Modwright KWI200 vs Kinki Studio EX-M1+

Kudos on your speakers selection! It seems you have discovered the Variety Prinicple in seeking joy in audio through a variety of expressions. Deciding to diversify in expression of technology was a key factor in finding a greater level of satisfaction as an audiophile.

I do not know if you saw my review of the EX-M1+ at Dagogo.com, but rolling in discrete opamps is a bonus. I will be exploring a new brand of them and will at some point have an update/addendum in regards to opamps. Opamps are cheap relatively, and you can buy a set of them from $100-200 ish. If you are hyper excited by novelty and new rigs, rolling in several different sets of opamps would be like an audio drug; it is exhilarating! There would be a LOT of iterations available to you, especially with those speakers to rotate. I would find that to be a big draw in terms of my thirst to explore new rigs. Most do not have the zeal to continuously build new rigs, but if you do, that would be a variable to provide a lot of fun, and at not too much cost for a few sets. See my other articles on opamp rolling at Dagogo.com.

If you go with the EX-M1+ (I cannot give guidance in comparison to the Modwright, because I have not heard/compared it), then certainly consider upgrading the opamps. There is plenty of discussion about it on the Net, too.

@douglas_schroeder,

I read your OP Amp reviews in Dagogo and thought you were very thorough and it was quite interesting.  My problem is if you have to swap out OP Amps to make a product sound better, why didn’t the manufacturer do it?  Is it laziness on the manufacturers part or does it boil down to cost?  I would be quite annoyed if I had to swap the OP Amps of a highly reviewed product to make it sound good. 

I get it that with tube equipment,  swapping the tubes can change the sound as I have done it many times.  That is because the better sounding tubes are much more expensive. Is that the same as the OP Amps?

Thanks for all the responses.  Yes I have read the opamp articles.  Good and interesting information.  This Kinki IA really does not need an opamp upgrade but there are improvements if you do so.  Just like everything else in this hobby there is always a tweak out there.  For everything.  Some audible others not so.

Just sharing a friend's experience .... he bought a Kinki EX-M1+ and had very high hopes for the amp. He felt that the amp was 'voiced' in a specific way to increase loudness and certain frequency ranges seemed hyped up. He was using the amp with Harbeth M30.2. I believe he has already sold it and moved on to Hegel (don't know which model).

Again, this is not from personal experience. Just relaying based on feedback from my friend.

@arafiq 

I own an M1, M1+ and the M7 stereo amp and over the last 2 years have used them with speakers from Verity, Nola, Spatial, Reynaud, Fritz, Odyssey, Wharfedale and Harbeth.  I have not found your friend's characterization to be true with any of them including the Harbeth.  Was the Harbeth pairing great maybe not but that is more the Harbeth's voicing than the Kinki's to me. The similarly voiced Wharfedale however was a very good match.  As Alan now uses Hegel in his lab the fact that it may be a better pairing than the Kinki would not be a surprise. My Audia Flight integrated was also a better pairing with the Harbeth's and it is voiced to the warmer side like Luxman and Hegel. 

As to the op amp rolling Doug referred to it is there if you feel so inclined just like with the input boards for many of the NC500 based amps but it is fine just as it is but if you want to explore a different flavor you are free to do so.