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Kef Blade or Kef Blade Two for bigger room

Hello all, I am thinking of changing my old bw 800 matrix speakers for the Kef Blade or Blade two.

My living room is 4.8m by 9.3m, with partially sloped high ceeling, and also in the middle going over into my open kitchen adding another 2.5m by 6m... 
Logically I would go for the biggest Blade to get the most and deepest bass response, as most speakers I have tried are too bass shy in my room, except for the big bw800 matrixes, which I set up in middle of the room, and sofa against wall to get bass...
Amplification are Rowland model 9T, so they should get the job done with both speakers.

However I heard from a dealer that the Blade two are better, more coherent sounding, even for bigger rooms; he claimed the big Blade sounds less coherent, with bass floating in the air somewhere and a bit disconnected from the rest...
In my personal experience I heard a Blade two driven by Electrocompaniet Nemos on a music show, im a large rectangular room, and they were brilliant, also in bass.
  i heard the big Blades at a dealer with my model 9t s and they were great as well, but strangely bass shy... room was large enough, but had sloped ceelings to the sides, and the speakers stood on small transporting rollers, so 10 cm higher then normal... Is it possible bass is better from the small blades after all??
Advice would be greatly appreciated! Maybe anyone heard them side by side in same room and with same amps?

blueskywalker
mzkmxcv
558 posts
 
The only differences are the side-firing woofers, so maybe the crossover isn’t optional due to them being larger.  
 
The Blade and Blade 2 have the same bass response for +/-3dB, 40Hz, but the Blade states 28Hz at -6dB and the Blade 2 states 34Hz at -6dB.
  
Which ever you get, make sure to get room treatment, especially along the side walls, as the speakers have a huge nulls around 50°-70° and large peaks around 80°+, this is due to the side firing woofers.  
 
I would check out the Vivid Audio Oval B1 Decade. It also has the opposing bass woofers to cancel cabinet vibrations, is spec’d at 38Hz +/-2dB and 34Hz at -6dB. Also, since the woofers are firing front and back, it doesn’t have the peaks/nulls like the Blade and Blade 2 have. But then you would want some acoustic panels/bass traps/diffusers along the front wall.
soix
2,133 posts
 
I'd consider getting the Blade 2s since they're virtually identical from the lower bass on up, and with the $7000 saved I'd get two good subs and some form of sub integration system (i.e. DSpeaker, etc.). You'll get better and deeper, true full-range bass that should integrate with your room much better than fussing with how to place your two main speakers to integrate with your room. My guess is you'd be amazed at the improvements two good subs can make in so many ways, even with speakers as good as the Blades. And I agree, they're awesome speakers. I'd also consider some room treatments (at least a few bass traps) if you're not already using them, as properly integrated they can be transformative and likely resolve many of your bass issues while making speaker placement even easier. FWIW, and best of luck in whatever you decide.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
2,766 posts
 
Never heard the Blades but did hear the Blade Two's.  If I could afford them and had a larger room, I would buy them in a heartbeat.
blueskywalker OP
51 posts
 
Thx, for your replies guys! I heard both blades in closed rooms much wider then mine...
As stated my L shaped room is only 4.8 meters wide, would this pose a problem? I would like to put them in same position as my current speakers:
 My bw 800 matrix are placed at 50cm from side walls, in the long part of the L, at about 5 m from me, with 4m of room behind them, and a sloped ceiling there till 5m high. The side of the room they are firing at has normal height 2.8m ceiling with wooden beams, I sit at the short part of the L, against the wall, with 3 m opening to kitchen to my left.
  I suppose possible problems of reflection will be identical with both speakers, but the bigger blade will pressurize my room better? Audiotroy, is there any difference on vocals, instrumental timbre like piano between both blades? I noticed the woofers in the big blade sit a bit higher and cross over at 350Hz, while the blade two crosses over at 320Hz to smaller woofers... one review mentioned a bit over ripeness on male vocals like leonard cohen for exemple with the blade 2?
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
1,621 posts
 
The bigger Blades do sound bigger and pressurize the room better, the specs on Kef's website are very conservative. 

The big Blades having higher woofers give you less floor bounce which may be the reason they sound less over ripe.

The Blades are really special especially if you drive them correctly. What is the rest of your gear and what part of the world are you in?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
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