Inspiration for the Future

Audiophiles, hold onto your hats. KEF has released information about their new concept loudspeaker, the Blade.

With every component designed from the ground up, KEF hopes to carve a new path in high-end audio.

Take a peek after the jump.

KEF decided to take a slightly different approach in the development of their concept speaker, the Blade. Starting with the conception of the bass drivers, their engineers prepared each element individually, and ended up creating four newly patented technologies that they then implemented in a single set of loudspeakers.

So what’s new? First, by placing the four 10” bass drivers in opposed symmetrical pairs, KEF found they could allow the forces of each cone to cancel the other out, eliminating unwanted resonance. 

Rear magnets were bonded to each other to hold the bass drivers’ power. Side firing allowed the acoustic center to coincide with the midrange driver and tweeter creating their “Single Apparent Source."

Next, the 3” voice coil of the mid-range driver was forged from critically braced liquid crystal polymer and then positioned to the same acoustic center as the rear-chamber loading tweeter.

The titanium tweeter was made with a new stiffened dome profile using Finite Element Analysis, again eliminating resonant noise.

What does all that mean? KEF claims that all this technology serves to create an entire frequency range that emanates cleanly from one point in space, making it difficult to distinguish where one speaker begins and the other ends.

Impressive.

Not only are they technologically advanced, but the Blade has a few user-friendly concepts thrown in for good measure, such as rear-controlled gear-adjustable spiked feet that allow for leveling without having to tilt the speaker. 

And of course, no concept would be complete without beautiful packaging. The curved cabinets are made of carbonfiber/balsawood composite that is simultaneously light and strong, and the design is reminiscent of the modern art of Constantin Brancusi’s “Bird in Space” series. Which is to say, both sleek and sexy.

Sadly for us mere consumers, there are currently no plans to release to Blade to the public. But KEF assures us that they will be using the technology developed in their creation in future lines. For now, we must content ourselves with quiet contemplation from behind a velvet rope.

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CONTACT: kef.com