Kii THREE Review

[sweetchaos]

Link:

Kii Audio THREE Review

Kii Audio THREE 2-Way Studio Monitor Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Erin's conclusion:

The Kii THREE is one of those game-changing speakers that you hear and you question what you’ve been missing your entire life. From the aesthetic to the way they sound, I love everything about the Kii THREE. Unfortunately, it’s price is at a tier I am not likely to be at so I will kindly bid them adieu but hope to get some more time with them again in the future.

My reaction...

UPDATE:
@hardisj Heads up, you've mislabelled "vertical contour plots" (normalized vs non-normalized).

 

[sweetchaos]

It's up!

Tell me, how often were you checking his website for this?

 

[richard12511]

I'm not so sure it looks better than the 8C. The spinorama definitely looks better, but the other plots don't. I need to hear these speakers side by side now.

 

[sweetchaos]

Here's the comparison with Dutch and Dutch 8C:

Spoiler

Note: Erin didn't post the "response linearity" plot for 8C, so I can't make a comparison gif.

 

[richard12511]

Here's the comparison with Dutch and Dutch 8C:

Spoiler

View attachment 169252

View attachment 169251View attachment 169250

View attachment 169254
View attachment 169255
Note: Erin didn't post the "response linearity" plot for 8C, so I can't make a comparison gif.

Wow! thanks so much. Interesting to see that both have similar distortion figures. Distortion is not great for either, but it's a worthy trade(imo) for the increased directivity. D&D beamwidth is more consistent, but Kii beamwidth is wider down low and extends deeper.

Based on just measurements, I'm honestly not sure, maybe a slight edge to the Kii. Really interesting, the subjective impressions I'm aware of have favored the D&D. Would be interesting to hear from @Purité Audio

 

[Sancus]

I always thought the 8C was a little better tbh. The reviews seem to confirm that the 8C has better bass output(lower distortion below 100hz). Though there's no compression graph for the 8C? Kind of unfortunate. Kii got the BXT out pretty quick and I'm guessing there was a reason for it.

Not that either of these speakers are bad or even mediocre in any sense of the words lol. Just slightly different flavors of fantastic.

 

[theyellowspecial]

So when do we see an all-out DSP coaxial cardioid?

 

[richard12511]

So when do we see an all-out DSP coaxial cardioid?

Genelec 8351b + W371A

 

[theyellowspecial]

Genelec 8351b + W371A

Does that combo show pattern control down to 100Hz? The 8361A only goes to 300Hz. That 200Hz difference is a lot, going by what I hear from bookshelves vs wide baffle towers anyways (in higher frequencies, of course).

 

[abdo123]

Wow! thanks so much. Interesting to see that both have similar distortion figures. Distortion is not great for either, but it's a worthy trade(imo) for the increased directivity. D&D beamwidth is more consistent, but Kii beamwidth is wider down low and extends deeper.

Based on just measurements, I'm honestly not sure, maybe a slight edge to the Kii. Really interesting, the subjective impressions I'm aware of have favored the D&D. Would be interesting to hear from @Purité Audio

It’s not similar, the 8C is mostly 3rd harmonic while the Kii is second.

 

[abdo123]

I’m really impressed by how wide and controlled the directivity is, these are trully forward firing speakers. While the 8C is more of a focused beam kind of speaker.

@hardisj

Incredible work as always, we are really not worthy.

Could you please post directivity balloons for speakers at crossover frequencies? I always like looking at those.

 

[Sancus]

Does that combo show pattern control down to 100Hz? The 8361A only goes to 300Hz. That 200Hz difference is a lot, going by what I hear from bookshelves vs wide baffle towers anyways (in higher frequencies, of course).

In "controlled directivity" mode it controls down to about 60-70hz. However, it also has other modes that are specifically intended to reduce FR variance and reflections in particular directions. Check out the manual. Unlike the Kii/8C, it also has a 14" + 12" woofers w/800W, so it has power to spare to perform the directivity magic and still play exceptionally loud.

Honestly if I had Kii BXT money, I would save my pennies and get the W371A combo instead. Sadly I don't lol.

 

[bigjacko]

I am very surprised by the 6.5 inch woofers able to do sub bass like that, but from the response linearity test the sub bass is missing at louder volumes. I would say if the volumes for 8c and kii 3 are comparable at sub bass with high output, the distortion for kii 3 will be through the roof or even destroy the driver. But one good thing about it is the size of kii 3 is so small, to a point people start to wonder how they fit 5 drivers in there. The size and low end output will be the only difference between those two speakers.

 

[abdo123]

I am very surprised by the 6.5 inch woofers able to do sub bass like that, but from the response linearity test the sub bass is missing at louder volumes. I would say if the volumes for 8c and kii 3 are comparable at sub bass with high output, the distortion for kii 3 will be through the roof or even destroy the driver. But one good thing about it is the size of kii 3 is so small, to a point people start to wonder how they fit 5 drivers in there. The size and low end output will be the only difference between those two speakers.

There is 4 of them outputting in phase i’m not surprised.

 

[bigjacko]

There is 4 of them outputting in phase i’m not surprised.

Do you mean they all play in phase at subbass and out of phase at higher frequency to form cardioid? That is very good design. I have seen the near field driver contribution but can't really make out which ones should be the mains and which ones going to cancel out the mains, plus the 5 inch one mid needs to be cancelled too....

 

[Pearljam5000]

So the 8C is basically a bigger and fatter Kii 3 with bigger drivers
That puts the Kii 3 in a tough spot

 

[pierre]

In case you care, record breaking preference score 7.7 and 8.1 with a small eq for fun (i do not think I would eq).

I listened side by side to Kii v.s. Genelec 8341A+7370 (subwoofer) and prefer the later which is also cheaper.

Nearfield or midfield, if you do not have the space for a sub I, prefer the Kii 3 over the various Genelec. When I did the comparison the Genelec 8361A was not available, but I still think the cardioid design of KII is better in most rooms. When the distance/volume increases, then the KII hit limits esp. on the bass. I have not tried the BXT modules.

 

[abdo123]

So the 8C is basically a bigger and fatter Kii 3 with bigger drivers
That puts the Kii 3 in a tough spot

@hardisj had them side by side recently. Perhaps he will add the compression tests to the 8C review.

 

[abdo123]

Do you mean they all play in phase at subbass and out of phase at higher frequency to form cardioid? That is very good design. I have seen the near field driver contribution but can't really make out which ones should be the mains and which ones going to cancel out the mains, plus the 5 inch one mid needs to be cancelled too....

Yes if you see in the minimum latency mode you lose a significant amount of sub-bass.

 

[voodooless]

So the 8C is basically a bigger and fatter Kii 3 with bigger drivers
That puts the Kii 3 in a tough spot

With 4x6.5 vs 2x8” I don’t think the Kii is very much disadvantaged here. Midrange neither, because the 8C has the passive cardioid which costs some headroom. In the end it will be fairly comparable.