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Kii THREE versus KII THREE/BXT

Absolute

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Not true regarding measurements, if there's an apparent difference in the same room with and without BXT, the information within these differences can certainly help give me an informed opinion whether or not it would be worth the effort and/or expense of dragging the BXTs to my own house.

I'm in Norway btw.
 

svart-hvitt

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Not true regarding measurements, if there's an apparent difference in the same room with and without BXT, the information within these differences can certainly help give me an informed opinion whether or not it would be worth the effort and/or expense of dragging the BXTs to my own house.

I'm in Norway btw.

Kii BXT in Norway February 22-23, with Wim Weijers at Duet Audio in Oslo:

https://duet.no/event-kii-three-bxt/
 
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hvbias

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The increase in the price point is ridiculous in my opinion. Keith will correct me if I'm wrong, but if the Kii Threes get you 97% there, the D&D 8Cs get you 99% there. (We used my old Stravinsky bass crap-out test between the Kii Threes and the 8Cs at Purite Audio, and it was obvious that the 8Cs could go significantly farther than the Threes.) The new Kii bass bins do look intense and surely sound good, but they've doubled the price for the system now, putting it in BeoLab 90 street price territory.

What recording of Stravinsky's is this? I love his music, I wouldn't mind knowing what it is, thanks.
 

Dialectic

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What recording of Stravinsky's is this? I love his music, I wouldn't mind knowing what it is, thanks.
The high-res version of this

Artistically not a great recording, and the sound is not the most realistic. But it is spectacular-sounding, particularly the bass drum in The Firebird and the sheen of the strings on all pieces on the disc.
 

hvbias

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The high-res version of this

Artistically not a great recording, and the sound is not the most realistic. But it is spectacular-sounding, particularly the bass drum in The Firebird and the sheen of the strings on all pieces on the disc.

Thanks, there are not too many RR classical albums I would consider to have exceptional performances.
 

Dialectic

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Thanks, there are not too many RR classical albums I would consider to have exceptional performances.
Yes, the Minnesota Orchestra performances with Eiji Oue are about as good as it gets on that label. There were some superb individual performers in that orchestra at the time, most notably then-concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis.
 

hvbias

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Yes, the Minnesota Orchestra performances with Eiji Oue are about as good as it gets on that label. There were some superb individual performers in that orchestra at the time, most notably then-concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis.

I seem to recall the Bruckner 9 being quite good, even with the stiff competition with that symphony. I will have to revisit hearing that to see if I am remembering right.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Thanks, there are not too many RR classical albums I would consider to have exceptional performances.
Their new "fresh!" series with Honeck and Pittsburgh is offers a higher level of performance and well as, imho, even better balanced but still spectacular recordings.
 

Absolute

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Kii BXT in Norway February 22-23, with Wim Weijers at Duet Audio in Oslo:

https://duet.no/event-kii-three-bxt/
Thank you for the heads up, would be nice to be there. However, those types of events isn't really helpful for me for several reasons;

- Stressful environment with lots of chatter, switching of music, often way too loud, switching of positions etc.

- The Kiis are often demonstrated with settings set to flat, or worse, with sparkle added in the top range. This is too far away from my preference and bothers me to the point of not getting much useful information.

- No measurements are shown, so I'd still be clueless whether or not BXT will do something for the sound that cannot be done with a couple of subwoofers.
 

svart-hvitt

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Thank you for the heads up, would be nice to be there. However, those types of events isn't really helpful for me for several reasons;

- Stressful environment with lots of chatter, switching of music, often way too loud, switching of positions etc.

- The Kiis are often demonstrated with settings set to flat, or worse, with sparkle added in the top range. This is too far away from my preference and bothers me to the point of not getting much useful information.

- No measurements are shown, so I'd still be clueless whether or not BXT will do something for the sound that cannot be done with a couple of subwoofers.

I am sure the Duet Audio guys would give you a private session before or after the opening hours. Very forthcoming people.
 

hvbias

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Their new "fresh!" series with Honeck and Pittsburgh is offers a higher level of performance and well as, imho, even better balanced but still spectacular recordings.

The only Honeck recordings I have are of Mahler on the Exton label. The Mahler 1 was quite good.
 

hvbias

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The Exton recordings are pretty damned good from an engineering perspective, but the Fresh recordings are even better. The Fresh recordings are done by the Boston-based team that did the RCA Living Stereo remasters, not by Keith Johnson.

The Pittsburgh Symphony is excellent, too. I think (and many of the world's most renowned horn players agree) that Bill Caballero, the principal horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony, is the world's best horn player. That raises the question why he's not playing in the New York Philharmonic or the Chicago Symphony. The answer is the AFM, the world's most unnecessary labor union.

Any suggestions for great performances from Fresh RR? Preferably not Mahler or Beehthoven (any of the Bruckner good?) but if there is a truly special performance for either I'll check it out.
 

Kal Rubinson

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The only Honeck recordings I have are of Mahler on the Exton label. The Mahler 1 was quite good.
Very different recording team!
 

Kal Rubinson

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Any suggestions for great performances from Fresh RR? Preferably not Mahler or Beehthoven (any of the Bruckner good?) but if there is a truly special performance for either I'll check it out.
So far, imho, all of them are excellent, including the Bruckner 4.
 

HammerSandwich

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The Pittsburgh Symphony is excellent, too. I think (and many of the world's most renowned horn players agree) that Bill Caballero, the principal horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony, is the world's best horn player. That raises the question why he's not playing in the New York Philharmonic or the Chicago Symphony. The answer is the AFM, the world's most unnecessary labor union.
Having known Bill for years, I sent him this post. He was delighted by it, obviously.

I have no idea how he feels about the AFM or other unions, but I will add that he's had opportunities to move to larger cities, and his decision to stay in Pittsburgh was made for family reasons. And I sure hope he's not offended by my saying so!
 

Dialectic

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Having known Bill for years, I sent him this post. He was delighted by it, obviously.

I have no idea how he feels about the AFM or other unions, but I will add that he's had opportunities to move to larger cities, and his decision to stay in Pittsburgh was made for family reasons. And I sure hope he's not offended by my saying so!

Pretty cool, but I clumsily intended to make a more general comment about American orchestras, which is that some of the most famous orchestras, particularly the CSO and BSO, have had some untouchable "legacy" members who do not play as well as, for example, Mr. Caballero.

My apologies if Mr. Caballero had offers from those ensembles and turned them down. I will remove the post above if defamatory in that respect, though it is indeed true that a lot of horn players in the world's biggest orchestras have said that Mr. Caballero is the best in the business. One can hear it on those recent recordings of the PSO with Maestro Honeck...
 

hvbias

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I'd never thought of orchestras by individual members. For me it was about intonation issues, synchronization with the soloist, sloppy playing, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions on the Fresh RR, I'll check out some of them.
 

svart-hvitt

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Keith,

in the specifications sheet of the Kiis, it’s stated the following: «Frequency response: 30Hz to 25kHz +/- 0.5dB».

Because higher sound frequencies are absorbed in air, I wonder how you can state an error of just 0.5 dB up to 25 kHz.

In normal atmospheric conditions, like in a room on earth, 25 kHz is absorbed by about 0.7 dB after 1 meter.

Calculator: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-air.htm

So I wonder how you can have a speaker with a flatter response than what’s possible in a room on earth.

This raises the question if the Kiis were measured on the moon, or even Mars? Or were the measurements done at CERN, maybe in a special gas room?

It would be highly entertaining if Kii could comment on which special circumstances they were under when these measurements were made.

:D
 

Soniclife

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Keith,

in the specifications sheet of the Kiis, it’s stated the following: «Frequency response: 30Hz to 25kHz +/- 0.5dB».

Because higher sound frequencies are absorbed in air, I wonder how you can state an error of just 0.5 dB up to 25 kHz.

In normal atmospheric conditions, like in a room on earth, 25 kHz is absorbed by about 0.7 dB after 1 meter.

Calculator: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-air.htm

So I wonder how you can have a speaker with a flatter response than what’s possible in a room on earth.

This raises the question if the Kiis were measured on the moon, or even Mars? Or were the measurements done at CERN, maybe in a special gas room?

It would be highly entertaining if Kii could comment on which special circumstances they were under when these measurements were made.

:D
Does it state the measuring distance?
 
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