Skip to main content

Hi-fi Corner: KEF’s stylish M400 give you bass with balance

kef m400 headphones kep manual
Image used with permission by copyright holder
KEF’s virgin venture into headphones, the M500, became one of our favorite pairs in their class, with plush comfort, elegant styling, and brilliant sonic performance. It would have been tough to top them, so when KEF decided to issue its latest effort, it didn’t even try. Instead, the company took a left turn, creating a lighter, sportier, more mobile offering dubbed the M400.

At $250, the M400 can be seen as a soft step down from their predecessor — the M500 run a cool $300 — but the headphones are more about attracting a different kind of listener than a more price-conscious one.

Recommended Videos

Related: Klipsch R6i earphones expand into snazzy new on-ears

Few (if any) headphone makers have escaped the mighty reach of Dr. Dre’s stylish (if overpriced) Beats brand cans, and KEF is no exception. Apart from being lighter and more compact, the new M400 are a little flashier than KEF’s first effort, especially when you trade the classic black cans for one of the three vivid color options, including Racing Blue, Sunset Orange, and Champagne White.

And style isn’t the only change for the M400. Although the 40mm drivers match up very similarly to the M500 on paper, there’s a fairly distinct change in sound signatures here as well. While the headphones keep the same balance we expect from KEF in the midrange and treble, the bass is definitely boosted here — enough to be thunderous when called upon, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preference. The headphones also lose just a touch of presence and clarity in the upper mids when compared to the M500.

That said, there are plenty of gorgeous moments to be enjoyed with the M400 — these are from KEF after all — providing balance, detail, and rich warmth at the center of the sound across a wide variety of genres.

Those looking for a smooth ride, modern styling, and a bit more bass than the M500 will definitely want to give KEF’s latest a try.

A version of this post first appeared on our “brother site” Digital Trends.

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is an audio engineer, musician, composer, and all-around lover of all things tech, audio, and cinema. Hailing…
Snag Yourself One of These Four Must-Have Cigar Sampler Packs for Just $20
Travel cigar ashtray and holder

If you've always wanted to start trying cigars, or even just expanding your horizons, then you may want to check out this special deal that we have going with Cigar Page. You can pick from four different samples from some of the best cigar brands on the market, many of them our top overall picks. That includes picks from Oliva, La Aurora, and Rocky Patel. With cigars rated up to 95, you're getting a lot of excellent quality here, although there is a limit of one sampler per customer. Even so, with discounts from as high as $112 down to just $20, it's well worth grabbing if you can.
SHOP NOW

The Manual's Must-Haves Cigars
The first sampler you can pick up is the Olivia. These folks are a pretty big staple of the cigar world and have been making cigars since the 1800s. The 10-cigar sampler usually goes for $97 and includes a nice selection from Connecticut Reserve Toro to Serie O Maduro Robusto. Another bundle from an old-school Cigar maker is the La Aurora pack, which comes with a lot of classic flavors like La Aurora Preferidos 1903 and La Aurora 115 Anniversario. The 10-pack usually goes for $105, so it's pretty high-end, but this deal knocks it down to $20, so it's perfect if you've been wanting to try it out.

Read more
Netflix is planning to continue investing in gaming, including new co-op games
The company has had games on its service since 2023.
Netflix logo on TV with red backlighting

Even as Netflix is raising prices on consumers, the company has also announced that it will be introducing couch co-op and party games for subscribers. The company has offered cloud gaming as a "beta" to a subset of its subscribers since 2023, and the move into co-op games suggests that the streamer will continue to invest in this area.

Co-CEO Greg Peters made the announcement as part of the company's Q4 earnings report, but he didn't detail what games might be available through this new platform. “We think of this as a successor to family board game night or an evolution of what the game show on TV used to be," he explained.

Read more
The best adventure movies: The films that keep you on the edge of your seat
These adventure movies will take you to new parts of the world
Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

The idea of an adventure movie is pretty specialized. These are movies that exist broadly within the world of action cinema, but they are just one small corner of that world. These movies typically involve exotic locations, traps, and tunnels. Sometimes, they're set in the jungle or the desert, and sometimes they're set on the high seas.

Personally, I'm partial to sea-faring movies, maybe in part because I have no desire to live my life on the water. In my own life, these movies have often represented a chance to understand the world, and to appreciate its vastness, splendor, and danger.

Read more