KEF Blade or Blade 2

I did not, I did listen to a pair of R3s at a shop close to Wichita. They would only play then a screaming volume and with crappy music. But in spite of that there were things to like. Really would like to get a chance to here some of the higher up the chain models with better music. Thanks, for the response. 

Did you change your screen name? I know i'm late, I forget to check in. With the Blade meta's out I think the original Blade's are a flat out bargain. I stayed away from them for years because the first write up I read I think the journalist claimed the speakers were being driven by 4 JC1 mono blocks!!! I put my hegel h360 on my pair and totally enjoyed them. My only concern for these tall speakers would be around little children as kef didn't offer out riggers or dust covers. I started my speaker upgrade in 2015 and bought and resold at least a half a dozen used speakers in this price range. I'm not bold enough to predict what someone else will prefer and all the other speakers I tried were legit. The Blades belong on the list of speakers in this price range.  

I have twn screen names, for some reason I could not access my account at work. So, I became Backwash at work and Mizike at home. Same guy.

Apparently, because I can't type, LOL.  

I initially heard the blade 2 at a local dealer. He had a nice room set up for me. Even though I loved the sound characteristics I wasnt engaged with the music

I think the problem with most blade demos is that they are shown off with inferior components. This particular dealer used the h590

There certainly isnt anything wrong with the 590, but I mean your showing off what is (at the time before meta) $25k speakers with an all in one that was $11k. The hegal being an amp, and pre amp, and dac, a transport/source, everything.

if you build a system and 70% of the cost of the system is solely for the speakers then you will not being bringing out the potential of the system. This isnt the issue with only this dealer, this was seemingly everywhere. Sometimes even Kef was demoing blades with Hegal. Maybe to show you can build a full system with blades and all cables and taxes for under 45k? Heck with dealer discounts and the fact that you dont need interconnects and only 1 power cord, your now talking under $40k brand new all in. Yes its a cheap price to get into the "high end" of sound. Except ppl hear this and feel underwhelmed

I now own the big blades (since i have a large room) and it sounds absolutely glorious. In fact, sometimes i listen and wonder how it could possibly sound better, thats how good it is

But I invested in a full fleshed out system.

My power, and outlet is in check. My room is ideal. The first thing I grabbed was isolation podiums (big improvement). High end (non current limiting) synergistic power conditioner with with upgraded Galileo PC. The most dynamic speaker cables I have heard to date. Fantastic transport, amazing dac, Class A big boy amp. Upgraded cabling, footers, isolation and other tweaks ext.

This is a full fleshed out system and all the components are set to enhance my speakers. If i dared to change these speakers I would also need to change some components as the balance would be totally thrown off. This is a proper system built around the speakers

I heard the new metas. Do they sound as good as my blades? not even close. I’m sure they are better though, but the system i heard it on not only cut corners but also wasnt built to bring out their potential. The others who heard his system were head of heels, but i was utterly disappointed.. even though I KNOW the metas should be better than the non metas 

Your asking to demo the blades.... be careful what you wish for. Yes you will be able to recognize some of the characteristics, you will get the sound stage, the famous imaging that matches speakers costing 3x as much. However, your not really asking to hear the blades your asking to hear someone’s "system" and that may easily leave you underwhelmed