Tír Na HiFi

Ken Moreland wrote: Simon, there's a pic of the Kii Three around 3/4 of the way down http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... how/page15

Ta!

I've seen all the blurbs, read all the reports about this speaker from "this is basically the best speaker in the world" to "nothing special", but I haven't heard a listening report yet from anyone whose ears I trust. I was all lined up to get a pair on loan from the distributor in the UK last summer, but then the expected September launch kept slipping and, last I heard, there still aren't many available in the wild. I've bought new speakers since of course, but there's a touch of unfinished business here.

They're designed by Bruno Putzeys of Hypex, Mola Mola and Grimm fame, so they should be interesting, if a WHOLE other world from Sonus Faber. It's interesting that Pearse thought the Grimms were good, because I'd expect those to be closest in terms of sonics. Anyway, none of it matters, I'm not changing now anyway!

I'm VERY interested that the Einstein and Nagra rooms sounded good, as I've always loved the idea of that gear. I'm also interested in Fran's reports about Kondo/Audionote because I know the reputation but again I always wondered whether it was a bit of a cod. Apparently not!

Mmm, thats interesting. Kii wasn't listed as a brand on the catalogue - and I don't remember seeing that room. Ah, well would have been good to hear them, but there was sooooo much.


I can't really express how good the audionote room was. It blew me away. The detail, transparency and soundstage were astonishing. When I first went in, they were playing the banana boat song, harry belafonte, and whatever you might think of the music, it was just jaw dropping. There was a male chorus right there and dynamics like you wouldn't believe. They rotated music excellently too - something like that, then rock, then classical. After that was a blues by Doug McLeod, and then something classical I didn't know. Although they had CD player there, everything I saw them play was vinyl.

Link to Audionote:

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... post226252


Link to Nagra photos:

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... post226180


Link to EAR-yoshino:

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... post226230





Fran

This one sounded great too. Goebbel audio I think

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... post226266


Shudder to think of what the cost must be on them though.

http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... post226366



These open baffle speakers sounded very good and looked funky - a nod to quad maybe. They had them in the sotm room and they sounded good except that the salesperson kept fiddling with the volume which was a bit annoying!

There were also lots and lots of VU meters. If your amp don't have them you ain't with it!!! And lots and lots of headphones and headphone amps. One of the nice sounds came from the sonus faber headphone. The HD800 were very good indeed though.

Yikes....thought i had missed a complete floor of the Munich Hi End Show after seeing the pictures on Leos site that Ken linked to!!

Turns out there was another show in the Munich Marriott Hotel at the same time called HiFiDeluxe and it was on the way to and from the MOC each evening.

http://www.hifideluxe.de/en/

Now that is a lot to take in over a couple of days!!

Ken Moreland wrote:

Diapason wrote:Kii Three is meant to be closer to 10k, but it's been expected for so long who knows? Anyway, hope you're enjoying yourself!

Simon, there's a pic of the Kii Three around 3/4 of the way down http://www.my-hiend.com/vbb/showthread. ... how/page15

BTW the next pick includes Ludwig Beck's store , the best music store I've ever seen.

There are a few good record stores in Munich. If you're looking for Mint or NM back catalogue stuff, M2 on Rosenheimer Strasse is a good place to visit (take the S-Bahn to Rosenheimer Platz); Schallplaten Zentrale on Fraunhoffer Strasse is worth visiting as is the nearby Optimal Store; (take the U2 line and get off at Fraunhoffer Strasse); There is another store down off Worth Strasse that sells all the U.S. Audiophile stuff (Der Schallplatten Laden) but prices are steep (Ostbahnof S Bahn); Saturn on Neuhauser Strasse (Karlplatz Stacchus S-Bahn) is usually quite good too. This year I got 22 LPs but I didn't find any gems. I visited Ludwig Beck on the 5th Floor but didn't see anything I wanted. Great store though!

As has been already been established here, the Munich Show is awesome and it is difficult to see and appreciate everything even if you spend four days there! My highlights were the Brinkmann/Vandersteen room and Fono Accoustic Wadax, but to be honest everybody had good sound. I heard Nick Cave (actually I requested that they play something we would listen to at home as opposed to the usual audiophile stuff) in the Fono Acoustic room via a Brinkmann turntable and Wilson Sashas and it sounded fabulous. The Doors' 'Riders on the Storm' sounded so utterly realistic through Richard Vandersteen's 5a Carbon loudspeakers through M7-HPA power amplifiers on Saturday afternoon. Audio journalist Robert Harley visited this room while I was there. I was utterly amazed at the number of turntables on show this year from Budget to super high end models. I thought the new Thorens model which was on static display looked beautiful as it should for its 10k asking price. Even manufacturers who have not had a turntable as part of their exhibits in past years had turntables this year. I'm thinking of Mark Levinson/Harmon, Raidho Acoustics, Nordost and many others. Lars was also in splendid form, at his entertaining best!

Fran wrote:Mmm, thats interesting. Kii wasn't listed as a brand on the catalogue - and I don't remember seeing that room. Ah, well would have been good to hear them, but there was sooooo much.


I can't really express how good the audionote room was. It blew me away. The detail, transparency and soundstage were astonishing. When I first went in, they were playing the banana boat song, harry belafonte, and whatever you might think of the music, it was just jaw dropping. There was a male chorus right there and dynamics like you wouldn't believe. They rotated music excellently too - something like that, then rock, then classical. After that was a blues by Doug McLeod, and then something classical I didn't know. Although they had CD player there, everything I saw them play was vinyl.

Fran

Was that the live version or the studio version? I have the Live at Carnegie Hall which besides from being excellently entertaining also is very well recorded.

I'm pretty certain it was the live version Claus. It was quite the audio highlight.

Claus wrote:

Fran wrote:Mmm, thats interesting. Kii wasn't listed as a brand on the catalogue - and I don't remember seeing that room. Ah, well would have been good to hear them, but there was sooooo much.


I can't really express how good the audionote room was. It blew me away. The detail, transparency and soundstage were astonishing. When I first went in, they were playing the banana boat song, harry belafonte, and whatever you might think of the music, it was just jaw dropping. There was a male chorus right there and dynamics like you wouldn't believe. They rotated music excellently too - something like that, then rock, then classical. After that was a blues by Doug McLeod, and then something classical I didn't know. Although they had CD player there, everything I saw them play was vinyl.

Fran

Was that the live version or the studio version? I have the Live at Carnegie Hall which besides from being excellently entertaining also is very well recorded.

I've heard Derek's vinyl copy of that and it is stunning.