Amps for KEF Blade 2

dbphd,
I only noticed today that you had asked me about whether I had the Blades in a previous post. Sorry for not responding. I do not own them yet but today I have the money to buy them (worked a 2nd job for them). So some time in 2018 I will buy them.

I am actually now going for the Blades for my office because I have a new baby (who is very active at 19 months) and I am seeing that the living room could be problematic. Another poster on A’Gon related that he was able to get the Blades to sound good in a 14 x 13 room so that gives me hope for the office.

Just as an FYI, I have a few choices in electronics to figure out from the following list:

1) [PS Audio DS DAC or Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC] + MD 102 Analog Tuner + new Luxman 509x integrated. Not sure if it has enough power, but most reviewers state that Luxman underreports the power specs. I we see soon enough.

2) Briscati M12 (DAC + analog volume) + MD 102 Analog Tuner + [Theta Prometheus or Benchmark AHB2 or Luxman m900u or Briscati M15]

3) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC (cannot use my MD 102 tuner here) + [Theta Prometheus or Benchmark AHB2 or Luxman m900u or Briscati M15]. Sell the tuner and listen to my beloved KRCW via internet.

I had a large list of high end integrated’s I was looking at but I am starting to see that there are a few really high quality DACs with good volume control or preamps with built in DACs.

Guys as a Blade dealer having both the JC 1, Electrcompaniet, Chord and T+A electronics on the Blades.

Here is our take, the JC 1 were okay amplifiers, not magical and not worth the hype, the Electrcompaniet AW 400 were fantastic and dramatically outperformed the Parasounds, the AW 400 also came down in price to $12k vs the nearly $10k price for the JC1.

A pair of Chord SPM 650 monos were a bit better, and the $32k Chord SPM 1400 were amazing.

We lost the Chord line due to not enough sales, brought in the T+A electronics and quite frankly outperformed the Chord stuff.

We have used the big T+A amp and preamp with the Blades and the sound is amazing! Huge soundstage, fast, tight bass, warm midrange, fantastic stuff.

If you are on the East Coast come in for a listen. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

For those guys who say yeah right prove it here you can see all the gear we tried with the Blades:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-chord-audio-doctor

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&client=aff-maxthon-maxthon4&affdom=maxthon.com&...:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-doctor-searching-best-everything ( notice the Electros the Chord and the JC 1 same setup then replace the 207 with the Blades

now see the Blades in the same space as the 207.2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NPIn3pEmI4

Long story short, the T+A gear was the best solid state we ever ran with the Blades, as well as the Persona 9H

https://www.facebook.com/audiodoctor1/photos/pcb.1632190780187462/1632198643520009/?type=3&theat...

We also tried the Thrax gear, the Devialet D400 monos, CJ Arts and a few others the T+A gear has so far come the closest to the mega dollar gear for a fraction of the price which is why we recommend it so highly.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I heard the Blade Two's at the LA Audio Show with the Hegel H360 and it was surprisingly good. A $6k retail integrated driving a speaker of this magnitude may indicate the load is not all that difficult; just a guess on my belhalf. I'm sure there are better pairings, but for the cost, it was really pretty good.

Pokey sure they will sound good, but good isn't amazing. When you use uber class electronics the speakers become much more holographic and the sound stage gains huge amounts of width and depth. 

There are tons of very capable components but you have to hear an uber class component and you will know just what special is.

We demoed a $11k T+A R2500 integrated amplifier and it just was a relevation compared to all the other great intergrated amplifiers we had in that room. 

The T+A had a sense of rhythemic drive that the others didn't have, macro dynamics, along with a huge three dimensional soundstage, superior resolution and bass definition. 

The result is that this piece just made music intoxicating and you were drawn in.

When you hear a component which does this you will understand the world of what makes great from good. 

Think of it as tasting the highest quality freshest ice cream where you can taste all the components that make up the flavor, distinctly and yet enjoy the blended quality of the taste, and you can experience the creamy smoothness. 

Whether you are comparing high end audio gear, fine food, Scotch or other things of this type there are those stealler products that you can just expereience their superior refinement. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ