Kinki Studio EX-M1


I’ve always wanted something simple and not a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to my stereo. KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is something I use in my approach to most things in life. Why overcomplicate? The Kinki EX-M1 is just an integrated, and that’s not meant as a pejorative. There’s no DAC or streaming capabilities, or room correction algorithms built in, and it won’t fold you laundry. There are 4 inputs out back, three unbalanced (RCA) and one balanced (XLR) which I’ve read is a simple and not a true balanced. Either way, it adds another type of input which can come in handy. The binding post are copies of WBT versions and are a joy to work with.

It has a frequency response of 10-150kHz (+/- 3db) and outputs 215W into 8ohms. It retails for approx. $2,200. Here is a link to more specs:
https://www.vinshineaudio.com/product-page/kinki-studio-ex-m1

Because of it’s silvery finish it has an imposing appearance but compared to my black Marantz PM-15S2b, it’s about the same size. Personally, I love the look. When they say it’s built like a vault, this is the vault they refer to. The weight is imposing as well (55.12 lbs.) so take care when maneuvering it. You can turn it on with the remote or by pressing in the selector knob on the left. Turning it off is done by pressing and holding the same knob for 5 seconds, or by remote. The default volume setting when turned on is set at 10 so make sure to turn it down to 0 before playing anything unless your speakers are of low sensitivity. A well made manual is supplied but alas, it’s only in Chinese, but Alvin told me they’re making one in English.

Having 255 steps of attenuation gives one extraordinary range to get to exactly where you like to listen. You can go up 10 to 15 steps and not notice much of a change, at first, until something dynamic asserts itself or when you realize that in general, it’s now more impactful. Using the remote allows you to quickly go through the steps and adjust on the fly. I find this most handy and now use it to tailor the song or piece of music to my tastes.

As an integrated, it simply excels in it’s purpose. As verbose as I can tend to be, it leaves me speechless in describing it. It does nothing to detract. It does everything to commend. It’s incredibly fast and yet so utterly smooth. Musical presence is immediate but not etched, hyped or shrill. It’s light on it’s feet but can pounce and stomp when called for.

Liu, the amp’s designer, does not believe in exaggerated base and yet this amp goes lower, tighter and simply growls tone, details and ambience that I haven’t heard before. Lower registers of the piano left me slack jawed as I basked in the reverberations of the soundboard. The same goes for cello, guitar, percussion and massed strings. Imaging is the best I’ve heard in my system. Nothing wavers (unless done in post production) and separation is tops. With The Milk Carton Kids, the two of them finally are completely separated and at a greater distance apart than what I’ve been used to or thought they’d be. Small chamber music pieces have me scanning the soundstage as different pieces play distinctly in their own space. Back up vocals are distinct as well with no smearing. They may harmonize but they are clearly different.

Highs are fully extended, again, beyond what I’m accustomed to hearing. They can go on well into a piece and you can hear the decay even when some bigger play takes center stage. Bells and chimes can tickle like the real thing. And speaking of stage, it’s of one piece, the same no matter where you care to go. All the way left, right, up or down, even as far back as you care to look. The strength of the music lies everywhere you care to listen. The only limits are what was done in the recording.

It has no noise floor that I can detect. On Abdullah Ibrahim’s The Song Is My Story, he’s not up on stage, as usual, but I’m sitting next to him while he plays (I listen in the near field so that helps). The piano is the full width of the soundstage, steady as a rock, and the notes flow out around, up, and beneath me (great mike placement). Notes can and do come out of a completely black background unless the recording is done with less tricks and then you easily hear the venue, the room, the stage, the setting. And, I never thought I’d say this but FM now sounds pretty fantastic, considering it’s limits.

The sound is so pure that it’s reoriented the way I listen to music. I no longer listen analytically but for the sheer pleasure. It’s so rewarding and relaxing. Listening to favorites, I’ve noticed that some sound different enough for me to notice that there was some exaggeration or emphasis of certain parts of the frequency with my older set up. Whether it was the house sound that some say certain brands have or just the limits of the design I can’t rightly say. Maybe it’s all the extra circuitry added to accommodate all the extra features I have no use for. No matter. I’m content. Happy as a puppy with two pee pees.

Also, I have to give thanks to Alvin for his great customer service. He’s the most attentive distributor I’ve dealt with. His response to any question I had were immediate and thorough, as long as one is mindful of the time differences (just check your clock on your smartphone to coordinate appropriate time zones). 👍 He even followed up with shipping notices, delivery times, and any question I had with the unit’s operation or features, which reminds me, since it draws about 30-40 watts when on, make sure to leave it in standby when not is use. It can get very warm to kind of hot, but not hot enough for me to lay my hand on it for any length of time. If I had more space it wouldn’t be a concern (it cools off quickly). That leads me to believe that maybe since my JBL 4319 monitors are 92db, and that it doesn’t take much to make them sing, that the EX-M1, which is a Class A/B design, operates in Class A for the first several watts, which could account for the warmth of the unit along with the wonderful tonal density and texture. Someone with more know how can look into that.

All in all, it’s the best money I’ve spent and now I have no desire to upgrade to some PC based system. My CDs and SACDs sound fantastic, even the old ones along with the reissues. To think you’re getting a real taste of what the well heeled have been enjoying for a fraction of the price makes this a true bargain if there ever was one. Let me also add that I received no consideration from the manufacturer or distributor and these are my views and opinions.

All the best,
Nonoise






128x128nonoise
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Nonoise, you haven’t commented lately. I’m not hearing any changes, but I love what I’ve got at 200 hours or so. 
Don't know how many hours as I don't try to keep up with them, but the sound is more coherent, highs are smoother and sweet,  midrange is seamless,  and finally bass is tight,deep, tuneful and fast.
I had that from the start though mid range got sweeter, quickly. Maybe hydrogenerated electrons act faster. 🙀
Will we ever see your review?

here is mine: lovely, one box solution. 
What else can I say except that I thoroughly enjoy the Kinki EX-M1 and though it keeps getting better, one way now, another way later, I just take it all for granted now. 

I'll put in a favorite CD and sit back to take it all in and remark to myself: wow, that's new. That about sums it up. It's still not fully matured but at this point, who cares? 😄 It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised.

All the best,
Nonoise
All notes are written, just have to get my lazy butt up and type it. Also have pictures to take.  Plus giving it as much time as possible to see if any of my thoughts are changed. 
Best of Sabbath, streaming from tidal M.
I don’t have a  MQA Dac but my Bryston  BDA2 is doing ok with it. At 150 on the volume for the past hour and a half. Little heat, hearing no strain or congestion and on some tracks it’s the best Bass guitar I have heard in my system. Geezer’s tuning of his bass has never been so spotlighted in my system as with the Kinki. On many tracks the separation of the entire band is truly exceptional. Though I have niggled a bit about tube colour in the past ...this amp has really come into its own and has left them in the dust with speed, separation and detail. It also doesn’t become bright when pushed where my much lower powered 300b and el 34 based amps always did. I did have a Nuprime IDA16 in my system recently and I have to say it was more detailed but didn’t have the natural separation and tone thing as down as the Kinki. Pretty special amp at the price. I’m lovin it. Back to Children of the Grave
The early remotes may have been black. I bought a spare and was delighted that silver showed up.
We ship the remote control in Silver color now, it's the default option. Anyone actually prefers Black color remote control?

Or rather, Black chassis?  😀

Rgds,
Alvin @ Vinshine Audio
Yes, indeed, I’d have bought black but my God this thing sounds good. Welcome coldears.

The best thing about the amp is Alvin, a truly great guy and audiophile. 
After having a black Marantz integrated all these years I was happy to get a silver Kinki EX-M1. But, to imagine how it would look in black.....

@coldears,
Good to hear your impressions on the Kinki. I totally agree with you on it's ability to separate and distinguish each and every piece of gear that's played stage. 

No strange artifacts, affectations, or coloring to be heard. This reminds me of another thread where the OP was looking for "rich timbre" and how to get it. Just get the Kinki and fait accompli. 

Each and every listening reveals details, nuances and clues that complete the image of what is being played. Realism is now a given.
The only thing left is to prepare yourself for a great time listening. 😄

All the best,
Nonoise
all my gears are black. Indeed a black chassis/remote will be an excellent option to have.
If I had the space, I would. That, and I'm not sure if using SPDIF out from my Marantz SA-S2b would sound any better than just using it as is. What I hear is rather sublime, again, as is. 

All the best,
Nonoise
Sorry, that should be "my Marantz SA-15S2b".
One shouldn't type while watching TV.

All the best,
Nonoise
@ debjit, you mean surprisingly, I was not aware there were color choices for the remote. I had no idea until you said something. We will be offering some cables at a discount for any of the kinki buyers. For the best possible value I can offer 5 foot power cords which were Verastarrs most well known cable the Silver reference for only $250. its 10AWG Silver plated copper inPTFE (Teflon) insulation and then braided over. All our round  wire was slow cryo treated just like the AudioFoils are right now. I am considering a limited release of the Grand Illusion power cord which is a breakthrough price vs performance power cord made from flat copper foil at a reduced cost as well. I would be aiming for roughly $800 for a cable that has won awards at $1800. more on this later, but for the $250 you will have a cable that either outperforms or costs less for the same performance than the names you mentioned above  in the $500 territory.

all the best !
So much high end gear sounds great with good recordings where most of the music I love simply doesn’t fall into the category. The Kinki has a unique gift of finding the best in these recordings. Of course they don’t sound as good but still remain enjoyable. This in my opinion makes this amp quite special. Some might say it is sugar coating but the detail the Kinki produces somehow contradicts this. Maritime51, nails it. 
Recently, I was fortunate enough to try a whole bunch of different RCA and XLR cables for the Kinki combo. Though the amp is of a SE design, there was a particular XLR cable that matched up well in the system and I went with that.

However, I’m getting more ’hiss’ from my tweeters than I did with an RCA connection, with RCA being almost dead silent even at high gain/max volume (no music playing). Anyone else using XLR cables and noticed this as well?

PS: The hiss isn’t audible from the listening position, and it’s overall still a very quiet amp.
I used a very inexpensive blue jeans xlr with my Kinki and a CD player and loved it. I didn’t find any difference in noise level but I did get more detail with a far more expensive rca from Transparent, which I bought before the Kinki. So, I use that now. Keep in mind I have very little HF hearing.
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@Benlzy, after looking at interior photos of the amp, and specifically at the vertically oriented printed circuit board that is adjacent to the input connectors at the rear, I’m guessing that the XLR input is received single-ended. Meaning that one of the two signals in the balanced pair of input signals is ignored.

If so, the presence or absence and the degree of hiss that might result would depend to a large extent on the happenstance of the design of the component providing the signals.

Do you notice a significant volume increase when using the XLR input compared to the RCA inputs, for a given setting of the volume control? If not, it would add credence to my hypothesis.

Regards,
-- Al
I noticed no volume increase and I think the 6 moons guy said it is not a true or fully balanced design. 
@d2girls, 
Wow, to think you can get your hands on the JBL 4367 makes me wish I were richer and had the space to accommodate those speakers. 

As to the compatibility, I don't see any problems. The Kinki will have excellent control over the woofer (the same one used in the K2) and should satisfy any kind of base you care to throw at it. I'm surmising this since the pairing works so well with my 4319 monitors.

As for the dual purpose upper range horn driver (it being a two way design), I can see you going through a bunch of different interconnects to get at the sound you want. That driver will be an honest and relentless purveyor of sound that may get too bright or edgy for you, and again, maybe not.

I say this as I went through a bit of a learning curve with my JBLs, and they don't use horns. Until I got the top line Darwin Truth II ICs, there's one singer I listen to that has so much power in her delivery that due to the way she's recorded, her  higher range manifests SPLs that have too much presence compared to the rest of the range and kinda grates on the ears. Going to the Truth II ICs completely tamed it. All other ICs that I have had that bite to them, so pairing is important.

The folks at Music Direct are a great bunch to talk to and maybe giving Mike Powell a call could be of help. Also, if you're inclined, writing Alvin or maybe even Srajan at 6moons with your questions could be of help. JBLs are very big in the East so I'd imagine the JBLs in question have already been tried with the Kinki.

All the best,
Nonoise
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Yes, designs come and go, are further improved only to be again, further improved, and I'm still in the Class A/B camp.
You may may as well buy the cr2026 batteries now, so you can
enjoy the remote!  

is cr2026 battery the right one ? I don't see anybody selling them.
You can also use CR2025 and sometimes a CR2032. For a remote, I don't think it would matter much.

I got a 4 pack from some online battery store when purchasing a mini flashlight.

All the best,
Nonoise
I think it might be cr2025, you can find them anywhere that sells those coin sized watch batteries
All this guessing seemed silly so I popped open my remote control, inside was a panasonic cr2032

here's a picture https://imgur.com/a/35s3urT


Seems like the 2016 and 2025 are also compatible, but the 2032 will last longer because it's thicker and has more battery chemicals inside.  

" The CR2016, CR2025, and CR2032 cell batteries all have the same voltage. The diameter of each battery is the same, at 20 millimeters. However, the CR2016 is 1.6 millimeters thick, while the CR2032 is twice as thick, at 3.2 millimeters. The CR2025 measures 2.5 millimeters in thickness. The size differences allow the CR2032 to hold more lithium-based chemicals and provide 240 milliamps. The CR2016 can hold up to 90 milliamps, while the CR2025 can hold up to 160 milliamps."
Thanks guys. Yes, cr2025 and cr2032 are compatible whenever it fits but cr2026, if one exist, is not something that is generally available. 

@maritime51 my remote is silver. My amp was delivered today. Build quality of the amp and remote is top notch.
Nonoise, when the drought is on us, we say, “If it is yellow, let it mellow, but if brown, flush it down.”

deb, the early ones were black!  

Yes, it is all first rate and the sound is lovely. 
@almarg

Now that you mentioned it, I was expecting a huge increase in volume after swapping to XLR, but that wasn’t the case. It was however, still louder than RCA at the same volume indicator. Just an example, Ed Sheeran’s Divide plays loud at 5 on XLR, whereas on RCA, 6-7 is comparable to 5. Might just be a difference in cables; not truly accurate unless I use cables of the same make.

On high gain, increasing the volume to 40ish is enough to generate audible hiss from my listening position, without music playing. There aren’t any albums that requires listening at 40+ range at high gain, maybe perhaps O-Zone Percussion Group or the likes, when you just want to enjoy the high dynamic contrast of your system. But hearing this hiss is startling, because on RCA connection I’ve increased it to 255 with minimal hiss.

Kinda bugs me that the Dac-1 is of a balanced design while the amp isn’t. I’ve also noticed that when I’m increasing or decreasing volume by holding down the volume button, I’m getting pops from the speakers, usually after increments of 4-5 (apart from the resistor clicks). Should I be worried?
I've learned to expect the "resistor clicks" and no they are not harmful.  My BHK and W4S preamps that use resistor based volume controls do the same thing.  I am also running XLR cables from the Directstream Sr. to the Kinki and noticed the his for the first time tonight with the high gain setting but as I was playing a "remastered" Fleetwood Mac concert from the early 70's that could have been tape his from the recording medium used at the time.  Don't remember ever hearing the his before.
Hmm, I’m fine with the resistor clicks; was referring to pop sounds from the speakers. Like when you first start up and there’s a loud pop, that sort of thing. Since you’re also on XLR and using high gain, can you try turning the volume up without playing any music, and see whether the hissing from the tweeters gets more audible?
I am connected via XLR from the Dac to the Kinki and don't hear any hiss just like how a good quality solid state amp should sound. Though I hear clicks when turning the volume up/down but I think its normal as it does with other preamps I have had in the past. Its possible that the upstream component could contribute to the hiss.
No pops or other sounds through the speakers ever.  I suspect your noise is either upstream or current delivery based.  What are the other components in your chain from the wall to the speakers?
Aside from the pleasantly soft clicking of the volume, my Kinki is dead silent. I had a Burson with a stepped attenuator that wracked my speakers while changing volume to the point where it sounded like the drivers were ripping apart, when a source was playing. Truth be told, I kinda like the soft clicking of the volume changes.

All the best,
Nonoise
My source is a sotm sms200 neo into a sotm txusb ultra, which feeds the usb signal to my Kinki dac-1. The sms200 is powered by the uptone lps1.2, and the txusb is powered by a custom lps, fitted with an in line digital filter.

The Kinki dac-1, ex-m1 and custom lps are powered by a 2500W power conditioner. The sms200 and network switch are powered by lps1.2 and lps1, on a separate distributor.

I highly doubt it's noise as there wasn't any previously. Let me contact Alvin and see if he's free to pop in for a listen.
Well, deduced that it isn't the amp's fault. When the amp is switched on and everything else is off, dead silent. Once the dac is turned on, the popping starts (when I toggle volume). A lot more noticeable on XLR, less so on RCA. This is without my source (sms200) being connected. Alvin's checking with the Kinki chief on the issue (sent him a couple of recorded videos). Despite everything, I still think it's a stellar product if judged solely on sound quality. 
I’ve also noticed that when I’m increasing or decreasing volume by holding down the volume button, I’m getting pops from the speakers, usually after increments of 4-5 (apart from the resistor clicks). Should I be worried

@benlzy, the only suggestion I have at this point is that if you are running the display in bright mode, try dimming it and seeing if that helps.

It sounds like when you hold down the volume buttons on the remote either the relays which select the positions on the resistor ladder that determine volume, or the microprocessor circuitry which controls the relays, or the volume display circuitry on the front panel, are injecting noise into other circuitry (apparently in the DAC, based on your latest post) which is then amplified and producing the pops.

I have no way of knowing if that is inherent in the design or represents a defect.

Also, as a point of information, the "resistor clicks" are produced by the relays, which are electro-mechanical devices.

Regards,
-- Al
I can’t get to mine right now, but I don’t recall any noise other than what I believe to be mechanical in origin.