I have the "original" KEF Blade. In fact I chose this as my next speaker, and then went hunting for the best amp to drive them, this lead me to the D240 (now an 800) I believe the Blade 2 is very similar to the original, I am sure it would work superbly with the D400. (AlexS has a pair now)
A while back I did audition the B&W 803's. This happened to be with a Naim front end. Good speakers, but they were not for me. In fact it was a slightly puzzling demo, as they sounded good with some material, but on one or two tracks, not so good. This was with similar music, I will never know quite why this was. With respect to the Blades they are a very different. The Blades have far more accurate bass, plus a very different character to bass response, the B&W's produced the bass with decent accuracy I think, but it was all very polite & British, would sir like to hear some nice bass reproduced now? The B&Ws would gently reproduce with great depth and accuracy, VS the Blades, that if required and if it's in the music, would be far more visceral, you would feel that bass drum kick, get that "at the gig" sensation, with the B&W's you could quietly analyse the reproduction. For certain, which you might prefer would be a matter of taste and preference. The Blades are good in other areas too, fast and detailed mids, no harshness to the treble, stereo imagery etc.
Picking up on KraaijCheck's post, I did hear the SF Olympica II's with a D400 once. To be honest, this was only a very quick listen to about three tracks, but clearly they were working well with the 400's. Plenty of bass power and an all 'round fun listen, very enjoyable as I recall. In this particular demo, I did think there was a slight harshness to the top end, but I know that I am quite sensitive to this kind of thing.
I think that of all hifi components, speakers are the one thing that fundamentally change the flavour of a system. You might hate the Blades if you get the chance to hear them, but my advice would be that it would be well worth the effort to try an track a pair down for a demo somewhere, might be a disappointment, might be a revelation. Good luck hunting!
A while back I did audition the B&W 803's. This happened to be with a Naim front end. Good speakers, but they were not for me. In fact it was a slightly puzzling demo, as they sounded good with some material, but on one or two tracks, not so good. This was with similar music, I will never know quite why this was. With respect to the Blades they are a very different. The Blades have far more accurate bass, plus a very different character to bass response, the B&W's produced the bass with decent accuracy I think, but it was all very polite & British, would sir like to hear some nice bass reproduced now? The B&Ws would gently reproduce with great depth and accuracy, VS the Blades, that if required and if it's in the music, would be far more visceral, you would feel that bass drum kick, get that "at the gig" sensation, with the B&W's you could quietly analyse the reproduction. For certain, which you might prefer would be a matter of taste and preference. The Blades are good in other areas too, fast and detailed mids, no harshness to the treble, stereo imagery etc.
Picking up on KraaijCheck's post, I did hear the SF Olympica II's with a D400 once. To be honest, this was only a very quick listen to about three tracks, but clearly they were working well with the 400's. Plenty of bass power and an all 'round fun listen, very enjoyable as I recall. In this particular demo, I did think there was a slight harshness to the top end, but I know that I am quite sensitive to this kind of thing.
I think that of all hifi components, speakers are the one thing that fundamentally change the flavour of a system. You might hate the Blades if you get the chance to hear them, but my advice would be that it would be well worth the effort to try an track a pair down for a demo somewhere, might be a disappointment, might be a revelation. Good luck hunting!
