https://www.kinki-studio.com/ex-m1 Does anyone in the SF forum have it? If yes, what are your experiences? Its been on my radar since last year, my interest intensified since the work from home situation has me using my integrated tube amp for 7-8 hours a day which is not good for tube life. I haven't had an SS amp for many a moon now and I wouldn't mind having the Kinki to get back into it.
I auditioned it last year but we ultimately didn't buy as we need a tape loop. It's pretty fine, actually. We heard it with some proac and the Rogers speakers on the end of it. It seems well made too.
I wouldn't describe it as lean, per se. It was lively and spritely. My sense is that it would fit nicely with a range of speakers. It offered a full account if the music. Sonically. But I wasn't especially moved and its insights, while advanced sonically, didn't offer me new perspectives on the music or convey the sense of music any more immediately than our current amp excels at doing. Thinking back to it, I'd be tempted by offerings from Gato audio in preference (closer in price), as similar designs from its near technological relative, Gamut Audio (using one oversize MOSFET pretty channel), are far more engaging. I've heard Gato might be too. Gamut is obviously much more expensive. But Gato might have something for you. But perhaps I need to hear the Kinki again.
+1 on the Gato Audio Amp-150 AE. It's the best amplification device I've ever had in the 46 years I've been in the hobby.
Thanks for this, I've read that some people switch out the factory opamps in the Kinki to better quality opamps (Burson, Sparko). Perhaps they had a similar experience as yourself. As for your recommendation, I'm a fan of the Danes and how they tune (speakers and amps), currently have Dynaudios and my dream SS amp is a Gryphon Diablo 300 which blew my socks off (as did the price tag). The Kinki is tuned closer to the Swiss sound which is a bit more precise but still warm-ish, and tbh the price is really attractive (my tube amp cost more brand new). I have no issues with it being made in China as my tube amp is also made in China. I just wish I could audition one at home but sadly there's no local AD.
Have it and love it. I think it's a great amp-- not sure if it will match up with your sonic priorities, but if you can find a used one locally, it's well worth a try. I picked one up last summer to replace a Job INT in my system. The Kinki hit my radar via various forum threads and Srajan's review on 6moons. Several years back the 6moons review of the Job had originally led me to that amp, and my experience did not disappoint. So his praise for the Kinki and specifically the positive comparison to the Job put the EX M1 on my list. I hadn't started down an upgrade path for sonic reasons, I just wanted to have a pure analog input which the Job didn't have. As far as sound I think the 6moons review says it well and your last post above is on target. The Kinki has what I understand as the "Swiss sound"-- fast, precise, yet full. You wouldn't mistake it for a tube amp but it does not sound cold or clinical. It sounds even from top to bottom. I haven't heard Dynaudios but certainly they are quality gear. If you have room treatments and optimized speaker placement you will be able to hear everything. My room and placement are pretty limiting and I am using ancient and relatively inefficient Snells. Soundstage and dynamics are excellent. The Kinki has more body and weight than the Job. I never get the volume past 50 out of 256 steps, and man, it rocks, it swings, it just does great with whatever I feed it. I had seen some comments about limited bass and those do not match my experience at all. If the recording goes deep, the output goes deep. TLDR, I think it's a great amp. Build is solid and sound is great. I didn't take the plunge on buying a new unit from abroad, but now having had one, I would not hesitate to do so. We may be moving residence later this year and if we end up in the 'burbs, more space for audio, I would look to the Kinki monos right off the bat. No hesitation.
So far, so good. I have had it for nine or ten months now and I think it was a little over a year old when I bought it. I suppose time will tell but it feels like a solid piece of gear. I don't leave it on all day, every day. Even working from home I don't always get much listening time during the work week. Sometimes I'll leave it on all weekend, for two or three days. On and not playing, it's just barely warm to the touch so I don't imagine it would cause any issues.
Yes I have the EX-M1+ 2020 version in black changed the Op-amps 1 single Sonic Imagery Labs 992Enh-Ticha en 1 single Sparkos labs SS3601 per channel en 1 Burson V6 Vivid dual opamp https://youtu.be/_vJWN7iImbM
thank you..Do I have a problem buying Chinese equipment nope not me looking at the Gryphon brand I can also drool admitting they are beautiful.
I owned the Kinki Studio EX-M1. It was a good amp. Like most amps, you need to match it with an appropriate speaker. It's an integrated amp with a LOT of gain, it's almost unusable with higher sensitivity (90+db) speakers. I used it mostly with Harbeth 30.2, and it was a very good match for that speaker. The fit and finish is good, but not great. The knobs on the front feel light, cheap. Almost plastic. They also have a lot of give, you can literally wiggle the knob in and out, back and forth by a good few mm. It actually feels worse then one of those big knobs on a Denon AVR. Overall feel is fiddly. The chassis has this odd machined texture to it I'm not a fan of. The included remote is this tiny thing. While it is made of metal, it feels low quality. Taking it apart to add the battery is a very jank experience. The quality of aluminum used for the amplifier housing and the remote is subpar, it's certainly not even close to expected aircraft grade that you'd find on a real Goldmund or Job amplifier. I do think it's cool that they basically copied the Goldmund design. It's why the amp sounds so good. My guess is the patent on that circuitry expired in the last 5 or 10 years, so now they can legally sell the design. I believe Goldmund also licensed out the design to a company called Job, so it's been around here and there anyway. It's a class B design, and offers 215W into both 8 and 4ohms. It should also be stable into 2ohms. It runs very cool, quite a bit cooler than even a normal class AB design. As for how it sounds, its very clean. It has incredible bass control, and does not part any sonic quality to the top end. All in all I would call it a ruthlessly revealing amp, and not something you want if you're looking for a 'color' to your systems sound. Go for a real class AB amp, or class A, or maybe tubes if you want that. To me, the Kinki was very 'solid state' sounding. Having come a long way since owning this amp a few years ago, I can confidently say that the amp is not worth it's $2500 USD price tag. I don't feel the amp has 'Swiss Made' quality, I think corners were cut in many aspects to keep price down as low as possible. Also, as far as a moral concern goes, I refuse to buy products from companies that don't have a clear and established history and reputation of treating their employees as human beings. That is, I expect that the company pays their employees a living wage, and does not exploit them. This rules out this amp entirely for me. If you aren't concerned about that, by all means, take the "Value" or "giant killer" status of the amp at face value. Regarding the Youtube video linked above my post by "Next Best Thing Studio" I highly advise against watching them. Jay is a very inexperienced audiophile who really doesn't know what he's talking about. Despite having worked for Adrian Low at Audio Excellence, I know from personal experience dealing with him he's the kind of guy that hypes up whatever is sent to him, or whatever he can get his hands on as a 'salesman's sample' which he often did. If you have any other questions about the amp let me know.
thx that's a Big statement you make, but for what I experienced so far this 2020 version doesn't disappoints me
I have EX-M1+ two weeks now - very good amp. I have version 2021 in black. It supply Monitor Audio Gold 300.
Do you think can I insert staccato OPA Offer - Staccato Audio into the kinki EX-M1+ version 2021? Is there is enough place?
YES! I put these into my EX-M1 (original not plus) several months back. They took a while to break in but worth the wait. These op amps added a richness and fullness, and warmth, to the sound of the Kinki but retained the basic speed and detail that it already did well. For a relatively minimal cost there is no reason not to try these. I also picked up the Sparkos op amps to try out, but the Staccato are working so well that I haven't wanted to remove them and make the swap. If you go for the Staccato, make sure to purchase the compact version of the dual op amp, the other versions may not fit in the Kinki.
One comment, as far as I know the Kinki implementation is Class AB. Whether they have licensed, copied, or merely riffed off of the original Goldmund circuit design, I don't know. I don't think anyone is representing that the Kinki is up to the level of Goldmund in sound or finish-- it isn't. Job was made by Goldmund but to a lower price point. I did have the Job integrated prior to the Kinki and I would pick the Kinki hands down, doubly after the op amp change. The fit and finish on the EX-M1 (remote and knobs included) easily exceeds the Job INT, as does the sound quality in my system. At the end of the day, most modern gear is very good and sound comes down to preference. It looks like you have moved on to Mac gear which can be very good but is also very different than the Kinki (or Goldmund or Job). Different strokes for different folks. For me, this one is a winner.
I had the Kinki integrated, it had many design issues the worst being transformer hum and the high gain was ridiculous even with my 87.5db speakers. Very revealing, I would say neutral to cold sound. It is pretty much a Goldmund copy, in its earlier design form before they started marketing it outside of China it even looked almost exactly like the Goldmund!
To MC Rag did you have earlier version of kinki right? Because there are new versions of kinki 2020 and 2021 They have completely different drive of volume control in the unit. Now is 100 steps instead 256 in the past. There is couple of improvements too.
Thanks zargoz for the info. Im glad you have new version of kinki too because there are few informations about roll opamps. Almost everything is regarding previous pcb with more spaces between opamps. OK, I will order from staccato site 4 pieces single opamps and one dual opamp (compact version) I'm also glad you didn't use any riser.
Yes early version, not plus version. The one I had did have a low/high gain switch on the rear but it did not attenuate anywhere near enough.
Actually I have the version w/ 256 steps and the high-low switch. I have the switch set on low with 90db speakers; in typical listening I have the control between 10 and 60 depending on the source, background noise levels, and time of day. Anything over 100 would be too loud for my apartment setting. No transformer hum on my unit.
