KingRex T20 + K1000 impressions/review
Aug 7, 2007 at 11:18 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 4

Firevortex

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Well I just received my T20 + PSU today. Currently I have the amp running for 4 hrs. which is not much in terms of burn in so consider my impressions as how this amp sounds right out of the box.

When I picked up the package today I was surprised to see how small and light the box feels. It surprised me even more when I pulled the unit not bigger then a normal paper back novel out of the package. Inside the retail box it contained a sheet of A4 size paper first I thought it was my invoice but upon closer inspection it’s the manual…which is looked like a home job MS word print out. At this stage I was disheartened with the feeling of been ripped off . The first thought cross my mind is how could this little thing power the mighty K1000 effectively? Its then, I saw the output connectors been banana type that made my heart sank. as I only had the spades tail line. After much deliberation I end up taping each spades connector loosely on the out puts and hope…luckily it worked. The built quality of the unit looks very clean with black face plate and 4 gold plated banana out puts and 2 gold plated RCA inputs at the back. The power input are the small round DC connecter type you see on chargers for your camera or mobile.

Ok lets get to the juicy part. How does this unit sound? Well from the outer appearance you just don’t expect this little thing to do much. My impressions of T amps are its sharp highs, thin sonic signature with super high resolution. KingRex retained the pros of a T amp (high resolution) but added depth and lustrous mids of a tube amp in the mix. The musical performance is warm, liquid smooth midrange but retains that sparking highs a T amp would give. But with such full sound you would expect to have a deep bass that rivals it…unfortunately this is the only department the KingRex falls short on a K1000. Against my pure class A amp the KingRex lost about 20% on bass impact. However, what it has over my class A amp is its resolution and warmth. The feeling I got when I first heard the K1000 quickly came back in mind. my music are sparking. With the resolution this amp puts out and paired with the most analytical headphone I was able to hear accentuations of good and bad recordings (good became better, bad became worse). Even the breathing sound of a violinist was amplified. The additional PSU I ordered amplifies all the qualities of the amp especially the warm luster and added more depth to the sound, thus expanding the soundstage. I would recommend buying the PSU as well.

What strike me the most is how well this amp sounded with classical orchestra performances, especially that of the string/brass. The warm luster resonated from the violins reminded me of the time I changed my $200 learner violin to a $2000 concert violin. This warm lustrous signature however, didn’t over shadow the sparking highs or mellow up the sound stage. Each instrument is clearly presented on the vast sound stage. if I close my eyes i could point out each instrument and their positions on stage. I think most experienced audiophiles would tell by now such sound signature would go extremely well with jazz and vocals. Well you’re right. The female vocal coupled by smooth mellow tune of the saxophone and deep resilience of bass guitar just melts you away and takes you to blues heaven. You might think this lay back warm signature won’t go well with pop or rock genre. Boy, are you wrong! Don’t expect to feel the heavy impact of the drums or the brain smashing bass on your K1000, leave that to the $2000+ amps :p however, electric guitar and vocals are both sweetened by this tube texture. Yet the fast resolution and sonic signature of a solidstate is also clearly present. I have to point out one major weak point of this amp; the presentation of the piano. I’m not quite sure why but piano just sound rather fake on this amp. Especially when piano parts are bought forward, in piano sonatas pieces it’s much more evident. The impacts of the keys are there but it seems to be layered by this warm luster

After 2 hrs of critical listening. I have to say I’m very impressed with this amp + psu. I initially bought this amp on a hunch after reading the reviews on 6moon but this amp + psu combo has certainly gone over my expectations for such cheap price. All the praise aside, I must say this amp is not with out flaws. Main flaws are with the bass department, it doesn’t have the impact compared to my class A. Also there are times when highs a too bright to my liking. I think both of those problems will get better over time after burn in. Driving the K1000 however is pushing this amp…I did my critical listening at about 2 o’clock for pop/rock/jazz, 4 o’clock on the volume knob for classical. I took the headphone off and test it with full volume cranked up (unless your half deaf you’ll never need such volume). I can hear cracking and distortions started to appear. While with full volume on my class A there were never distortions. Could it be not having the right connectors on my K1000?

Is the Kingrex T20 + PSU that perfect amp for K1000? Certainly no. but for the price vs performance ratio, its one hell of a contender for the low budget K1000 amps out there. With the preamp unit releasing I’ll say this little package is only gonna sound better.


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Aug 7, 2007 at 12:30 PM Post #2 of 4
wow nice write up!
very good read, highly enjoyed it
smily_headphones1.gif


when i first received my t20 i did notice that it was a bit bright, but it eventually smoothened out. i really like your analogy of the beginner and concert violin! in my setup there wasn't lack of bass but after burn-in i could tell that it bass hits were more natural sounding.

i should get my modded t20 back early next week, cant wait!
 
Aug 7, 2007 at 9:15 PM Post #3 of 4
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrjabba /img/forum/go_quote.gif
wow nice write up!
very good read, highly enjoyed it
smily_headphones1.gif


when i first received my t20 i did notice that it was a bit bright, but it eventually smoothened out. i really like your analogy of the beginner and concert violin! in my setup there wasn't lack of bass but after burn-in i could tell that it bass hits were more natural sounding.

i should get my modded t20 back early next week, cant wait!



well its hard to squeeze bass out of an K1000. i'm hoping adding the class A amp i got as pre might beef things up. the major issue i see with this amp is the reproduction of piano. i think nothing can change that. did you notice the same?

hopefully i'll get my banana tail end soon. then i'll do more critical listening.
 

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