Kii Three speaker

Anyone tried the Kii Three powered, DSP speaker?

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There are next to none actually out there. After the initial announcement they were so heavily ordered that Kii hasnā€™t really gotten them to dealers yet. I just corresponded with the British distributor and he said they expect to have a pair for audition in 2-3 months. Till then, even they donā€™t have any in stock.

You are right there are not many sets out there, but I am playing with them since last December, and I know 2 others who are also playing Roon/Kii combinations. Also, almost all presentations of the Kiiā€™s are a Macbook Roon - usb to AES converter - Kii setup.

What exactly do you want to know? Iā€™m happy to report regarding these fantastic speakers.

What do they sound like? Anything you donā€™t like?

Volume control in Roon?

They sound great, like a tall floorstander but with better, deeper and very tight bass. Everything you regarding them is true- only thing I do not like is that they are very revealing with '80s digital recordings.These sound a tad to harsch to my ears.

Kii has decided to roll out in accordance with their production capabilities. Quite a lot of their backlog in NL, B and Germany is now fulfilled - their production capacity is expanded end of March so now they are ready for other countries like UK.

I did have a set 2-3 times as costly - Roon was for me the trigger to search for another streamer. With the publicity of Kii I decided to sell my whole Wilson Benesch Trinity-Torus; Audionet DNP-EPX-Amp - Nordost set and go for the Kii with the forthcoming Sonore Microrendu + Kii control.

Btw: the Kiiā€™s are great with films too, very explosive sound when needed

Yep for now volume control in Roon - Roon playing on a Nuc via Wasapi direct mode to a SOTM USB- AEX hub to the Kiiā€™s. When the Kii control is out somewhere in may; Iā€™ll go over to Roon server in Linux mode; Sonore Micro Rendu on Kii control, with volume control on the Kii Control

Just auditioned these and decided to sell my present system and buy them. Will be using them with Roon/HQP to a microRendu (Iā€™m also getting the Kii Control, so I have USB input and remote volume).

I can imagine there are those that wouldnā€™t like the sound (the are revealing) - but I canā€™t imagine any system anywhere near them in price that could sound as good. My present amp, DAC, and speakers sold new for more than the Kii, and arenā€™t nearly as good.

Yes, these are on my radar for after our house refurbishment during the summer.
What was it you have moved on from?

Do let us know how you get on with them, how they manage room position with their DSP etc?

best of luck with them.

.sjb

When Bruno first mentioned them to me, they sounded the most exciting product for years and they havenā€™t disappointed , the new Kii ā€˜controlā€™ is really good and adds functionality over and above the speakers own controls.
We sell them so I am hugely biased but they are without a doubt my favourite loudspeakers, although if you have the cash Bang & Olufsens Beolab 90ā€™s share technology with the Kiiā€™s.
Keith

I just checked the price! :ambulance:

.sjb

I hear what you are saying, the Kiiā€™s are one sixth the price, but the Beolabs are spectacular they ā€˜control directivityā€™ down to 60Hz, and when you hear them the room is almost totally taken out of the equation, especially when you consider that they also have built in EQ for the frequencies,/standing waves they canā€™t control.
Probably the finest loudspeakers you can buy at the moment.
Keith

Out of curiosity what technology do they share (presumably thatā€™s exclusive)?

I believe the amps, which were designed by the Kii guys and are sold to several others. Bel Canto?

These are recollections from articles I have skimmed, I may be very wrong.

Where are you located?

They both use ā€˜spareā€™ drivers to create their controlled directivity, cancelling off-axis response and creating a perfect cardioid response, as a result the effects of the room are largely removed, as a result everything is just sharper with better resolution, 2 Anders Bruno is the speakers designer and the Kiiā€™s use his NCore designs 6 amps,DACs,ADCs per speaker.
We are PuritƩ Audio based in London.
Keith

Welcome to the Roon forum Keith, good to see you here. From other fora I know you are a great proponent for Roon.

I may be in contact towards the end of the year to see if the Kii Three can replace my Naim pre/powe/speaker system. Going on current costs they shouldnā€™t but now with Roon taking over my listening rooms Iā€™m looking at all options.

.sjb

Highly likely B&O use their own amps, ICE, and not competing tech from Bruno/Kii

Of course, stupid of me. They compete directly: Bel Canto used to be based on B&O ICE and recently switched to nCore.

Iā€™ve had mine for a couple of weeks now and am very happy with them.

The Kiiā€™s do pretty much take the room out of the listening equation. That, and the perfect time alignment of the various drivers, results in a sound unlike other speakers youā€™ve heard.

Thereā€™s an incredible clarity. You can hear every detail - even a soft one - during a loud passage overall. But it doesnā€™t sound forced.

Some people will react to them by saying they lack warmth. I think what they actually lack is the ā€œupper bass-midrange fuzzā€ that pretty much every conventional setup generates, by itā€™s very nature. Itā€™s a kind of distortion that most of us have come to associate with ā€œwarmthā€ and ā€œtoneā€. Downside: since they are so revealing, they also reveal which of your recordings arenā€™t so good.

I listen in a small room, and I can play a piece like Mahlerā€™s 6th symphony at high volume - without room effects. I get good soundstage and depth, even in my small space. Dynamics come close to the real thing. Startling, really.
I donā€™t think any other system could do this in my space.

Bass response (I measured) is down to 20hz with a small rolloff below 40 hz. These are small speakers in the end, so although they give noticeable deep bass, they wonā€™t physically move you like a 15 inch high powered sub will. But you can hear details of your favorite bassistā€™s playing that you never knew were there before.

Could you get a conventional setup that will beat them? In a small to medium sized space it would be very difficult. If you have a very large room or double high ceilings, they might not have the room filling power youā€™d want.

But in more normal size spaces, and in any real life space that isnā€™t a dedicated listening room - I think you might get something more or less their equal for 2-3 times the price. Speakers and a sub or two, DAC and amplification.

You might, for say $15k or more, get speakers with a little more extended top end. (The Kiiā€™s are very good, but probably there are a few very expensive systems with a little better high end extension and decay). With subs you could get the low bass. But you still wouldnā€™t have that incredible clarity brought about by the combo of driver time alignment and lack of room reflections that the Kiiā€™s have. Spend more money on a DSP system like DEQX that compensates for drivers that arenā€™t time aligned and room reflections, and youā€™d have something sort of comparable. Every system has itā€™s tradeoffs. Decide what compromise makes the most sense for you.

BTW, Iā€™m using the Kii Control, and it works great with Roon and a RoonReady device - true plug and play. No drivers neededā€¦

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