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King Sound Emperor: New Electrostatic Headphones!
Jan 29, 2013 at 8:21 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 666
MuppetFace

MuppetFace

A Special Snowflake
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Jan 29, 2013 at 10:08 AM Post #2 of 666
I've known about these for a while and two things worry me, first off they are not Stax compatible.  The bias is only 450VDC and who knows how they will behave at Pro bias levels.  It's all about how much headroom is built into the drivers.  Second issue is the general fail with any King Sound design I've seen.  It's almost if they don't fully understand the electrostatic principle and what makes it tick. 
 
Still it will be interesting to see test one of these and see how it responds to higher bias voltage. 
 
Jan 29, 2013 at 10:31 AM Post #3 of 666
I knew about these one day before Spritzer.  The Stax incompatible thing impresses me - it says they're taking on a titan in the market, and they're not backing down.  Cue the VHS/Betamax, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, format wars.  If they were charging an arm and a leg it would be a different story - at this price it will be an intriguing addition. If it ends up actually sounding good that's just a bonus.
 
Jan 29, 2013 at 10:35 AM Post #5 of 666
Look somewhat gaudy and a little cheap, kind of how I felt about the King Sound "Chinese Screen" style stats with printed dust covers I saw when in Hong Kong. Still, the proof will be in the listening, if they sound great, its a good development.
 
Jan 29, 2013 at 10:57 AM Post #7 of 666
Quote:
shipsupt said:
If they aren't going to work with existing amps I wonder why they are even quoting prices for headphones only?
Click to expand...

 
Replacements or spares perhaps.
 
 

Quote:
blackmore said:


They look ugly.
Click to expand...



 
They look like vintage and / or DIY stats. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

 
Jan 29, 2013 at 11:03 AM Post #9 of 666
It's always good to see more competitors in the market. Wonder how they'd compare with the ESP950s or the Lambdas which are in their price range...
 
Jan 29, 2013 at 11:04 AM Post #10 of 666
For building your own amp (or adjusting the bias supply in your existing amp), of course!  :D
 
Quote:
shipsupt said:
If they aren't going to work with existing amps I wonder why they are even quoting prices for headphones only?
Click to expand...

 
Jan 29, 2013 at 11:22 AM Post #12 of 666
Apparently ther is a sand as well as a tube amp.
The six moons report was done with the sand amp beacuse drew couldn't fit the tube amp in his gear when he left the CES show.
 
Jan 29, 2013 at 1:00 PM Post #14 of 666
dscythe said:
is it just me, or do they look to be incredibly cheaply made?
Click to expand...

I think they look pretty nice. The gold version of course is awful, but consider this darker version and better looking amp:

 
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