to the Blades and Reference series as they were getting the Meta treatment for 2022.
Needless to say, even though the Blade 2’s were $5k above my speaker budget, the opportunity to purchase a modern, reference-level speaker complete with full 5 year warranty for $10k off was too good…and rare knowing there isn’t a lot of current Blade stock…to pass up. After an hour of listening, I bought them.
I, too, had never auditioned the Blades before. But, after listening to them (the shop had them hooked up to Parasound JC monoblocks & preamp) streaming some of my Tidal favorites thru a BlueSound Node (I stream Tidal on a BlueSound Vault), I was gobsmacked. I’m replacing vintage Thiel 3.5’s with their dedicated Electronic Bass Module. And while I’ve always really liked the way my system sounds (all Audio Research front-end with D240 MKII s/s monoblock amps, tubed LS7 line-stage and PH3 phono pre-amp), I just felt that the Thiels were too unforgiving of material that wasn’t recorded perfectly…they also tended to get really bright on songs that had a lot going on up high. IOW, I wanted a speaker that was as resolving and detailed as the Thiels, but more…way more…musical. More fun to listen to.
The Blade 2’s impressed me with a couple of things. First, they were incredibly musical; the cohesiveness of their sound was so complete, so whole. Nothing seemed out of place or “wrong”…the music was presented perfectly.
Second, for being the smaller Blade, this thing went deep! The bass was full, tight and correct…not exaggerated nor muddy. Along with that bass was a sense of drive that added to the fun of listening…this is a speaker that can boogie.
Finally, that Single-Point source thing the Blades have going on is the real deal. The soundstage is exceedingly large, multi-layered and precise. Tracks that I know very well that feature distinct separation in their performance (“L.A. Woman”, “Band on the Run”, “Money”) simply blew me away with how precise the recording came across. And even with all this precision and detail, the Blades never lost any musicality, never crossed over into the “analytical” realm of things.
I was listening critically, trying to find a way not to love what I was hearing, to not have to admit to myself that this speaker was not only worth it at $15k, but every bit at $25k. But, I couldn’t. For what I’m looking for and for what I listen to, the Blade 2’s checked every single box.
Sorry for the long post, but maybe some of this helps the original poster.
‘Happy listening, everyone!