I prefer the lo gain now after a few weeks......nice on the Loki ..I have one also
but took it out when I got the kinki..still looking at the kinki dac next
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Yes, I am using low gain, too. |
Hey Kinki owners. I'm at 200+ hours on my EX-M1 and loving it.
Was wondering which of you are using silver vs copper speaker cables.
I'm currently using Audio Magic Xstream speaker cables. These are a silver-over-copper conducter cable - a budget Audio Magic cable that I purchased about 16 years ago. I think I paid about $250 for them.
I want to upgrade the speaker cables. Was pretty set on auditioning the Signal Cable Silver Resolution Reference (silver), but then I noticed Nonoise' comments about getting better results with copper.
I have a bit of glare in the highs - worse on some recordings, less on others. I'm using a Schiit Modi multibit dac, and I assumed this was it. 'Busted out an old Rotel HDCD player (PCM63 - a good budget player) to A/B, and there was pretty much little difference in the glare. Maybe both the schiit and rotel cd both have this signature, but it makes me lean towards the cables as the potential cause. Maybe copper will help smooth that out. For what it's worth, a dac upgrade is planned soon as well.
I'll audition some copper cables too, but just wondering what you're using with your kinki today, and if you tried both copper and silver and what the results were.
My speakers: Bryston Mini T's - 4ohms, 85db.
Much appreciated if you can share your speaker cable setup/experiences with the Kinki. Maybe there's a trend there.
VeroGuy |
OK, I got a member, grannyring, to make me some Duelund speaker cables and jumpers, and they are inexpensive and lovely with the Kinki. I use them to drive KEF R900 speakers. |
Thanks, maritime. Are the Duelunds copper or silver? |
Hmm, I think they are plated copper. The cable is well known and regarded. I think it comes raw from Denmark. Look up granny, he can answer all your questions. He is a standup guy. He uses other cables, too, and may have a suggestion. If anything, the Rotel is likely not shrill. I have an rcd 1572, and had the legendary 990. |
If you’re hearing “glare” that’s more like a room interaction, not something that can be fixed with cables |
I disagree. I went from transparent music plus to Duelund, and the famous Kinki warmth appeared. |
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I guess I'm missing something. From their website, it looks like Duelund makes tinned copper, solid core copper and silver wire...
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I'm using copper...zu mission ... |
@veroguy
I don’t think the glare is coming from the cables. I’m personally using a Kinki dac and ex-m1, and I have 3 silver power cords in my system from Cabledyne (Virtuoso & Synergy). Interconnects are silver ribbons from MG Audio Design and speakers are the Spatial M4TMs.
If anything, I could do with an even brighter sound. Good quality silver cables don’t necessary add brightness. The Neutral Cable USB Reference is a solid core 7n silver usb cable, and it’s among the smoothest and most musical USB cables I’ve ever tried.
A glare could be due to the room accentuating certain frequencies, and shifting your speakers around may help with it. Try that first before spending on cables. |
@veroguy, that must have been an older post as I use silver for my speaker cabling and have for quite some time. Right now I'm using Cabledyne Silver Synergy SCs and they work really well. They are 12 GA stranded silver with a copper woven shield and terminated with gold BFA bananas.
Before that I used Tempo Electric SCs which are solid silver with oversized Teflon sleeving and bare ends. As much as I liked the Tempo Electric, the Cabledyne had better focus and tighter images, which sounds counter intuitive, but it is what it is.
I have no brightness or aggressiveness but the images are stark and revealing with great extension, which is how I like it. I could always use a more romantic presentation but it always ends up at the expense of detail, air, separation, timbre, etc.
All the best,
Nonoise |
Thanks @benlzy and @nonoise - very helpful.
My room is certainly not ideal. I'll play with moving the speakers around. I've liked the detail with my current silver cables, so I'll demo some as an upgrade.
With two weak links (dac and cables, well maybe 3 including the room), finding the ideal upgrade path is challenging for me. |
In May, I got rid of some twenty year old gear and bought a Rotel rc/rb 1590 preamp/amp combo and rcd 1572 CD player thinking I was done. Sadly, I read Nonoise’s Kinki review and wondered....
Several months later, with and without a switch between the amps, using all the Rotel gear, a Nuprime dac10, a nuprime cdt 8 pro, and KEF R 900 speakers, my subjective conclusions are:
1. The Kinki just sounds better or smoother, though not greatly so, and I can listen to the Kinki for hours without fatigue, since the Rotel gear seems to have a slightly sharp edge;
2. The little Schitt Loki (with the Kinki) works wonders for problematic source or room conditions;
3. Both brands have wonderful, wide soundstage but the Rotel combo has somewhat superior 3d placement; and,
4. The Kinki’s detail, under identical conditions, with identical sources, is much more noticeable.
So, I’ve made my decision. The Kinki will be my primary system, and Rotel secondary.
Some will be surprised at my very subjective conclusions in that I merely “prefer” the Kinki, but these things are hard to quantify. I thought the matter in equipoise until I realized the Kinki is pleasing for hours on end.
Sum: thanks a lot, Nonoise, as you cost She Who Must Be Obeyed a nicer Christmas. 🙀
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Oh, I should add that the Rotel gear has slightly superior bass power or impact, but it is slightly less controlled than the Kinki. |
One last post....
which xlr input is right and which which is Left? |
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Thanks. That’s what I’m using, so I can put the bifocals away. 👍 |
Sum: thanks a lot, Nonoise, as you cost She Who Must Be Obeyed a nicer Christmas.
Sacrifices have to be made on the audio altar. She'll understand. All the best, Nonoise |
Yes, she understands sacrifice. Mine. 🤧🤦🏼♂️ |
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OK, I pulled the trigger for the Kinki on Sunday. Got the tracking number from Mike on Wednesday and it's scheduled to be to my door on Monday. Super excited! Wish DHL was delivering tomorrow, but considering it shipped from HK that's crazy fast! |
You will love it. Speakers? Sources? Cables? |
Currently using the following:
Zu Audio Soul Superfly mk. 1B
Basis 1400 turntable w/ ortofon 2m bronze
Jolida JD9 phono pre
w/
upgraded clarity caps, op amps, and NOS tubes
Cambridge Audio CXN streamer/DAC my cd collection is FLAC ripped lossless onto a NAS and I use TIDAL as well
All cabling(power, ic, speaker) is zu audio mission
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Just got a Schitt Loki mini for mine!
How you connect the
Schitt
to your
Kinki
? |
Between the source, a bluesound node 2, and an analog input. |
If they add a tape loop after the source selector will be very nice!
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Apparently, you can pay for modifications. |
Maritime - for your comparisons did you use the Rotel integrated and cd combo vs the Kinki/Nuprime Dac/Nuprime cd transport?
.....or did you use the Nuprime front end with both the Rotel and Kinki for your comparison? |
I have Rotel RC and RB 1590 and the RCD 1572. I tried every combination I could think of-the Rotel gear is great, but overall, Kinki just gets you more involved in the music and the illusion! |
I'll be auditioning the Kinki next weekend. I've got JBL 4365's with Audio Note Kits Mentor preamp and locally made Hypex NC500 Class D mono blocks. While the Class D does a lot i like (bags of power, fantastic bass and midrange), I don't like the top end. It's thin and bright. So what this does is make average recordings unlistenable.
I'm also having twins and want to simply my system as i won't have a lot of time to listen critically for a while to come.
I also have a Kuzma Stabi Reference 2 turntable, RCM Sensor 2 phono stage and Audio Note Kits DAC 5.1.
@d2girls, how does it sound with your JBL 4367's? |
I have had my Kinki EX-M1 for a little over a year and love it. I am using it with the LUMIN D2 streamer w Tidal, a Yamaha CD-S2100 SACD player, PSB Imagine T3 speakers, Oyaide Black Mamba power cords and Morrow level 6 interconnects and speaker cables throughout. These components are complimentary and play as well together as any I have ever had in a system. I thank Nonoise, maritime52 and all others who called out the EX-M1. It is an absolutely fantastic integrated. I am listening to Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum as I type and cannot get over how good this sounds, and how much I am hearing that I just have not caught with other amplifiers. Thank you again everyone for bringing this integrated to everyone’s attention. |
