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D800 with KEF Blade 2?
#1
Hi everyone.  I have a pair of D Premiers in what I think is the D800 configuration?  Dual mono, though the configurator says they're putting out 500 wpc so maybe that's a D500 configuration.  My current speakers are semi-active (powered subwoofer section) and easy to drive but I've put a deposit on KEF Blade 2 speakers and by all accounts in every review, the KEF speakers like high-current amplifiers.

Can anyone comment on their experience with a non-SAM setup into KEF Blades or Blade 2 and how it sounds?

I am sorely tempted to sell the D-Premiers on and replace them with a Rotel Michi X5, Luxman 509x, or maybe McIntosh - something with a power supply that will double down at 4 ohms and give me the current that these speakers supposedly want.  I also recognize that my KEFs have to ship from England and probably won't arrive for 3-4 months.  Do I upgrade the amps now because I anticipate a problem, or do I wait 3-4 months and try them and see (and hopefully I don't end up disappointed!).

What are your experiences with demanding speakers and what would you do with dual D-prems?  They are upgradeable by Devialet to a D1000 by the way, but I probably don't have the budget for that right now after just splurging on the KEFs.  The upgrade to a D1000 would be $12,780 CAD, or $9677 USD.

By the way - I actually love the Devialets.  I don't dislike their sound at all and wouldn't be upgrading due to a sound concern.  In fact, as a vinyl hobbyist, I love the phono stage in the Devialet a great deal.  This is driven mostly by reports that the KEFs demand current.  Maybe I'm over thinking it?
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#2
(19-Sep-2020, 16:46)Zedeff Wrote: Hi everyone.  I have a pair of D Premiers in what I think is the D800 configuration?  Dual mono, though the configurator says they're putting out 500 wpc so maybe that's a D500 configuration.  My current speakers are semi-active (powered subwoofer section) and easy to drive but I've put a deposit on KEF Blade 2 speakers and by all accounts in every review, the KEF speakers like high-current amplifiers.

Can anyone comment on their experience with a non-SAM setup into KEF Blades or Blade 2 and how it sounds?

I am sorely tempted to sell the D-Premiers on and replace them with a Rotel Michi X5, Luxman 509x, or maybe McIntosh - something with a power supply that will double down at 4 ohms and give me the current that these speakers supposedly want.  I also recognize that my KEFs have to ship from England and probably won't arrive for 3-4 months.  Do I upgrade the amps now because I anticipate a problem, or do I wait 3-4 months and try them and see (and hopefully I don't end up disappointed!).

What are your experiences with demanding speakers and what would you do with dual D-prems?  They are upgradeable by Devialet to a D1000 by the way, but I probably don't have the budget for that right now after just splurging on the KEFs.  The upgrade to a D1000 would be $12,780 CAD, or $9677 USD.

By the way - I actually love the Devialets.  I don't dislike their sound at all and wouldn't be upgrading due to a sound concern.  In fact, as a vinyl hobbyist, I love the phono stage in the Devialet a great deal.  This is driven mostly by reports that the KEFs demand current.  Maybe I'm over thinking it?

I know a man who can answer your question, and I expect he’ll be along shortly  Big Grin Big Grin
NUC i5/ROCK/Roon Lifetime =>  Original d'Atelier CoreInfinity #066 => Transparent MusicWave+ =>Wilson Sophia 3
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#3
@Confused might be busy, but his journey with KEF Blades is certainly relevant to the OP's question. A little searching on this forum should easily bring up posts regarding KEF Blade Smile
*
Devialetless!
Roon, ROCK/Audiolense XO/Music on NAS/EtherRegen/RoPieee/USPCB/ISORegen/USPCB/Sound Devices USBPre2/Tannoy GOLD 8
250 Pro CI, MicroRendu(1.4), Mutec MC-3+USB
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#4
I’m pretty sure @Confused started with a 240 or 250 and couldn’t find anything that sounded better at the time, so a 500 should be just fine.
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#5
Thanks, I will look through @Confused post history and see what I find!
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#6
(20-Sep-2020, 16:15)Zedeff Wrote: Thanks, I will look through @Confused post history and see what I find!

LOL! There’s plenty
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#7
Lots of mentions of me here, which is curious because I have never actually listened to the Blade 2 with Devialet amplification. (and @ogs - as it happens you were correct, I have been very busy over the last few days!)

What I can say is that when I first has a my "original" Blades I ran a Devialet D240 with good results. I later upgraded to a dual mono D800, but this was more of an incremental improvement rather than a massive step up. Another point, after I had decided to buy the Blades, I auditioned many amplifiers and eventually settled on the D240 as being the best sounding within what was then my budget. Looks, features, or anything else were not a consideration, I simply found the Devialet to sound the best. Some other combinations came close, but it is perhaps worth mentioning that this was before the time that Devialet introduced SAM and one of the outstanding aspects of the Devialet were the bass depth and resolution. I suspect that this is due to the Devialet's very low output impedance, but cannot be sure. Either way, I was very happy with the performance of the Blades with a D240 in the pre-SAM days. At the time I first listened to a Devialet with the Blades, the D240 was very new and my dealer had both the Expert 240 and the then just superseded D-Premier in stock. These two amplifiers were so similar in performance that the dealer could run a D240 and D-Premier in D500 mode, and subjectively you could not really tell these were not a matched pair. EVO platform apart, the D240 and D-Premier are very similar, other than the D240 having a slightly improved power supply.

I am also a little puzzled by the comment that the Blade 2 is a particularly hard load to drive? OK - It has four bass drivers, but the impedance curve is reasonable and the efficiency is quite high. There was Stereophile review which measured the D-Premier as producing 245w into 4 ohms, considering you have a dual mono D500, I simply cannot see that a lack of power is going to be an issue for you, far from it. (unless you have an enormous room and like listening at 110dB?)

I note that in you OP you state that you like the Devialet. So my advice would be to wait for you Blades to arrive, run them with your D500, which I am sure will drive them just fine, and see how you get on.

I can also state that I have very fond memories of the Blades with a D800. This combination does not provide the absolute level of detail and resolution that you get with the Pro, but with some "lesser quality" recordings it was perhaps a touch smoother and easier to live with than the 1000 Pro. However you look at this, I can say the dual mono Expert (pre-Pro) with the Blades was a great combination. I see absolutely no reason why you should not at least stay put with what you have now and try the D500 with your Blades when they arrive.

If after tying this combination you find you are not happy for some reason, then this would be the time to consider Pro upgrades, a Michi or whatever else. Although you might just find that that the D500 + Blades sounds great, so no need to rush into anything before at least trying with the D500 I would say.

As for the Blade 2 with a 1000 Pro, which is one upgrade path open to you, I believe @Jim_Anderson is running this combination, so he might be able to offer a view?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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#8
Thanks @Confused. When I bought the Blades 2 I had of course heard them, but not with my amps. I figured that 500 wpc would be no problem. Then after placing my order, I came across the now infamous Audio Science Review D200 review that showed a low sustained output power of around 8 watts and started to think that maybe these wouldn't work well at all. Granted, I've never had my D500 setup power-down due to protection circuit function. I've also read the whole 19-ish page Devialet Chat discussion about the ASR.

I think that you're right, the best plan is to simply try them out. I had a period of anxiety there that I'd invested a lot in these speakers and they won't work well. Maybe that's the case, but at this point I'm not sure that's likely at all so I will wait and see.
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#9
(21-Sep-2020, 19:49)Zedeff Wrote: Thanks @Confused.  When I bought the Blades 2 I had of course heard them, but not with my amps.  I figured that 500 wpc would be no problem.  Then after placing my order, I came across the now infamous Audio Science Review D200 review that showed a low sustained output power of around 8 watts and started to think that maybe these wouldn't work well at all.  Granted, I've never had my D500 setup power-down due to protection circuit function.  I've also read the whole 19-ish page Devialet Chat discussion about the ASR.

I think that you're right, the best plan is to simply try them out.  I had a period of anxiety there that I'd invested a lot in these speakers and they won't work well.  Maybe that's the case, but at this point I'm not sure that's likely at all so I will wait and see.

The guy at ASR doesn't understand the Expert range so his measurements are a waste of time to read. Your D500 will provide more than enough power to wake up the neighbors without distortion.
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#10
(19-Sep-2020, 16:46)Zedeff Wrote: Hi everyone.  I have a pair of D Premiers in what I think is the D800 configuration?  Dual mono, though the configurator says they're putting out 500 wpc so maybe that's a D500 configuration.  My current speakers are semi-active (powered subwoofer section) and easy to drive but I've put a deposit on KEF Blade 2 speakers and by all accounts in every review, the KEF speakers like high-current amplifiers.

Can anyone comment on their experience with a non-SAM setup into KEF Blades or Blade 2 and how it sounds?

I am sorely tempted to sell the D-Premiers on and replace them with a Rotel Michi X5, Luxman 509x, or maybe McIntosh - something with a power supply that will double down at 4 ohms and give me the current that these speakers supposedly want.  I also recognize that my KEFs have to ship from England and probably won't arrive for 3-4 months.  Do I upgrade the amps now because I anticipate a problem, or do I wait 3-4 months and try them and see (and hopefully I don't end up disappointed!).

What are your experiences with demanding speakers and what would you do with dual D-prems?  They are upgradeable by Devialet to a D1000 by the way, but I probably don't have the budget for that right now after just splurging on the KEFs.  The upgrade to a D1000 would be $12,780 CAD, or $9677 USD.

By the way - I actually love the Devialets.  I don't dislike their sound at all and wouldn't be upgrading due to a sound concern.  In fact, as a vinyl hobbyist, I love the phono stage in the Devialet a great deal.  This is driven mostly by reports that the KEFs demand current.  Maybe I'm over thinking it?

Are these unmodified D-Premiers (easiest way to check is does it still have an HDMI input?)?
If so I would count your blessings, I wish I still had mine!
Mine drove my current hungry Goldmund speakers brilliantly (the sort of load an SET can't raise above a whisper with)
The phono stage on the D-Premier is quieter than the updated models it loses HDMI but gains SAM (which I can't use since there is no SAM file for my particular speakers).

I expect that they will comfortably drive your KEFS.
Devialet Original d'Atelier 44 Core, Job Pre/225, Goldmund PH2, Goldmund Reference/T3f /Ortofon A90, Goldmund Mimesis 36+ & Chord Blu, iMac/Air, Lynx Theta, Tune Audio Anima, Goldmund Epilog 1&2, REL Studio. Dialog, Silver Phantoms, Branch stands, copper cables (mainly).
Oxfordshire

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