Let’s see what the boys are talking about this month. I’ll warn you, it’s mostly absurd. Clearly, these writers don’t think their readers work for a living. They think you’re all sitting home doing nothing but counting your fortune.

Kef Blade 2 Speakers

They run $28k per pair. What do you get for your 28k?

You get a stylish cabinet. Perhaps its a style you like. It’s available in different colors, with no grille to cover a generic looking 5” front firing coax driver (tweet/mid). The coax looks eerily familiar to the driver Elac uses in its UB5 for $500.

The speaker also has four side firing 6.5” woofers. Really boys? For $28k you’re handling the bass with four 6.5s?! THAT… is incredulous.

The reviewer loved the cosmetics. Me? Not so much!

I can appreciate that color and artsy might sell. But staring straight into a basic coax driver simply is disqualifying for me.

The claimed impedance is 4 ohms. When Stereophile tested it, the impedance fell to 1.23 ohms at 30-39Hz, and 1.64 ohms from 813-881Hz. These are BRUTAL numbers for almost any amp to face.

I understand the 4 ohm load is “nominal” but 1.23 ohms in the challenging bass area?! The spec tech says, “presents amplifiers with a somewhat demanding load.” HELLO! Somewhat demanding?! Holy cow, 1.23 ohms in the important bass region is overtly dangerous.

This new version has “Meta” technology. THAT… is a plastic disc with various maze shapes

behind the tweeter. This is hardly a cutting edge “technology” as its being passed off to be.

The reviewer thinks they’re pretty and offer transparency and taut bass. For $28k, I think you should get a bit more for your investment.

Six pages… seems almost reasonable for $28k speakers. Why? Well look below!

Axiom Tonearm

$25k. They go on for five pages. Really? $25k for a tonearm… We need 5p in this mag for that?

Octave Jubilee Monoblock Amp

$80k pair. Seven pages. Really? $80k for amps and 7p? High enough demand for 7p?

Gryphon Apex Stereo Amp

$99k for this stereo amp. Weighs 445 pounds. Six pages. Really and truly? It’s CRAZY enough that someone thinks it would even make sense to offer an amp of this weight and price.

But to spend six pages on it, in a mag where the newstand price is $8.99 and the subscription is $14? This is a massive waste of time.

Audiovector QR7 Speakers

Finally here’s a product that is worth reading about.

They run $6500 per pair. What do you get for your $6500?

You get a reasonably attractive rectangular cabinet. The driver complement is an AMT tweeter, 6” sandwich aluminum mid and two 8” sandwich aluminum woofs. I’d rather have pure alum without the sandwiching but, so far, promising.

They claim 90.5dB SPL. They actually measure about 2dB less. Not heinous but… not 90.5.

The impedance falls to 1.8 ohms at the crucial 76Hz frequency. Yikes! They measured a 367 Hz mid/bass cabinet buzz or resonance on ALL the panels. Ouch. At least they don’t run insulting money.

Despite these test results they still get a luke warm “recommended” comment.

LKV PWR-3 Amp

$3350, 175×2. It’s real money but not insulting. Let’s take a look.

PWR-3 uses Hypex D modules. I like them. NAD uses Hypex modules in C268 for $1k. Rogue uses them in its Sphinx integrated.

Yet I prefer the NAD built Eigentakt modules used in NAD’s C298, 185×2 for $2400.

LKV has some design features working around the Hypex that they brag makes PWR-3 special. OK. But I promise the heart of the sound is the Hypex.

The reviewer described that PWR-3 is very cable dependent. With some cables it sounds thin. You have to go to others to attain a fuller, sweeter sound.

This has NOT been my experience with NAD’s C298. We have sold a few boatloads of these power amps already. We have customers with a wide array of cable preferences and not one of them has mentioned that it’s fussy. Further, we have a handful of cable options here in house and I’ve found the same thing. C298 has the same, beautiful consistent flavor of sound- never bright or thin.

The amp claims 175×2 but clipped at 172. It ALMOST reached its claim! At 4 ohms it clipped at 305w.

The writer liked the sound of PWR-3. I’m sure it’s good.

But if I’m buying a power amp in this range, I’m buying NAD C298. It uses the NAD built Eigentakt modules featuring some NAD secret sauce = PowerDrive technology.

LKV buys modules from Hypex and tries to work some magic around them. That’s kosher,

but not as lofty as NAD building it’s own “engine.”

C298 runs about a grand less and TESTED at 275 w/ch before it clipped, a full 100w more than PWR-3.

At 4 ohms the C298 clipped at 510w, vs 305w.

Even if you don’t care about the numbers (why not get what you’re paying for?) I would prefer to go with NAD at a third less $. NAD is a vibrant, international company with a healthy sales and service network that will ensure you have support for many years.