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RE: Show me a current monitor

Posted by seancuster71@gmail.com (P) on March 27, 2025 at 02:58:59

In Reply to: RE: Show me a current monitor posted by hahax@verizon.net on March 25, 2025 at 20:48:29:

I look at speakers from a designer's perspective. With that said WTF!! was KEF thinking.

It's really easy to laugh at a bad design so let's laugh at a $35,000 poorly designed KEF Blade. The Blade speaker's crossover points from the side firing bass drivers to the uni Q front facing driver is 450 HZ.

When we listen to our speakers we are listening to instruments and vocals. Instruments & vocals have a fundamental frequency and above the fundamental frequencies are overtones and harmonics. The fundamental frequency is the first harmonic so say 100 HZ is the fundamental frequency the 2nd harmonic is double the fundamental frequency 200 HZ and the 3rd order harmonic is triple 300 HZ.

The average vocal male & female when singing is 100 HZ to 400 HZ so the entire fundamental frequency range of the human voice singing is firing out the side of your speaker moving away from you while all the harmonics are coming out the front driver straight at you. Acoustic guitar has a fundamental range from 80 HZ to 1200 KHZ that's 4 octaves. 80 HZ to 160 HZ first octave 160 HZ to 320 HZ second octave 320 HZ to 640 HZ third octave and 640 HZ to 1280 HZ is the 4th octave. So, the blade is firing the first two octaves of the guitar out the side bass drivers and the last two octaves and all the harmonics out the front driver which is crazy considering the first two octaves is all your Rythm frequencies.

Also, if you look at the speaker and its design it will tell you why the woofers are side firing. The front of the speaker is to narrow and curved making it impossible to mount the bass drivers in the front of the speaker where they belong. The cabinet is curved to help with diffraction this sacrifice's playing the fundamental frequencies of 90 % of instruments out the side of the speaker away from your ear while the rest of the sound is coming straight at your ear's pure genius!!!

Ever wonder why 99% of speakers all the drivers are on the front baffle facing you. Or a panel speaker all fundamental frequencies & harmonics coming of the front panel facing you not dividing instruments frequencies and pointing them in different directions around your room.

Also could you imagine room placement problems with drivers firing into your walls which is something you do not want pure genius!!! all for just $35,000 dollars!!! Good news is for $35,000 they come with a free divorce lawyer.

The better option would be buy KEF Ls50 meta for $1000.00 a pair then buy two Bowers & Wilkins ASW608 8" subs for $1200.00 a pair. Now buy a good $200 calibrated microphone and download REW room EQ wizard put the microphone at ear level where you sit to listen and move your subs around in your room to get a flat bass response meanwhile your LS50 can be placed to give you the best imaging and they play from 47 HZ to 45 KHZ straight at your ears just like a normal speaker. Bass is omnidirectional from 80 HZ down and your subs can be cut off at 40 something hertz to match your LS50 and you're under $2500.00 for a system you can fine tune. And you won't get divorced for spending $2500,00 on speakers. And I bet the LS50 with subs will sound way better.

And while the side firing KEF Blades are bouncing sound off your walls back to your ears after traveling 15 to 20 feet around your room, that sound will meet your ears that are only 8 feet Infront of your KEF blade speaker late causing major phase issues pure genius!!! But if you can afford $35,000 for speakers you can buy a big field with nothing around for your side firing woofers to reflect off of!! And you can sit in the middle of a field divorced listening to your $35,000 KEF Blades way to go KEF great design pure genius!!!!! and wait I bet these speakers have been voted number one by people KEF paid to say they are number 1 and even funnier I bet people believe it.

The fact is and I hate to say this, and I would not say this if it was not true. Most all audiophiles know very very little about their hobby and it shows due to the fact manufacturers take full advantage of this fact sad but true.

An uninformed consumer is manufacturers dream. An uninformed consumer is a gullible consumer and manufacturers love it!!! and sadly rely on and take advantage of this fact.

But hey for $35,000 they might not be a total waste you can lay them on their side and the side firing woofers will now be aimed at your ceiling just like Dolby Atmos!!!

Funny KEF aka Kent Engineering and foundry has foundry in it name considering I bet know one at KEF knows what a foundry is, and the only metal casting associated with KEF is the Chinese factory that is casting their incredibly overrated little drivers.

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Kimber Kable

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