KEF Blade Two
Floorstanding loudspeakers
It was just a question of time when the big Blades will get a sibling. Here it is, named Blade Two. Like the big Blades the newcomers also have the thin and flat (visually, not sonically) polyurethane enclosures that are stabilized by a plinth. Like big Blades, that was considered a statement but that did not induce too much excitement in me, the Blade Twos fall short to ignite a spark.
Function and form
The Uni-Q driver, a coaxial design comprising a tweeter and a midrange, is a central point of the KEF Blade Two's. At 320Hz the Uni-Q hands over to four (!) aluminum 16cm bass drivers that are mounted by twos on sides. To prevent resonances in the thin enclosure each two opposite cones share dedicated chamber that is vented by a reflex port. The duo of ports fires to the rear of the speaker.
The Uni-Q is basically identical to one that is used in KEF Blade. It comprises a 2.5cm aluminum dome tweeter (that is slightly eliptical) nested in a midrange alloy driver (lithium, aluminum and magnesium). The midrange driver has 'turbine' ribs on its rear surface that make it stiff and ensure pistonic movement.
You either have to love the design of the Blades or hate it, nothing in between. The "craftsmanship" is industrially perfect and the pallete of colour finishes is endless. KEF managed to build very lifestyle loudspeakers and this styling was more important than the sound this time.
Bass management
When I reviewed stand-mounted KEF LS-50s I recommended to use a subwoofer or two with them. I stick to this recommendation also with the KEF Blade Two. Sure, the bass of the smaller Blade is much more powerful but when measured by Stereophile's Test CD 3 warbles it showed steep roll-off below 40Hz. From the speakers that look so important and cost that much I would expect a better performance. The bass wass textured and fast but I missed the weight and slam, and a bit of plasticity too. In climaxes the Blade Two's can pressurize the room but it is not a punch in your stomach.
Clarity & delicacy
The Blade Two's sound is very clean, in midrange exceptionally clean. I loved vocals through the KEFs, no matter whether female alto or raspy voice of Johnny Cash in Personal Jesus cover - the voices had brilliant textures and spotless articulation. The Blade Two's are not so fanatically focused on detail like GamuT M´inent M5, but they are much more honest and natural than slightly colored Sonus Faber Olympica III, to name two speakers from the same pricing range.
Tonal accuracy
When I listened to the KEFs at moderate volume levels the sound was cohesive and tonally correct. When I tried to tease my neigbours with concert loudness levels the sonic picture started to disintegrate. The coaxial driver did not cease to be wonderfully controlled but the bass drivers were audibly falling behind its perfromance. The upper half of the frequency response was lively, open and fast, the lower half got constrained and dynamically flatter. I assume that abandoning the modern stylization and getting back to the roots of loudspeaker design may be quite beneficial for KEF.
Spatial resolution
Again, at moderate volume levels the Blade Two dissapeared in my room as efficiently as any small monitors, the KEF LS-50 included. Unlike the combination of the small LS-50 with a subwoofer, that was beautifully three-dimensional, I heard a bit less natural soundstage from the Blade Two. As if there was some dust between instruments that prevented them to communicate, that made impossible to hear deeper into the soundstage. I was an observer, not a participant. I did not try to connect the Blade Two to a tubed amplifier but perhaps this could be the winning combination that adds more warmth and dimensionality into the KEF Blade Two performance.
Recommended resellers
Perfect Sound Group, Praha, tel. +420 722 960 690
Manufacturer's website: http://www.kef.com
Associated components
- Sources: Arcam UDP411, McIntosh MCD550
- Amplifiers: Arcam FMJ C49 preamplifier, Arcam FMJ P49 power amplifier, McIntosh MA6600 integrated amplifier
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Kimber Kable KS3035, Kimber Kable KS1126
- Power conditioning: Gigawatt PF-2, Gigawatt LC-2
Gallery
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