KEF Blade

KEF Blade

When KEF gave their engineers free rein to create a fitting showcase for their technology leadership, they developed a revolutionary prototype that looked and performed like no other: Concept Blade, the world's first single apparent source loudspeaker.

Its phenomenal sonic capabilities met with such praise that they decided to produce an edition that serious audiophiles could actually own. After two years of painstaking refinement - and in time to mark 50 years of KEF innovation - Blade is the result.

Conceived from the outset to extend the boundaries of high end audio, it’s a unique synthesis of innovative engineering and groundbreaking design based on a new architecture that achieves the ideal point source to which all speakers aspire. This is because the four sophisticated new bass drivers are configured so that their combined acoustic centre occupies exactly the same point in space as that of the Uni-Q HF/MF array, so the sound appears to emanate from a single, flawlessly coherent source.

Sculptural and acoustically inert, the slender parabolic enclosures are engineered never to interfere with the purity of the output. The advanced new hybrid cones are so light and rigid that their natural break-up point is never reached within the required frequency range. Inside, you find ingenious new venting, bracing and wave management technologies. Meticulously specified, super-premium components - every one operating so comfortably within its performance envelope that you experience noticeably more precise imaging than is possible with conventional speakers. What you hear sounds as if it’s live - emotionally engaging, richly musical and effortlessly natural. A revelation, pure and simple.

KEF Blade, IS Europe Exhibition

Another fact that makes the KEF Blade a worthy contender for one of the best high end reference speaker is the fact that you do not need a huge power amp to drive the unit. At the IS Europe Exhibition they used a Arcam integrated stereo amp. The sound was out of this world, even within the huge hall with thousand of people and hundreds of stands the sound cut through all the noise to give accurate and atmospheric sound, fabulous speaker!

Design

Three-way bass reflex, Single Apparent Source driver configuration

Drive Units - Uni-Q driver array:

MF: 125mm (5in.) Li-Mg-Al /LCP hybrid cone

HF: 25mm (1in.) Al dome

Bass units: LF: 4 x 225mm (9in.) with force cancelling

Frequency Response

40Hz - 35kHz +/- 3dB

28Hz - 45kHZ +/- 6dB

Harmonic Distortion

2nd and 3rd harmonics (90dB/1m):

<0.5% 40Hz - 100kHz

<0.2% 200Hz - 10kHz

Crossover Frequencies

350Hz, 3kHz

Amplifier Requirements

50-400W

Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) - 90dB

Maximum output (SPL) - 117dB

Nominal impedance - 4 Ohms (3.2 Ohms min.)

Weight - 57.2 kg (126 lbs)

Dimensions

(H x W x D)

1590 x 363 x 540 mm

62.5 x 14.3 x 21.2 in.

Standard finishes

Gloss black or gloss white

Custom colors

Garnet, Sapphire, Grigio, Racing red, Racing blue,

Pale gold, Orange sorbet, Graphite, Stardust,

Lemon sorbet, Lime sorbet or Snow white