Kii Three - my impressions and pro reviews

[fpalm69]

Is the RCA to XLR cable/adapter known to be the correct configuration and tested?

Also the KII Control will have to set to XLR input by simply touching that input on the control.

[Dave71]

Just now, fpalm69 said:

Is the RCA to XLR cable/adapter known to be the correct configuration and tested?

Also the KII Control will have to set to XLR input by simply touching that input on the control.

Yes cable has been tested & is working with my DAC.

I have selected the XLR Input on the Kii control.

[Rubysea]

I'm not sure if you do not additionally have to set the anlaog switches on the KII back to the L and R position next to setting the XLR input to analog in the Kii Control. Did you do/ try that? I suppose it can't remain in the middle (digital) position, but I'm not 100% sure as I can't test it.

[Dave71]

13 minutes ago, Rubysea said:

I'm not sure if you do not additionally have to set the anlaog switches on the KII back to the L and R position next to setting the XLR input to analog in the Kii Control. Did you do/ try that? I suppose it can't remain in the middle (digital) position, but I'm not 100% sure as I can't test it.

Thanks @Rubysea I didn't need to change it when my DAC was connect, just worked. I'm sure the Kii control over rules any settings on the back of the speaker. As a test I have tried to move the switch to all 3 options, no change :(

[Dave71]

Manage to get sound out, but also get a buzzing noise & I have to crank the volume on the Yamaha to -30db and a min of 80 on the Kii control, which is way too high.

Buzzing.aac

[ragwo]

On 11/22/2021 at 9:41 PM, Dave71 said:

Manage to get sound out, but also get a buzzing noise & I have to crank the volume on the Yamaha to -30db and a min of 80 on the Kii control, which is way too high.

Buzzing.aac 141.52 kB · 13 downloads

Did you find a satisfying solution to your problem? 

[Dave71]

On 1/12/2022 at 11:13 PM, ragwo said:

Did you find a satisfying solution to your problem? 

No not at the moment 🤕 

I can only assume the output voltage converting RCA to XLR isn't high enough from the AV receiver. 

Would it be safe to boost the voltage, with a line in voltage booster?

 

I may have to look at purchasing a dedicated processor with balanced outputs, unless anyone has found a better solution?

 

I'm just using optical out from the Panasonic OLED to the Kii Control, until I can find a better solution.

 

I emailed Kii about WISA, but they have said

"The Kii Threes are not Wisa enabled. The reason why, is that the synchronization between the left and right speaker would not be as accurate as we want it to be"

[Kelly]

Too bad about WISA. I was wondering if/when that would be activated. I find it hard to believe they can’t make that work. 
 

I am running optical Toslink from my TV to the Kii Control and that is the extent of my home theater. Just curious, is your TV sending 2.0 signal from the TV to Control or is it stripping the L/R mains from surround sound?

[ragwo]

@Dave71

I believed WiSA was all about wireless high resolution home cinema. I thought the Kii/Control only had BT as wireless connection or is there an inactive wireless chip somewhere that can be activated with a firmware update? 

[Dave71]

11 hours ago, ragwo said:

@Dave71

I believed WiSA was all about wireless high resolution home cinema. I thought the Kii/Control only had BT as wireless connection or is there an inactive wireless chip somewhere that can be activated with a firmware update? 

I'm not sure tbh, I can only suggest emailing Kii, as I wouldn't want to speculate. 

[Kelly]

17 hours ago, ragwo said:

@Dave71

I believed WiSA was all about wireless high resolution home cinema. I thought the Kii/Control only had BT as wireless connection or is there an inactive wireless chip somewhere that can be activated with a firmware update? 

 

I don't remember it ever being advertised or on their website, but Kal made reference to it at the end of his Stereophile review: 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/kii-audio-three-loudspeaker-page-2

[Emlin]

1 minute ago, Kelly said:

 

I don't remember it ever being advertised or on their website, but Kal made reference to it at the end of his Stereophile review: 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/kii-audio-three-loudspeaker-page-2

It was part of the specs at launch, but then disappeared. Surely they've had enough time to get it to work by now!

[Emlin]

From the manual (see d):

 

Installation + Connector Panel
Power - The Kii THREE has no power switch. 
Simply plug the power cable into the IEC socket (f) and if no audio signal is present, 
the speaker will automatically go into standby mode. 
As soon as the input detects any audio signal (analog or digital) it will automatically power on. 
This can take up to 7 seconds. 
Here is an overview of the connector panel from left to right:
a) SERIAL NUMBER - This is the individual Serial No. for each speaker.
b) XLR INPUT - This is the single XLR Input connector which can be set to process analog or digital 
audio signals, depending on how the Select switch (c) is set.
c) SELECT SWITCH - this three position mini switch selects whether the XLR Input functions as an 
analog input for this individual speaker, or if either the right or left channel of the AES signal will be 
played by this speaker. 
d) P/R button - Pair (WISA source) / Reset, 
this button will be used for interaction with future Kii Audio products.

[fpalm69]

If you press the P/R button this will reset power and DSP functions.  Be careful as this reset may leave the volume at 100 and the next audio signal will blast you out of your chair.  Just be sure to adjust the volume back after a reset.

[Cazzesman]

Over on https://www.stereonet.com/au/ where I am a member, we have had a few Chord M-Scaler's come up for sale of late.   I was aware of them and have recently done some more research regarding what they bring to the table.

 

Are their any Kii 3 owners using the M-Scaler in their audio set up and if so A) How are you using it and B) What are you thoughts on it with the Kii's?

 

I did find this article......   https://signals.uk.com/blog/m-scaled-kiis/

 

I was under the impression that the Kii 3 internal DAC has sample rate limited to 24/192.  If that is right how does one get the fully available up-sampling from the Chord into the Kii 3.   Some blurbs state M Scaler extends its upscaling performance to 768kHz (from 96kHz input data)

 

If this is the case doesn't the DAC in the Kii 3 then just revert the 768 back to 192?

 

Any thoughts.

 

Regards Cazzesman

[Rubysea]

we touched this here before:

....Whatever you feed the Kii digitally gets resmpled to 93.75 kHz...even when using the Kii Control ("The Kii CONTROL offers three additional digital inputs for the Kii THREE: Coax SPDIF, Optical TOSLINK and USB (up to LPCM 24/384kHz or DSD64/128 on USB").

 

[Cazzesman]

Thanks Rubysea that answer one question.

 

Regards Cazzesman

[6o4o]

Hello guys

I also own a Kii Three system since 3 years. Got it 2 repaired so far and always took 1-2 months, but otherwise love my system!

Running an Elac DS-S101G with the Kii Control via SPDIF but I am really getting tired of the Elac, it's just a pain. I have to reset it about every day or it just stops playing music and restarts after few minutes. And the updates are non existent for this Roon Essential system from Elac. 

 

So my question: looking into buying a simple NUC and install Roon ROCK on it. It only has an USB output. Any of you think it would be a bad idea to connect it to the Kii Control? I read many things about ground noise, glitches etc and to have some fancy stuff in between, but as electrical engineer a digital stream is a digital stream as long it's not so much disturbed that it becomes corrupt. So I would guess it should work as good as my system now?

Any experience with that?

[firedog]

8 hours ago, 6o4o said:

Hello guys

I also own a Kii Three system since 3 years. Got it 2 repaired so far and always took 1-2 months, but otherwise love my system!

Running an Elac DS-S101G with the Kii Control via SPDIF but I am really getting tired of the Elac, it's just a pain. I have to reset it about every day or it just stops playing music and restarts after few minutes. And the updates are non existent for this Roon Essential system from Elac. 

 

So my question: looking into buying a simple NUC and install Roon ROCK on it. It only has an USB output. Any of you think it would be a bad idea to connect it to the Kii Control? I read many things about ground noise, glitches etc and to have some fancy stuff in between, but as electrical engineer a digital stream is a digital stream as long it's not so much disturbed that it becomes corrupt. So I would guess it should work as good as my system now?

Any experience with that?

I've connected a NUC to the Kii Control. I think it will be fine. The Kii isn't very sensitive to USB sources IME.

[Emlin]

16 minutes ago, firedog said:

I've connected a NUC to the Kii Control. I think it will be fine. The Kii isn't very sensitive to USB sources IME.

With Bruno Putzeys as the designer, I would suggest that it has no susceptibility whatsoever to any problems with any USB source that isn't totally broken.

[firedog]

48 minutes ago, Emlin said:

With Bruno Putzeys as the designer, I would suggest that it has no susceptibility whatsoever to any problems with any USB source that isn't totally broken.

I think you are probably right, I just don't want to make an absolute statement about it. I haven't found that the Kii Control needs any "help" to improve the sound of the USB input. 

[fpalm69]

I went through a lot of streamers and built two NUC/ROCKs.  For the money and simplicity the ROCK via USB to the control works great and is robust with easy updates. 

If you want more - optimize the system using something like REW to sweep the speaker/room and make adjustments with the Kii Control settings to get the best room response (all free).  Room treatments will help with the reverb time (thick carpets and overstuffed furniture is good).  Consider a either two 20Amp service outlets or a single 30Amp dedicated service (no fancy conditioners needed).  Lastly a well designed streamer like Innuos and Black Cat USB cables can improve SQ once you have everything else working and you like to sit in a dedicated sound room with low noise floor and listen carefully.  

 

So....Yes, NUC/ROCK via USB to the control will give you the 99% of the Kii Audio experience.  Diminishing return will soon follow but it is there if you want to pursue.  I did not even mention the BXT yet.

[fpalm69]

BXT will turn the Kii Three into a different experience.

[Mazza]

30 minutes ago, fpalm69 said:

 

If you want more - optimize the system using something like REW to sweep the speaker/room and make adjustments with the Kii Control settings to get the best room response (all free).  Room treatments will help with the reverb time (thick carpets and overstuffed furniture is good).  Consider a either two 20Amp service outlets or a single 30Amp dedicated service (no fancy conditioners needed).  Lastly a well designed streamer like Innuos and Black Cat USB cables can improve SQ once you have everything else working and you like to sit in a dedicated sound room with low noise floor and listen carefully.  

 

 + 1 to fpalm69.

 

Items that I found 'helped' are as follows

 

- I already had dedicated power supply to my Kii's but I do suffer from less than perfect supply to to the property; quite a high noise floor and +/-5% voltage swings, so I benefited hugely from using a mains conditioner

- The use of REW to set the room response profile using the Kii Control settings yielded great benefits too, particularly in the lower registers and is an easy gain

- change of USB cable was worthwhile [to me] but marginal

- change of control cables, I found did nothing

 

I hope the above helps

[simonp]

 

I have discussed this with Bruno, he estimates that with a nuc or standard source you get 90% out of the Kii. I think that percentage is lower. I've used several sources here and they all sound different. I'm using an OpticalRendu now.