[smial1966]

Dying for some impressions from KING owners, even if they're only preliminary ones. Please folks! 

 
Quote:

  Well, I am just letting it run in for a while. Will get to some serious listening soon. 

 

[Leotis]

The silence is deafening methinks.
Off to Can Jam today.
Perhaps I can obtain a first hand listen.
Will have something to say later I expect.

 

[TommyCat69]

Can't wait either. Ordered this amp (seems like) ages ago and hoping for delivery next week. Will be happy to share my initial impressions.

 

[Pale Rider]

  The silence is deafening methinks.
Off to Can Jam today.
Perhaps I can obtain a first hand listen.
Will have something to say later I expect.

Well, I can't speak for others, but please don't draw any conclusions because someone hasn't posted extensive listening reports. My brief listen was favorable as reported earlier. Since that time, i have not had an opportunity to: (1) locate my SE cable for my LCD-4 or 2; (2) have not set up my system to accommodate easy switching between the King and my GS-X Mk2 behind the NADAC; and (3) have not been at home to listen. In the meantime, I have been running the amp out of a Lumin and into HD800 24/7, so that there is no question it is ready when I do sit down with my track list to listen critically.
 
So, for me, no, the silence is not "deafening." I will post when I think I have something worthwhile to say. I ca share that at least one other user has shared with me privately that his King has gone belly up already. That's unfortunate and a serious quality failure.
 
Hope you enjoy CanJam and get to listen, though such conditions are rarely conducive to critical listening.

 

[smial1966]

Crikey, a defective unit is somewhat worrying considering the limited initial release of the KING. How many were distributed via the Indiegogo campaign, 20 to 30 units possibly? With one already tanked unit.

Well, I can't speak for others, but please don't draw any conclusions because someone hasn't posted extensive listening reports. My brief listen was favorable as reported earlier. Since that time, i have not had an opportunity to: (1) locate my SE cable for my LCD-4 or 2; (2) have not set up my system to accommodate easy switching between the King and my GS-X Mk2 behind the NADAC; and (3) have not been at home to listen. In the meantime, I have been running the amp out of a Lumin and into HD800 24/7, so that there is no question it is ready when I do sit down with my track list to listen critically.

So, for me, no, the silence is not "deafening." I will post when I think I have something worthwhile to say. I ca share that at least one other user has shared with me privately that his King has gone belly up already. That's unfortunate and a serious quality failure.

Hope you enjoy CanJam and get to listen, though such conditions are rarely conducive to critical listening.

 

[Leotis]

My buddy took some pictures if anyone wants to take a look.
https://audiobacon.net/2016/03/20/canjam-socal-2016/

 

[nydo]

"Crikey, a defective unit is somewhat worrying considering the limited initial release of the KING. How many were distributed via the Indiegogo campaign, 20 to 30 units possibly? With one already tanked unit. "
 
 
I'm number 83 in the queue for these, so there are a bit more than 20 or 30 of them being made. I haven't got the notice of mine being finished and ready to ship yet.

 

[Pale Rider]

First serious listening impressions. These are not comparative to the GS-X mk2, simply the first reactions after listening for about 4 hours. Note the following:
 
1. King burned in for over a week. Fed by a Lumin A1 playing straight throughout that time.
2. King is fed balanced by the Lumin.
3. Listened on both Sennheiser HD800 and Audez'e LCD-4, both of course single-ended. 
4. Note that the Lumin can only play up to DSD64.
 
Tracks:
 
1. Dire Straits/Dire Straits/DSD64/Entire Album 
2. Black Dub/Black Dub/14-44/Surely 
3. Verdi Requiem/Atlanta Symphony/Telarc 14-44
4. Patricia Barber/Café Blue/DSD64Entire Disc
5. Fiona Joy Hawkins/Blue Dream/DSD64/Entire Album
6. R-Men/ I Thought About You/14-44/Entire Album
7. Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto/Getz Gilberto/DSD64/Entire Album
8. Dire Straits/Brothers in Arms/DSD64/Entire Album
9. Supertramp/Crime of the Century Blu-Ray Audio 192/24/Entire Album
 
Normal Go-To Tracks I Did Not Use:
 
1. Emily Palen, Glass: Live At Grace Cathedral
2. Piano In A Church
3. Arne Domnérus/Jazz At The Pawnshop
 
Impressions:
 
1. Musicality. King delivers, and LCD-4 reproduces, bass and mid-bass with authority. Vocals sound liquid, highs slightly rolled off, but then, so is my hearing. Black Dub's Surely sounded, to my memory, just as "round and full" as the Headamp. Surely is a nice showpiece track for the LCD-4, and the King does not disappoint. R-men sounded especially good. Jazz club "intimacy" impression is very good. Nice transients, but would like to listen to Pawnshop and do so some direct comparisons here with the Headamp. On the Getz/Gilberto, the King reproduces the air around the vocals and sax very well.
2. Accuracy. The King seems to lock on to notes well, and deliver them in space with accuracy. Soundstage is not exaggerated, but it seems a bit wider on the LCD-4 than the Headamp. This will require further listening. The two albums I mention above that I did not listen to, Glass & Piano In A Church, will help better assess.Tremendous sense of acoustics in those recordings.
3. Soundstage. As mentioned, the King throws a nice soundstage. On the HD800, it sounds especially good with the breadth of the ASO on the Verdi Requiem. But see my comments on dynamics below.
4. Dynamics. Here is where I was somewhat disappointed. The King sounds restrained. On recordings like the Requiem, and Surely, there is a feeling of a "box" around the listening experience, as if the music could be more "brilliant" or 'explosive," if the amp would just permit. NB: I have been listening mostly to my Stax SR-009 on a KGSSHV Carbon, and with that as my reference point, it is easy for others amp/phone combos to sound "dull." I am not inclined to characterize the King/LCD-4 combination as "dull," but they did seem less dynamic than I might have wanted. Not quite the PRAT I expected.
 
More to come, with more comparative time between my two non-electrostatic amps, and possibly my Taboo III if I get the chance. Please note these are preliminary impressions only.

 

[Leotis]

Thank you for posting your impressions.
Given your gear list you should have a good frame of reference.
With your overall positive impression it looks like a worthy product.
Relative to its price point,would consider it a fair deal, a good deal, a great deal or "other"?
I appreciate your opinion.

 

[Pale Rider]

  Thank you for posting your impressions.
Given your gear list you should have a good frame of reference.
With your overall positive impression it looks like a worthy product.
Relative to its price point,would consider it a fair deal, a good deal, a great deal or "other"?
I appreciate your opinion.

Probably a little early for me to say. I was an early backer, so I got the best possible price, roughly in the same price neighborhood as my GS-X mk2. That's why I want to do more comparative listening, especially with those tracks where the dynamics issue seemed most pronounced [to make sure I am neither imagining something nor ascribing to the King a fault of the recording], and with the Glass and Piano recordings, which are very revealing.

 

[smial1966]

Any more listening impressions now that KING owners have had their units a couple of months? 

 

[nydo]

I still haven't received mine, and I was around number 50 of the people that bought one of the amps on Indiegogo. They announced that they would commence building and shipping after more metalwork problems about two weeks ago, and should have all of the units out by the end of May, so I suspect that the vast majority of people that bought The King still don't have one. Incidentally, in a previous post on this thread, I stated that I am number 83 in the queue for this amp (the number they gave me in the email asking for my shipping address several months ago), but an examination of the web page tells me that that number includes all the people that contributed $5 for a t shirt . 

 

[smial1966]

@Pale Rider
 
As it's nearly 2 months since you posted your early impressions of KING, are you able to share a more indepth perspective with thread readers? Thank you kindly!  
 
Quote:

  First serious listening impressions. These are not comparative to the GS-X mk2, simply the first reactions after listening for about 4 hours. Note the following:
 
1. King burned in for over a week. Fed by a Lumin A1 playing straight throughout that time.
2. King is fed balanced by the Lumin.
3. Listened on both Sennheiser HD800 and Audez'e LCD-4, both of course single-ended. 
4. Note that the Lumin can only play up to DSD64.
 
Tracks:
 
1. Dire Straits/Dire Straits/DSD64/Entire Album 
2. Black Dub/Black Dub/14-44/Surely 
3. Verdi Requiem/Atlanta Symphony/Telarc 14-44
4. Patricia Barber/Café Blue/DSD64Entire Disc
5. Fiona Joy Hawkins/Blue Dream/DSD64/Entire Album
6. R-Men/ I Thought About You/14-44/Entire Album
7. Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto/Getz Gilberto/DSD64/Entire Album
8. Dire Straits/Brothers in Arms/DSD64/Entire Album
9. Supertramp/Crime of the Century Blu-Ray Audio 192/24/Entire Album
 
Normal Go-To Tracks I Did Not Use:
 
1. Emily Palen, Glass: Live At Grace Cathedral
2. Piano In A Church
3. Arne Domnérus/Jazz At The Pawnshop
 
Impressions:
 
1. Musicality. King delivers, and LCD-4 reproduces, bass and mid-bass with authority. Vocals sound liquid, highs slightly rolled off, but then, so is my hearing. Black Dub's Surely sounded, to my memory, just as "round and full" as the Headamp. Surely is a nice showpiece track for the LCD-4, and the King does not disappoint. R-men sounded especially good. Jazz club "intimacy" impression is very good. Nice transients, but would like to listen to Pawnshop and do so some direct comparisons here with the Headamp. On the Getz/Gilberto, the King reproduces the air around the vocals and sax very well.
2. Accuracy. The King seems to lock on to notes well, and deliver them in space with accuracy. Soundstage is not exaggerated, but it seems a bit wider on the LCD-4 than the Headamp. This will require further listening. The two albums I mention above that I did not listen to, Glass & Piano In A Church, will help better assess.Tremendous sense of acoustics in those recordings.
3. Soundstage. As mentioned, the King throws a nice soundstage. On the HD800, it sounds especially good with the breadth of the ASO on the Verdi Requiem. But see my comments on dynamics below.
4. Dynamics. Here is where I was somewhat disappointed. The King sounds restrained. On recordings like the Requiem, and Surely, there is a feeling of a "box" around the listening experience, as if the music could be more "brilliant" or 'explosive," if the amp would just permit. NB: I have been listening mostly to my Stax SR-009 on a KGSSHV Carbon, and with that as my reference point, it is easy for others amp/phone combos to sound "dull." I am not inclined to characterize the King/LCD-4 combination as "dull," but they did seem less dynamic than I might have wanted. Not quite the PRAT I expected.
 
More to come, with more comparative time between my two non-electrostatic amps, and possibly my Taboo III if I get the chance. Please note these are preliminary impressions only.

 

[smial1966]

Any KING impressions updates anyone? Throw me a sonic crumb guys! 

 

[CedricFromParis]

I'm still waiting my unit for delivery in France...