Post by Owen Y on Dec 21, 2018 15:03:59 GMT 12
DARKO Audio's Product of the Year 2018. These are not inexpensive at US$12-13k, but DARKO suggests that they are reasonable value & unique in that, aside from 6 drivers, all actively & individually driven, the Kii Threes use DSP programming to cancel side & rear wall room-interactions, thus greatly reducing the effect of listening room reflections on the resultant in-room sound. ie The price buys you loudspeakers that perform like floor-standers, active 250wpc multi-amplification, analogue or digital source inputs. 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 21, 2018 15:05:14 GMT 12
DARKO Audio review of the Kii Audio Three loudspeaker system in Aug:
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 21, 2018 15:16:13 GMT 12
DARKO's introductory article earlier this year on the Kii Threes" Unboxing: Design: Mic testing from side/rear/front:
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 21, 2018 19:10:05 GMT 12
Two key features of the Kii Threes: - Boundary switch - can be set to 16 positions between free / wall / corner to optimise setup (in-room low freq response in particular).1
- Contour switch - provides flat setting + 14 different preset EQ curves to match the listeners taste.
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Post by michaelw on Dec 21, 2018 21:42:05 GMT 12
seems unnecessarily complex !
for $20k i'd take the traditional route for system building.
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 22, 2018 19:15:21 GMT 12
Actually I'd say appealingly simple for many punters.... Connect or stream your source & play impressive music.... No amp required, no preamp, no speaker cables, no interconnects. The Kii Control handset provides source selection & volume control Additionally, the above-mentioned speaker controls: - Boundary Control adjusts LF side/rear output to suit speaker distance from walls - more freedom for speaker placement, adjust speakers separately for non-symmetrical rooms & minimal requirement for LF room treatments. - Contour Control provides 15 presets to tailor freq response to suit taste and/or room/furniture tonal characteristics. 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 22, 2018 19:16:52 GMT 12
WHAT HI-FI review. " ... exceptional clarity, precision and agility... Superb bass performance... Unfussy about listening room "
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Post by michaelw on Dec 23, 2018 10:24:03 GMT 12
control unit still tethered by an Ethernet cable, is there a wireless remote ? all the fancy dsp, class d etc. does my analogue head in. what hifi again...
The combination of these things means that Nina Simone doesn’t quite touch our soul...
... speakers that are dazzlingly easy to admire but not quite so easy to love.
a soulless nina has to be a fail
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 23, 2018 17:29:45 GMT 12
Yes, more 'pro-monitor' sound quality & with DSP being the (costly) point of difference.
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Post by michaelw on Dec 24, 2018 9:08:57 GMT 12
never had much luck with active and/or dsp'd speakers. ime they are a digital curate's egg. add drc to the above
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