Hello:
Anyone has compared (in detail) the Kann and the Kann Cube? I have the classic Kann and I don't know if it's worth buying the new model. Thanks in advance!
First of all: soundwise. If you like your Kann, you might not necessarily like the Cube. It has a completely different sound signature. I went for it without auditioning, purely based on some positive feedback from the Cube thread. Failure. I thought the Kann was neutral, but sounds warm compared to the Cube.
On the Cube the harsh sound of some brass instruments is piercing my ears (e.g. very beginning of Carmina Burana from the London Philharmonic Choir) On the Kann it was bearable. Maybe I am just too sensitive to that. Wooden instruments are also having warmer sound on the Kann. I do not now what to do. Right now I am burning in the new sound signature to my brain, and hope that I will like it in a month. If not, I may have to turn on the EQ, which I prefer not to. Or swap to the Kann.
On the other hand, the Cube sounds cristall clear, the stage is wide open, surprisingly wide and deep. I will have to check it with Kann when I have the opportunity again. Maybe I was not giving much attention to that earlier.
I liked the bass on the Kann. On the Cube it might be tighter. I need some more listening time.
The power: As far as remember on Kann I was using around power level 120 on SE, 85 on balanced with LCD-3, and 90 on SE with AKG K812. Same on the Cube. The difference is that it was high gain setting on Kann, low on Cube.
The Kann was able to drive two cans at he same time, one on the 3.5 jack, one on the balanced 2.5. Nice feature for showing music to someone. It seems the Cube kan only drive one output at a time.
The Kann was big. But still fit comfortable to the palm and in a pocket. The Cube is HUGE. Its sharp edges and pointy corners
definitely need separate bag to carry. Its more a BRICK with it's half a kilo, but it does not sound that fancy from marketing point of view .
The Kann does not support natively streaming services like Qobuz (even if it was marketed hat it is prepared for every need even for the future), or Tidal offline listening. You can install the Qobuz app, or Spotify on the Cube pretty simply, however you need the help of a computer for it. Then it works as on any android phone.
The Kann can take a microSD and a full size SD card at the same time. The Cube can take only one microSD card, no SD. Right now I just remember something mentioned about external disc in Cube instruction manual, I have to check it up. It would be an interesting option.
However, I prefer streaming, so I do not mind too much the local storage.
The screen is bigger on the Cube. But it was OK on the Kann.
Once again: if you have the possibility, listen before buy, it is so much different.