KEF Blade Two - Unbelieveable

Everyone says the Dac in the Hegel is really good but honestly they are comparing them to $2-3k dacs

The hegel is amazing at its price point, but it’s honestly lacking in general.

I also like to separate my streaming as well, isolate the power supply, ext. The hegel has everything in one box which is convenient but it simply isnt as good as separates and that’s just science and engineering.

If you truly want to go the integrated route, something like the gryphon diablo which uses a passive pre-amp is preferable. you get the good without sacrificing while taking away the need for an additional power, cord interconnect, and the noise they add while saving substantial money

no matter what though i would look into a separate dac

I don’t want to stray too much but what is a smart purchase to replace the dac in the h360 or 590?

@steve59 A Musetec 005 will get you a lot of sound for $3K. A slightly warm sounding DAC. I have one.

I was re-reading this thread again and wanted to update with some placement observations I had.

I moved my Thiel CS3.7’s to my living room and placed them on the LONG wall placement. I have about 7 feet on the left side and about 5 feet on the right side before any wall. The wall on the right side is only 3 feet tall with a big opening to the family room. My Livingroom ceiling is 25+ feet. I put the Thiel CS3.7 1 foot from the front wall.

The sound was excellent. Very wide soundstage, imaging was excellent. I think the large amount of space on either side of the speaker and also the tall height made the close front wall placement not a huge detriment.

I contacted KEF UK and they told me that the BLADE 2 META only needs 9 inches at a minimum from the front wall, maybe even less on some rooms. This is even closer than where I placed the Thiel CS3.7.

So, I am a happy camper now. I sold my CS3.7 yesterday and put that money to grow into the Blades. I was thinking of using the Benchmark AHB2 monos (just need to buy 1 more AHB2). Though a KRELL 300XD or the CODA #16 seem like the smarter choice.

Do you have a way to compare the H590 with the Blades? If a used H30 was available it might be worth a try, my only concern with hegel is local service.

I heard the Hegel H360 and then the H30 (I believe). It was their top-of-the-line mono block with the Blade 1. The H30 did sound better, more powerful and exciting. The H30 is now replaced by the H30a. Something to do with a parts issue.

I decided to go with the CODA #16 for my Blade 2. I owned the CODA #8 and heard the #16. It will be an excellent match, 150, 300, 600 at 8, 4, 2 and the first 100 watts in Class A.

I went and demoed the Rotel Mitchi X3 integrated. I really wanted to hear the massively powerful monoblocks that people are raving about. The dealer only had the integrated. It was rather good and super quiet. A definite competitor to the Hegel H390 (based on my experience with the H360). I was wondering if I should try it with the Blade 2. If I want the massive power I figured I could get the #16 as monos.