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Post by audiobill on Jul 15, 2017 19:21:21 GMT -5
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Post by Perpendicular on Jul 15, 2017 21:09:06 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing this. I've read all three reviews and are now ready to purchase. Now, where did I place my wallet?
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Post by garbulky on Jul 15, 2017 22:58:59 GMT -5
It looks like a really nice active bookshelf speaker. And it should...it's $11,000 ! That's in Raidho territory.
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Post by bluemeanies on Jul 16, 2017 9:47:07 GMT -5
If I were in the market for ACTIVE speakers I would certainly check these babies out! However I would miss my tube mono-blocks.
Accordingly if correct the sonics and soundstage from these speakers would be impressive in any room giving the dynamics of the speakers and the claims for its ability to preform giving what I preceive as a 360 degree sound.
Well worth the investment in my opinion.
Money is relative especially when you want quality in performance as well as value.
Thanks for posting this from the Gracedesign newsletter audiobill.
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Post by Perpendicular on Jul 16, 2017 10:29:49 GMT -5
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Post by Perpendicular on Jul 16, 2017 10:39:37 GMT -5
I've never wanted a speaker so bad in my life as I want this pair...NOW! LOL
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Post by Perpendicular on Jul 16, 2017 11:04:45 GMT -5
Here's an interesting up-close view with description on the design and how it functions.
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Post by mauriceminor on Jul 16, 2017 11:53:35 GMT -5
Siegfried Linkwitz reviewd the Kii Audio THREE in February 2017
www.linkwitzlab.com
Access: 'other designs' on his webpage
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DYohn
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 18,486
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Post by DYohn on Jul 16, 2017 12:10:53 GMT -5
Not my sort of thing (I dislike "head in a vise" small sweet spots) but I'd like to hear them.
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Post by bluemeanies on Jul 16, 2017 12:28:27 GMT -5
Here's an interesting up-close view with description on the design and how it functions. Very impressive...DSP design, each speaker has its own amplifier and DAC. LOW end to 20hz so no sub is needed. At $11,000 a very good investment |
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Post by teaman on Jul 16, 2017 12:39:33 GMT -5
Not my sort of thing (I dislike "head in a vise" small sweet spots) but I'd like to hear them. I'm with you on this one. |
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Post by audiobill on Jul 16, 2017 12:41:48 GMT -5
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Post by audiobill on Jul 16, 2017 12:50:46 GMT -5
Not my sort of thing (I dislike "head in a vise" small sweet spots) but I'd like to hear them. I'm with you on this one. I don't believe this has a small sweet spot, rather reflections are controlled through dsp. To each his own, but this may be the best speaker available.....and so does Siegfried Linkwitz: February 2017 - Today I had the opportunity to listen to the Kii 3 using some of my usual test and demo tracks. The location was a professional mixing studio room with very dry acoustics. I would estimate RT60 to be around 200 ms. The speakers were set up on metal stands in the middle of the large room, essentially in free-field conditions. Listening from the equilateral triangle sweet spot the speakers immediately impressed me with their smoothness, clarity and neutrality of timbre. The phantom image was precisely detailed. It had depth and width but little height. It was somewhat like listening to an acoustic scene through a window in a wall at the speaker distance, where the speaker separation and the speaker box height defined the window size. The sweet spot was tight and lateral movement of the head quickly pulled the phantom scene to the nearer speaker. But this was in a very dry and acoustically dead room. Listening from a greater distance and also off axis, the speakers preserved their neutrality, smoothness and clarity but the phantom window boundaries disappeared, making the acoustic scene realistic in the studio. The low end was tight and articulate, and extended quite deep. But the lowest notes could not quite keep up with the higher frequency range at very high volume levels. That is not surprising, given the physical limitations of the drivers and again the dry room. The whole experience made me aware again of the importance of the reverberant field in the listening room. For sure it has to be spectrally neutral, which the Kii 3 speakers guarantee to a high degree, because of their wide polar pattern. But the room also has to be sufficiently live so that the ear-brain-perceptual apparatus can draw confirming information from the reverberant field about the spatial data in the direct loudspeaker signals to support the phantom scene illusion. A dry room is apparently a useful work environment, but I normally do not experience sounds in such environment. I prefer a room with RT60 around 450 ms. The Kii 3 is an impressive speaker, technically and sound wise, in an extremely compact and versatile package. It probably gives the most accurate conversion of electrical input to a defined acoustic field output of any speaker I know of. For my taste, it needs a lively room and then I would cross it over at 80 Hz to a pair of large dipole subwoofers. Could that be the ultimate? |
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Post by mauriceminor on Jul 16, 2017 16:47:37 GMT -5
It looks like a really nice active bookshelf speaker. And it should...it's $11,000 ! That's in Raidho territory.
High praise for this design from Siegfried Linkwitz
For a fraction of the Kii Three's $11K price one can easily construct a pair of Linkwitz Lab LXmini's
My build was $748 including plans + license, speakers, MiniDSP, all tax and shipping costs I used an on sale UPA-500 power amp at $348 Total $1084, just 1/10 of the Kii's price
An earlier Linkwitz Lab Pluto build was $1604 with ASP and amplification
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Post by garbulky on Jul 16, 2017 17:33:26 GMT -5
Yeah I'm just saying $11,000 for a bookshelf setup.... Unless you are limited to bookshelf systems by space, I would much prefer a larger setup at that price. I've heard a lot of designers selling "magic" using "groundbreaking" electronic designs. Or they have some "amazing" physical design that no other speaker has. The result is not as groundbreaking as one might expect. At $11,000 it needs to compete against tried and tested high end units which offer some really good performance. And if I was spending 11 grand, I don't want to spend it on bookshelves. At say 3 to 5 grand, I'd be a lot more forgiving. For 12 grand you get this  You're telling me this speaker can compete with this kind of full range performance? Or this: Salk Soundscape 10  Or this: Legacy Focus XD  Vs this?  I don't know i I'd be that confident! |
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Post by mauriceminor on Jul 16, 2017 19:06:17 GMT -5
With all due respect ~
There are "designers selling magic" and there is Seigfreid Linkwitz
When time permits Google: Linkwitz - Riley crossover Many links to peruse if you wish
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Post by garbulky on Jul 17, 2017 4:13:32 GMT -5
With all due respect ~
There are "designers selling magic" and there is Seigfreid Linkwitz
When time permits Google: Linkwitz - Riley crossover Many links to peruse if you wish
I'm a big fan of Siegfreid! I like his LX 521 and hope to audition it someday. Now that's an example of a realistically priced speaker with hopefully great full range performance. |
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Post by Perpendicular on Jul 17, 2017 23:44:38 GMT -5
There is more than one purpose for these loudspeakers and if you took the time to read up on them, you would have learned something. They were not designed to compete with very large speakers in large spaces. They were designed to give recording studios a more exact copy of what is on a recording. Also, for home use. They were designed to sound as accurate as possible without taking up a lot of real estate. Plus, you do not need a subwoofer. Unless, you really have to have one...or two, etc. there's more but I'm too damn tired to type anymore.  |
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Post by bluemeanies on Jul 18, 2017 6:22:55 GMT -5
Not my sort of thing (I dislike "head in a vise" small sweet spots) but I'd like to hear them. I'm with you on this one. Don't see a small sweet spot with this speaker 🔊 since it's design is to give a 360 degree involvement, with no distortion close to to wall. With each speaker having its own amplifier and dac if anything I would think the exact opposite. Meaning a large sweet spot in a multi-seated room. |
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Post by bluemeanies on Jul 18, 2017 6:45:03 GMT -5
Yeah I'm just saying $11,000 for a bookshelf setup.... Unless you are limited to bookshelf systems by space, I would much prefer a larger setup at that price. I've heard a lot of designers selling "magic" using "groundbreaking" electronic designs. Or they have some "amazing" physical design that no other speaker has. The result is not as groundbreaking as one might expect. At $11,000 it needs to compete against tried and tested high end units which offer some really good performance. And if I was spending 11 grand, I don't want to spend it on bookshelves. At say 3 to 5 grand, I'd be a lot more forgiving. For 12 grand you get this You're telling me this speaker can compete with this kind of full range performance? Or this: Salk Soundscape 10 Or this: Legacy Focus XD Vs this? I don't know i I'd be that confident! Well Gar it's not always size that matters or the number of speakers. Also room configuration tells a lot with speaker performance. What's is in those speaker cabinets makes a difference. The speakers themselves and crossovers for instance. Certainly the KEF LS 50 is a small speaker with a big voice. I saw that little man perform in a huge room (I'm not talking bedroom) at the NY AUDIO SHOW when it first was introduced in the market power by a 6owatt tube amplifier and the sound filled the room with ease...tight on the bass I might add. Besides how can anyone make a negative judgement call on this speaker without listening to what the manufacturer and designer claims it can do. Not every audiophile or HT enthusiast has a large room. Most people are purchasing a home for their family, not a HT or for 2channel listening. My house is a twin...1200sq feet total. I took my my garage out which left me with a 33' length 18' wide room with 6' 4" ceiling and 7' 2" ceilings. Of course the room was after construction shorter and more narrow after allowing a laundry room and bathroom with some storage. In reality...I will be the first to admit it my 803diamonds are over kill for this room. My logic for purchasing them at the time was the thought that the Mrs and I might move in the near future. If that does not happen I might very well downsize. I certainly would consider the KII Just my opinion, my friend. |
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