Kii THREE Active Loudspeaker (Single)

Description

Includes 2 x Kii THREE speakers.

Standard Finishes are : Finetouch White and Finetouch Dark Grey.

Custom Finishes are : 

Nardo Grey – Rosso Corsa – Spring Green – Tempranillo Red Metallic – Phoenix Orange Metallic – Iced Green Metallic – Iced Sapphire Metallic – Azzurro High Gloss  – High Gloss White – Iced Bronze Metallic – Iced Titanium Metallic – Graphite Satin Metallic

The Secret of Big Speakers

Kiis mission for the THREE was to break the sonic mould of compact speakers. Powerful small speakers with deep bass have been around for a while now but none so far sounded like a big speaker. The THREE is built to fix that.

Basic acoustics tells us that a classic box speaker only directs sound towards the listeners from the midrange up while bass frequencies are radiated all around. The frequency where this change happens depends on the size of the box front (the baffle). The smaller the baffle, the higher the frequency at which bass is still radiated all around instead of directed towards the listener.

That, in short, is why big speakers have so far delivered much more precise timing and detail in the bass and low mids than small speakers: the room gets less chance to interfere. And that is what Kii has now managed to make a compact speaker do.

HIGH END TECHNIC IN COMPACT HOUSING!

Each Kii THREE contains six channels of DSP, D/A conversion and power amplification. Few companies could pull off such a densely packed design with truly world class performance electronics. But then again, few active speakers are designed by people who have previously turned high end power amplification and digital conversion around.

Each Kii THREE holds 6x250W power amplifier boards, designed by Bruno Putzeys using the latest iteration of the Ncore class D technology which he invented for Hypex. Unique to the implementation used in the Kii THREE is a combined voltage/current control loop that goes beyond merely a better amp it actively improves the distortion performance of the drive units which contributes significantly to the extreme resolution of the speaker.

Naturally, this means that the performance of the AD/DA conversion has to match that of the amps. This task fell to Bart van der Laan who has a long track record designing DSP and converter boards for high-end professional audio equipment. Kii Audios implementation is a runaway success: a complete pass through the AD/DA circuitry of the THREEs signal processing board is entirely inaudible, a feat not duplicated by the most expensive audiophile standalone units.

Alongside the Active Wave Focusing filters the DSP is responsible for keeping the drive units within their safe operating range by gently adapting the filters instead of brutally limiting the signal, allowing the THREE to play significantly louder and cleaner than much bigger traditional designs.

On the input side there is a choice of analogue, digital inputs. All digital inputs are re-sampled and reclocked using Kiis own jitter rejection algorithm that guarantees actual bits is bits audio performance for any digital source.

The electronics package alone sets a milestone. What it does in concert with the unique acoustic design defies imagination. You have to hear it to realise the magnitude of the revolution the Kii THREE represents.

Jacob Collier talks about his Kii THREEs

Jacob Collier is a two-time GRAMMY award-winning singer, composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist, based in London, England. Dubbed by many as one of the most innovative creative musicians of his generation, Jacob first rose to popularity through the virality of his homemade multi-track YouTube videos. In these, Jacob re-creates well-known songs, layering multiple voices and instruments on top of one another, and visualizes these with a multi-Jacob mosaic split-screen layout. Collier’s musical style fuses elements of jazz, a cappella, groove, folk, electronic music, classical music, gospel, soul and improvisation, and often features extreme use of re-harmonization. Since his inaugural video in 2011, Jacobs online social channels have garnered over 300K international followers and more than 13 million YouTube views. His viral hits, such as his rendition of Stevie Wonders Dont You Worry Bout A Thing, also made him popular among the Jazz community. Some legendary fans include Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, and Take 6, to name a few.

The Active Wave Focusing Solution

A loop hole in acoustics says that small directive speakers are possible – if you have enough drivers and you feed them the exact right signal. The THREE has a total of 6 ways, front, side and rear, working together to throw the sound in one direction only without relying on a baffle. The THREEs ability to direct bass is comparable to, but much better controlled than that of a traditional speaker several meters wide.

Category Killer

The THREE is the first compact speaker that exceeds the clarity of a full size sound system in a large room while its small size means its equally at home in much more modest spaces. In fact, smaller rooms will benefit most from the THREEs controlled bass. Better than big speakers at sounding big and better adapted for small rooms than other small speakers, the Kii THREE is a truly no-compromise product.