Kii Three - my impressions and pro reviews

[patagent]

On 8/20/2017 at 5:23 AM, atletico said:

 

The Aries Femto usb to Kii Control is still my main source  but the turntable / RIAA also sound as good as ever direct into the XLR  in each speaker. As long as all sources are controlled by the Kii Controll (digital preamp) this is no problem at all.  No reason not to include the turntable if you using the Kii Three's... In my system also the vinyl sounds very impressive and after I got my resonance problems from the Kii stands exposed to my floor and to the pickup solved, I have even played  more vinyl than I have done for a long time.

 

However the next upgrade could maybe be the Aries G2. I'm looking forward to demo this new streamer.

 

I'm intrigued by the Kii but worried that it might not handle vinyl well.  Does your phonostage have a XLR output?  Are you connecting to the Kii XLR directly from the phonostage?  

[patagent]

6 hours ago, Kal Rubinson said:

I have not had Quads or Stax in my system in many years but I suspect the answer, theoretically, is yes.

 

Kal - how's Kii's soundstage compared to your reference B&W's?

[patagent]

Those who've made the switch to the Kii's, did you use any DSP in your prior setup?  Step response notwithstanding, I would think that if you take a very well engineered speaker (e.g., Revel F206/208) with solid drivers that has great off axis performance and extends fairly low,  take measurements at the listening position, and apply DRC, you could get a sound that is similar to the Kii's.

[patagent]

3 hours ago, simonp said:

The Kii DSP controls every driver seperatly, every driver has his own da converter and amp.  Don't think it will be easy on a Revel F206 with a seperate DSP. 

 

It won't be easy but Mitchco has a guide (here and an eBook) on how to set up your own digital crossovers to time align the drivers.  In any case, I think you can still get terrific results even without a perfect step response.

[patagent]

4 hours ago, Kal Rubinson said:

I am not so sure of that.  First, it presumes that the user's selection and application of DRC is excellent.  Second, currently all DRC applications are most effective in only a restricted position in the room while the Kii's approach directly minimizes the reflections/interactions that DRC attempts to correct.  

 

Kal - I recall from your review that the Dirac'd B&W sounded similar to the Kii's.  I believe you also noted that Kii had a larger sweet spot and soundstage.  Do you think these advantages are the direct result of Kii's own DSP approach over conventional DRC software?

[patagent]

4 hours ago, GUTB said:

The price seems very steep. For that price you can get a used pair of Raidho D1.1s. Will these actually compete with high end standmounts?

 

These sound like top notch floorstanders.  Absolutely worth the price IMO.  Haven’t heard the D1.1 but have heard D2.1.  Raidho have such unique sound signature so it’s hard to compare.  But I would probably take the Kii’s over the B&W 802D3.  The Kii’s are not for everyone.  My wife thought it sounded good but lacked “life” probably because she’s not used to flat FR and DSP.  

[patagent]

One concern I have of the Kii is that certain recordings that I enjoy on lesser speakers were somewhat difficult to enjoy on the Kii (I've seen some owners echo this sentiment).  Audiophile recordings were spectacular.  I suspect that this has to do with the monitoring aspects of the Kii although my exposure to Kii is very limited.