Best Value? Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Integrated Amp Review (Take 2, Ep:22)

[@FearTheBRIX]

You sir! Is a master of your craft!! Awesome dissection of this integ amp! 👌🏻

[@genkifd]

love you see your comparisons against the Audio GD counterparts

[@machwind3266]

Yeah, I have an Audio GD R2R DAC and I love it. Would like to see impressions of their other components, specifically their amps,

[@goahead3995]

Due to your review and others, I bought this amp. I like this amp more than my Marantz PM10 even!

[@JosephTongret]

So I'm ready to begin a 2nd system that will be a "music only" 2 channel setup. I'm going to spend a little more money then I did with my living room setup which is dual purpose for TV/Movies and music. So far it's looking like this. Kinki Studio EX M1+ Tekton speakers(Electron SE?) Rythmik sub/subs(F12?) I still haven't decided on a streamer, but I stream 100%. It'll take me roughly 12 months to purchase everything, but I'm stoked to be shopping gear again!

[@tomchan2559]

Excellent review as always.

[@erichudson3307]

In your opinion which do you prefer to pair with a pair of tetkon lores…the kinki ex-m1 or a primaluna prologue premium integrated?

[@Temmple]

Jay, Is there much of a difference between the 2 current (+ vs non+) models? Also do you think this would pair well with the CSS Criton 1TDX?

[@guillermocamacho497]

A comparison between Hegel H190, Kinki EX-M1 + and Gato Amp 150 AE will be great (please, please do it). Keep up the good work

[@pedrocols]

I bet you they all sound the same.

[@Temmple]

@@pedrocols I bet you’re very wrong.

[@pedrocols]

@@Temmple Even if they don't most likely none will be better. It is all about what your ears prefer.

[@Temmple]

@@pedrocols That I will agree on.

[@cybergod77]

Thks Jay...wondering how the amps and preamps fm Kinki compares to those from Dodge?

[@AkilJacob]

The moment I saw the gold heatsink on top I knew it was expensive. 😂

[@lakaylukas]

Will it be a good match with Magnepan 1.7?

[@JulieTech]

Thanks Jay, I've been waiting for these... Please have a review on Sound Artist SH10B horn speaker..

[@coenhayes3318]

instablaster.

[@gryphongryph]

You should try getting hold of the Norma Revo ipa140, it is even better than the Kinki.

[@YannickRobitaille-t9u]

Any suggestions of a DAC? About Weiss 204? Thanks!!

[@luisdimarco5102]

Is the kinki better than Nuprime AMG STA & PRA combo?

[@luigy39]

I love your reviews, you seem to have a good ear and I like the way you explain the sound characteristics of a unit, but please, nothing sounds "more cleaner" or "more faster" they just sound "cleaner" or faster ....lol. keep up the good work.

[@ДмитроЖигалкін]

Can you make same for EX-M7? Also heard it is better so a lot of people are interesting...

[@MegaPete]

Hey J love your show awesome learn alot Thxxx

[@mikehuntington4440]

Which of the amps you've tried gives you the best 3D soundstage?

[@Bones135]

Hi Jay, I have this amp. What Burson opamps did you use please?

[@anjovandijk9797]

opamps 1 single Sonic Imagery Labs 994Enh-Ticha en 1 single Sparkos labs SS3601 per channel en 1 Burson V6 Vivid dual opamp....those are in my kinki....sound awesome

[@Bones135]

@@anjovandijk9797 Ive just ordered a full set of Sparkos

[@Bones135]

@@anjovandijk9797 I think I read a review with the same configuration as yours

[@anjovandijk9797]

@@Bones135 you are correct..iam curious about your opinion regarding the sparkos

[@Bones135]

@@anjovandijk9797 Ill let you know when they arrive

[@pennfootball71]

would love for you to test some VISION DAC-1 too

[@Saken-c8n]

So M1+ is better sound than just M1?

[@csszabi8779]

Hmmmmmm. How would the Kinki Studio EX-M1 amplifier works with Focal 1038BE speakers? Can it be a good combination or a bad one?

[@joshuabrain9751]

Would like to know this too! I have the 1038be with a M6si currently.

[@csszabi8779]

@@joshuabrain9751 I've an old Rotel amp (2x100W 8Ohm), but I think the power isn't enough for 1038Be. (The bass is not tight and fast enough). The M6si may be the cheapest suitable amplifier for the 1038. The M6si performed well in tests. It's on my list.

[@joshuabrain9751]

@@csszabi8779 honestly I don’t think it does that great with them. I’m hoping the kinki will be better. For me it doesn’t have enough resolution and once volume goes up a bit it looses focus and sounds unorganised.

[@dab9742]

I don't understand why Kinki Studio sands the reference on their Analogue Device chips?

[@kozmiczian]

Damping factor - 2000! Quick and tight.

[@newton5954]

Should review the M7 power amp Has a better sound more robust and powerful especially has more capacitors so if you’re looking for sound characteristics probably the M7 is better Over the integrated

[@MrPONCHO467]

Do you feel it has enough grunt to power a pair of thiel cs6 speakers

[@RumblestripDotNet]

There is only a $600 difference between the M1+ and the Monoblocks if you want to use the P7. At that point, just go with the monoblocks.

[@kpuloski]

@TheRoswellCrash Pre-amp and HT by-pass ;-) The pre-amp on this unit is very nice and have tried it to my 300b amp, and McIntosh 252. Also OP-AMP rolling is a cool option.

[@bennnnft]

Can this compete with the doge 10?

[@tchevy99]

Hey Jay, I picked up a new M1 a month ago and just got my system set up on Friday. Sounds great, quite neutral too my ears as well. I was actually considering picking up some Burson Op Amps to upgrade it so thrilled you tried them. I was debating over the Classics vs Vivids or combination of the two. What did you try out?

[@anjovandijk9797]

The staccato's maybe even better or with one Burson classic/vivid. That's why I have two Kinki's each with different op-amps under the hood

[@xtctaz]

Can you link the op amp in the description

[@DBravo29er]

Seems like this and the Musical Fidelity M6Si would make a good shootout. Crazy good sound for the money these days!

[@joshuabrain9751]

I have an M6si and are considering this for an upgrade. Hope it’s better!

[@saltyolive_]

@@joshuabrain9751 did you purchase the kinki Studio? which did you prefer? i am using the A3.5 Musical Fidelity and i wans considering between the M6SI vs the Kinki Studio

[@joshuabrain9751]

@@saltyolive_ no I ended up getting a second hand Perreaux Eloquence 250i which was a nice step up from the Musical Fidelity. I’m still curious about the Kinky Studio though.

[@saltyolive_]

@@joshuabrain9751 me too.. tempted but if i dont like it, it might be hard to let go :P

[@robk5745]

How do you even buy b7s if you live in Canada?

[@tchevy99]

Charisma Audio is the Canadian distributor. Contact them.

[@robk5745]

@@tchevy99 thank you sir!

[@SanjayYadav-vc7ei]

How is it compared with Accuphase E480 or Mark levinsion 585 .5 or 585 in sound

[@morespinach9832]

Buddy those are many times the price :)

[@ferdinandbardamu3945]

Compare this Goldmund knockoff with the way more expensive original. It certainly looks pretty inside.

[@newton5954]

One complaint you can say about this product is that after only a few hours of running it decently hard it really heats up I’ve had a few other people say this unit runs pretty damn hot that doesn’t make me feel very good if it has all this power even if you’re using like 90 DB speakers and pushing it relatively loud and let’s say I don’t know you like to listen to music but you change the volume low to medium during your sessions but you like to keep your Amplifier on for let’s say eight hours a day it shouldn’t run excessively hot because you’re just looking for issues down the road especially things breaking down I don’t know for you if you’ve noticed it running a little hotter than warm that’s a problem I have several high-end pieces of equipment and I can’t say they run hot to the touch just warm which is OK and that’s the way it should be I honestly think they should increase the heat sink size and bigger long heat sink going down the length of the chassis and more better ventilation that would improve this design. But I am sure the M7 power amplifier would sound even better than this integrated plus it has more bigger battery capacity so it should have a little bit more robust better more Mass and low end compared to the M1 plus but yes people have reported the M7 runs pretty hot to the touch only after a few hours and I don’t know why what’s your thoughts faulty product design?

[@kpuloski]

Strange your unit is so hot. I run my unit for two weeks straight with no notice of excessive temp. AVG output on the happy dial was 65-70. My 300B amps, and FirstWatt's F5, F8, and Amp Camp's are room warmers. Would love to compare the bias gain on how your amp is setup.

[@newton5954]

If you could do a review of the denafrips power amplifier THALLO they make that would be amazing compared to this since there’s no reviews of their power amplifiers I’d like to know how they do impressive specs shit load of capacity especially on their battery of the unit pretty impressive what they don’t list is the dampening factor who knows what it is I wish I would know and the slew rate I’ve reached out to the company and they haven’t got me back with information yet

[@nguyenkhuong1440]

No matter how good a product is but you compared a 3k amplifier with a 40k amplifier which sounds not right too me. There are so many amplifiers in between them and you can definitely pick one. The comparison makes the review a very obvious marketing hype and unfair for many other companies who make good products out-there

[@nonametofame]

Must be shocking to some that a class D amp section (M33) would be on the "warm" side of neutral. Might take those folk a few years to accept that one.

[@keesvanwoerden2156]

....except for the fact that the top end of the M33 is not on the warm side of neutral.

[@OrganNLou]

Great designs!

[@fredrikwahlstrom8611]

Anyone knows how the Kinki Studio EX-M1+ would perform compared to a Krell KAV-400xi ?

[@Johndoe8970i]

Anyone using this with ATC SCM40?

[@johnb6677]

Unfortunately after sales service at Kinki Studio leaves a lot to be desired. My EX-M1+ amp, only a few months old, developed nasty distortion on every channel. All Kinki has done is to blame it on my cables. I have checked my cables on two other systems and they are in perfect condition. Kinki refuses to swap out the amp. For that reason I have to recommend you avoid Kinki Studio products at least for now.

[@ianjohnhorwood2605]

I definitely know that it will not outperform my fully serviced and brought up to full current maximum full specification with all the best parts from the German company brand restek audio. My newly revised 200 watt restek challenger, dual monoblock quad balanced full complimentary push pull power amplifier, and fully tricked out wirh all resteks best parts, with no degrading opamp chips. Has restek's best and totally sealed top transformers, and resteks own massive and fully regulated power supplies. Absolutely kicks arse, full Tonality, very revealing, has speed, dynamics, harmonics. With top quality made very light doped paper cones and silk dome tweeters fully sealed cabinet enclosure loudspeakers, this amp is a tonally exquisite dynamic and harmonic top bar quality performer. Poor sources and poor port farting loudspeakers need not apply, if you value only the best quality sound only. The kinky amp is not in my restek's league, as this restek is made to be totally uncompromising in performance.

[@Audfile]

Shhhh. I dont think he realizes the third amp is class D.

[@dab9742]

Nice device, too bad the cooling grids of the power transistors, which would have benefited from being of the same colour as the device... Here, it's too bling bling, or too much if you prefer ! 😉

[@Trump1776]

US$ 5,000 for a Chinese Amp, and comparable to Dan D, " Come on men" .....are you serious.

[@nguyenkhuong1440]

Agree, please stop to compare no name brand with legendary products, it is very cheap marketing ideas and I cannot stand with this too

[@nguyenkhuong1440]

@TheRoswellCrash u missed the point So what would make you to be a modern school audiophile ? and how do you know people are old school from a single opinion ? That seems immature evaluation about people which you know little about. There is nothing bad about both ends. I wouldn’t classify myself as old school or Ubiquity too but we feedback about cheap marketing way in comparing a 3-5k amplifier to a 30k amplifier, so u missed the point It likes to compare a Toyota car that can reach 100km/h on high way safely as good as what Rolls-Royce car does too. Car reviewers won’t compare Toyota verus Rolls Royce if they are mature

[@Nemo.57]

Always there’s doubt in China made things !

[@kpuloski]

lol, is this really still something people say?

[@anjovandijk9797]

@@kpuloski not for me, I highly recommend Chi-fi