Introduced as a concept in carbon fiber in 2009, the phenomenal and sculptural Kef Blade three-way loudspeaker went from dream to reality in 2011 at the High End show in Munich and the brand's 50th anniversary. FYI, the exceptional Blade speaker had been in development for five years.
Kef Blade One Meta, main technical news
Still as magnificent, with its parabolic curves to eliminate stationary waves and its front face in the shape of an airplane's wing without any discontinuities that could hinder the sound reproduction, the Kef Blade loudspeaker is still based on the house's Single Apparent technology. Source to materialize a single sound source. The bass, midrange and treble frequencies radiate from the same point for perfect sound and spatial coherence, thus unprecedented immersion. For this, Kef engineers use their 12th generation Uni-Q speaker (tweeter and coaxial midrange) boosted with MAT technology, accompanied by four 22.5 cm woofers placed back to back in pairs to cancel the kinetic forces that might color the sound at high volume. They are then placed on the sides of the enclosure equidistant from the Uni-Q driver for a perfect coincidence of the acoustic centers. Namely, each pair of woofers is paired with a separate chamber to reduce the need for damping.
Kef Blade One Meta, zoom on Meta technology
As a reminder, the exclusive MAT process (for Metamaterial Absorption Technology) materializes in the form of a complex labyrinthine structure in relief where the channels act as an acoustic black hole absorbing 99% of the unwanted sounds radiating from the back of the top ‑Uni-Q coaxial speaker, up from 60% previously. Thus, the distortion is virtually eliminated (THD at 0.07%) and the transparency increased. It should be noted that the MAT speaker also provides a better frequency response (+40%). Finally, it delivers perfectly and consistently smooth highs that are clear and precise at any volume.
Kef Blade One Meta new arrivals, in bulk
Among the other technical innovations implemented on the Kef Blade One Meta loudspeakers, we can also mention a new motorization of the midrange with ultra-low distortion, a decoupling of the voice coil from the diaphragm on the woofers allowing the use of filters Specifications delivering cleaner, silkier bass, plus an improved filter design to refine the signal path.
Available from March in eight finishes combining five cabinet colors and six speaker cone colors:
• Piano Black/Copper
• Piano Black/Grey
• Frosted Blue/Blue
• Frosted Blue/Bronze
• Charcoal Grey/Red
• Charcoal Grey/Bronze
• Racing Red/Grey
• Arctic White /Champagne
Custom finishes will be available from June 2022.
Indicative price: €36,000 per pair
Reminder of the key characteristics of the Kef Blade One Meta:
• Type: 3-way speaker
• Boomers: 22.5 cm x 4 aluminum cone mounted in pairs (kinetic force cancellation)
• Mids: 12.5 cm aluminum cone
• Tweeter: 25 mm aluminum cone with MAT technology
• Load: bass-reflex
• Non-magnetic: yes
• Sensitivity: 88 dB
• Impedance: 4 ohms
• Bandwidth: 27 Hz-45 KHz
• Cabinet dimensions (W x D x H, mm): 363 x 540 x 1,590 mm
• Unit net weight: 57.2 kg (each)
