So what ever happened to Kinki Studio???


Wasn't Kinki Studio all the rage when they first came on the US scene with a quasi-US Distributor?  It seemed like there was no shortage of positive feedback and people who either owned one and were blown away or people who wanted one and couldn't stop posting about them.

Now that there is a new Distributor, why so quiet? Where did all the hype go?
dznutz
Hi @jackd , how did you go with the ex M7 ? The sound is great but with a small hiccup , for some reason when playing some low frequency at higher volumes seems to cause DC spikes tripping the speaker protection , Kinki sent me a new control board to raise the DC threshold made it better but still not 100 percent . 
@demoiree 

I have been using mine with the Supratek Chardonnay and the only issue I had with it going into fault mode was with the 5AS4 fast start-up rectifier as opposed to Mick's recommendation of the 5AR4 whose slow start up doesn't cause the EX-M7 issues.  Other than that I haven't had any problems and I don't really push the combination much past the mid-80's db mark.  I checked with Mick at Supratek before I bought the EX-M7 to see if I could expect any problems and even though he is not a fan of direct coupled amps he assured me there would be no DC problems.  I also have a PS Audio BHK preamp and a fully upgraded Sonic Frontier Line 2 SE+ but I haven't tried them with it yet.  Both are fully balanced so not expecting a problem but you never no until you try. 
@jackd 

Great to hear that you having some great results driving it with the supratek tube preamp ! From memory supratek are OTL coupled right ? 

I guess this issue is only noticeable when driving low sensitivity speakers( mine are ATC scm40 85db) as you will need to really crank up the gain to get loud . 






Correct the Supratek's are transformer coupled and fully balanced. I think the lowest efficiency speaker I have in my stable is the Fritz Carrera Be but it is an easy load.
@jackd 
how does the Kinki pair with the Fritz Carrera BE?  What other amps have you used with the Fritz Carrera BE’s and which was your favorite?

I was close to pulling the Trigger on a Kinki but other financial responsibilities came up.  Still curious though as I’m keeping the Carreras forever and have wanted a Kinki for awhile...