Experience from KEF or Marten speakers in a Naim system?

Marcus

I'm picking up a NAP300 on my way home from a business trip, I run Kef Ref 205 currently.   I emailed the dealer to ask about an upgrade and they have Kef Blade and Ref 5 on dem, if I can manage the time I'm hoping to get a listen to the Ref 5 and maybe the Blades also.   Never heard any Marten speakers.

Gus

Yeh , Marten speakers are pretty rare in Britain having no proper distribution to my knowledge. You might have better coverage in Sweden for them..

looking at Marten speakers with mainly ceramic drivers and internal Norma wiring i would guess they sound radically different to Kef speakers... Althought they are both very good at their price points I have read.    good luck.

Heard a pair of Kef Reference Model One Blade speakers today with a 272/250DR today and they were impressive, with incredible poise and clarity. I'd say they worked very well with Naim.

Good to know, Kef don't seem to be all that popular with Naim users.   In my old room the 205s just did not work and I actually preferred my ProAc Studio 1 Mk 2 on R2 stands with a Rel sub on hi level cable.   The new house they just work.   Next year if things go to plan I will have a dedicated acoustically treated room and am working to an "end game" for me system along the lines of NDS/552/300/Ref 5 or Blades.

Hi Gus!

Sounds like an interesting demo! Unfortunaty we have no dealer in Sweden, which I know of, that have KEF Reference 5 or Blade for demo.

If you manage the demo please report back! It would be highly appreciated!

I wonder if NAP300 is powerful enough to drive the Blade in a good a controlled manner at high “sound volumes”. Perhaps you will be able to find out? Will the demo be performed with Naim electronics?

I guess that the Reference 5 and Blade 2 is easier to drive than the Blade? At least that’s what I’ve been told.

I talked to the distributor in Sweden that told me that Blade is quite a lot better than the Reference 5. Blade is on the other hand a bit harder to get to work optimally. They need quite a bit of air around them to perform optimally. 1m to side wall and at least 25-30 cm to rear wall.

When it comes to power I have read different views in different reviews. In some reviews they state that power is not that essential but you need a power amp with a good power supply (Blade need current) and high quality. I think that NAP300 fulfill these two criteria.

In other reviews they state that you need 200-300 Watts to drive the Blades. NAP300 have far from this amount of power… I wonder which of these views that are correct… It’s quite important to know!

To summarize I would guess that if you choose the Reference 5 you will get a very good speaker that is possible to drive with the NAP300. Ref 5 will also be easier to get to work optimally in different types of rooms.

If you go for the Blades you will get a spectacularly looking speaker that will perform on another level (compared to Ref 5) if you get it to work well in your room. It would also be harder to drive so it’s a question mark if the NAP300 is powerful enough…

/Marcus

Hi Tobyjug!

Yes, actually I live 30-40 km from Martens “headquarters” in Gothenburg. I will visit them on Tuesday for a demo. It will not be performed with Naim electronics but I have requested to listen to Django XL, Getz 2 and Bird 2.

I never heard any Marten speakers and as a matter of fact I don’t think that I ever heard any speakers with ceramic drivers before. It will be very interesting!

I fear that I will perceive the ceramic drivers as “cold” and “analytic” but I have read that Marten speakers give a slightly warm and natural sound. Soon I will have my own experience of this…

When it comes to KEF speakers I don’t have much experience either. 3-4 years ago I heard a pair of KEF Reference 207/2 fronted by a CDS3/NAC252/NAP300 and I was very impressed. By then I had 202/200 and it became sort of my “dream system”. Now the 207/2 is not produced anymore and I guess that their WAF was not that great anyway…

I think that either Ref 5 or Blade would give a similar sound as the Ref 207/2. I was told that Ref 5 is not as good as the old 207/2 but that Blade is clearly better (if well set up). They all three share the “KEF-sound” whatever that means…

/Marcus

Gary, please tell me more!

Just to clarify, do you mean Blade with 4 x 9 inch bass drivers?

Were they played in a big room? Were they placed far from the walls?

Did you listen to music at high (loud) levels?

Was your feeling that NAP250DR was powerful enough for the Blades?

Thanks!

/Marcus

Gus, that really sounds like a very good “end game”!

I hope that you have time to do that demo to compare Ref 5 against Blade. Perhaps your speaker choice will be very easy after such a demo…

How big is your listening room?

/Marcus

From having a glance at "marten Speakers' In my library of written material ,I have noted one reviewer stating that Naim and Marten might result in some "hardness'. As from both marques sharing the same "house sound' of high brilliance in the presence region.. ?  Although this is entirely down to the dedicated listening room..

cheers

Marcus, they are a standmount with a mid bass and tweeter at £4500. They were played very loud in a huge demo room, away from walls and had no problem filling the space with the 250DR. They also looked rather stylish.

Hi Tobyjug!

Thank you for your heads up!

If I get very impressed by the Marten speaker in the demo tomorrow I will for sure try them at home. I will listen for “hardness” which is an attribute that I don’t like.

/Marcus

Hi Gary!

You tricked me there…

I know the Kef reference 1 and the Blade speakers. When you wrote “Kef Reference Model One Blade speakers” I was unsure which speaker you were referring to. Since the name contained the word Blade I thought you meant the big flor standing Blade with 4 x 9 inch bass units.

Thank you for clarifying!

The Reference 1 seems like a very good speaker, as does the whole reference series. I would like to hear a comparison between Reference 5 and Blade with Naim electronics but that is not possible where I live…

/Marcus