olegtern
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A few photos and impressions from some setups.
I’ll start with the new arrival, the Kii Seven. These little "firecrackers" are something! They fall into that category of speakers where the main effect is "so small, yet so powerful," and they really deliver on that. They played loud, punchy, precise, and clean—overall, they seem like a fantastic solution for a small room. The wow factor in this form factor is definitely there.
D&D—no questions here; everything sounded smooth and right. This time they were in a smaller room than last year, and I think that worked in their favor. They filled the space with sound effortlessly, sounding dynamic and free.
Genelecs
In this setup, the main trick was switching between the small and large monitors. Presenter caught newcomers off guard by asking, “Which ones are playing right now?” The small ones plus a little subwoofer were always "on" during that moment, convincingly mimicking a big sound
To my ear, though, there’s still no miracle happening; the larger ones are noticeably clearer in the lower midrange and overall much more convincing (at a similar volume level). This wasn’t a blind test—I knew the rules of the game, yes
And the highlight of the show: 8381A. Now that’s something I really liked Damn, it just sounds right in every sense and at any volume level (we didn’t push it to the limit, even when they play a piece of track really loud, at a pretty scary level, there was still 15 dB left). It’s tough to describe; they sound like the right monitors that can handle anything.
As a funny aside, in both rooms with Genelec, they used room correction, which they’d occasionally turn off to demonstrate how it sounds without it. The bass would start to rumble, thump, shake the walls, and just do its own thing, but every time, there was someone in the room saying, “Oh, well this sounds better!”
But the sizes… My fridge (which isn’t very big, but still) is just slightly larger than each of the speakers. And then there’s the rack with amplifiers...
Focal Carpet-Utopia. Overall, I could admit this is decent sound for mid-sized floorstanding speakers, especially being active… But for that kind of money—it’s just strange. And definitely not neutral.
Another heavyweight from the high-end world, Sonus Faber. It was very loud, and at that volume, pretty clean. But the bass without EQ? That’s pure evil. Still, in the Genelec rooms, I met a few guys who definitely would liked it.
Avantgarde plus Kondo. The music selection was hilariously random, but overall pretty cool. Funny enough, the presenter mentioned that with every Kondo amplifier, even the most basic one (I’m scared to find out the price), the manufacturer includes a KONDO POWER CABLE in the box! Incredible generosity!
And here are a few more shots of some high-end gear:
I’ll start with the new arrival, the Kii Seven. These little "firecrackers" are something! They fall into that category of speakers where the main effect is "so small, yet so powerful," and they really deliver on that. They played loud, punchy, precise, and clean—overall, they seem like a fantastic solution for a small room. The wow factor in this form factor is definitely there.
D&D—no questions here; everything sounded smooth and right. This time they were in a smaller room than last year, and I think that worked in their favor. They filled the space with sound effortlessly, sounding dynamic and free.
Genelecs
In this setup, the main trick was switching between the small and large monitors. Presenter caught newcomers off guard by asking, “Which ones are playing right now?” The small ones plus a little subwoofer were always "on" during that moment, convincingly mimicking a big sound
To my ear, though, there’s still no miracle happening; the larger ones are noticeably clearer in the lower midrange and overall much more convincing (at a similar volume level). This wasn’t a blind test—I knew the rules of the game, yes And the highlight of the show: 8381A. Now that’s something I really liked
Damn, it just sounds right in every sense and at any volume level (we didn’t push it to the limit, even when they play a piece of track really loud, at a pretty scary level, there was still 15 dB left). It’s tough to describe; they sound like the right monitors that can handle anything.As a funny aside, in both rooms with Genelec, they used room correction, which they’d occasionally turn off to demonstrate how it sounds without it. The bass would start to rumble, thump, shake the walls, and just do its own thing, but every time, there was someone in the room saying, “Oh, well this sounds better!”
But the sizes… My fridge (which isn’t very big, but still) is just slightly larger than each of the speakers. And then there’s the rack with amplifiers...
Focal Carpet-Utopia. Overall, I could admit this is decent sound for mid-sized floorstanding speakers, especially being active… But for that kind of money—it’s just strange. And definitely not neutral.
Another heavyweight from the high-end world, Sonus Faber. It was very loud, and at that volume, pretty clean. But the bass without EQ? That’s pure evil. Still, in the Genelec rooms, I met a few guys who definitely would liked it.
Avantgarde plus Kondo. The music selection was hilariously random, but overall pretty cool. Funny enough, the presenter mentioned that with every Kondo amplifier, even the most basic one (I’m scared to find out the price), the manufacturer includes a KONDO POWER CABLE in the box! Incredible generosity!
And here are a few more shots of some high-end gear:
