Are the KEF Blade/Blade 2 Metas a Significant Upgrade from Blade?

Well, that Rotel Michi mono amp must be quite an impressive design and engineering effort. While its power consumption is rated at 1,200 watts it somehow manages to output 1,800 watts into 4 ohms. A Class A/B amp cannot output more power than it consumes so I suspect its ratings are somewhat "optimistic".

... the measured output power at clipping was 1322W @ 8Ω and 2250W @ 4Ω.
They also made instantaneous peak power measurements which resulted in outputs of 1640W @ 8Ω, 3130W @ 4Ω, 1790W @ 2Ω, 960W @ 1Ω.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-michi-m8-mono-power-ampiifier-lab-report

These are slightly lower than the specified powers, but it isn't possible to hold the wall voltage constant during the tests. Rotel warns in the M8's manual that 4 ohms is the recommended minimum load impedance. I did think about examining how much power was available into 2 ohms once I had finished the testing, but when I reexamined how much power could be delivered into 4 ohms before doing so, I tripped the circuit breaker. Hint taken.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/rotel-michi-m8-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements

Idk, I would be more interested in the Michi if the numbers were flipped around. give me 960 into 8 0hms and 1640 into 2 with 3130 into 1. That would get me interested. The H590 is only 300 into 8 ohms but over 2000 into 1 ohm and some of these speakers have nasty xovers.

I noticed in a very recent Stereophile review of Blade 2 Meta that the reviewer did not address a sonic comparison with the original Blade 2, which won component of the year 2015. Curious, as this would be of significant interest. Do you think this omission might have been a favor to the manufacturer, rather than saying Blade 2 Meta is a mildly improved version?

@audiobrian 

I just read the review in Stereophile.  He concluded that it was the best speaker he had heard in his room.  I also wondered about comparison to the original, but he clearly hadn’t heard the original Blade 2. So, I don’t think it was a favor to KEF.

I haven’t heard the new version yet, but have heard the original Blade and Blade 2 and  I own the Reference 3s.  The original Blade 2 was/is very, very good. Will there be an improvement?

KEF appears to be one of the few companies that actually back up their efforts and claims with published research -they have engineering resources that most do not. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they always produce a better product than others, but you can look online to see what KEF accomplished in the Blade 2 Meta vs. the original. It’s fully discussed and supported with published data. Given the already very high performance bar, any improvement is notable. Regardless, I would need to hear them before drawing any conclusions.

I don’t have room for the Blade 2.  But, I have a couple of systems and am quite interested in the Reference 1 Meta for a smaller room and am hoping to audition it soon.

Best,