Hi jfrech , would you concur that the K10 has a tube like presentation , as has been reported .
Koda K10 preamp in my home for evaluation
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Hi jfrech , would you concur that the K10 has a tube like presentation , as has been reported .
Absolutely...the K10 is very dimensional, musical...has this relaxed quality about it, never aggressive...but super fast dynamics and resolution that can startle you. It seems to remove the gap on tubes/ss. Over the last 15 years I've owned a BAT VK50/50se/51se then a Nagra PLL and now the Koda k10...The BAT and Nagra were tubes...the Koda K10 is in different league than those very good preamps...
When I was evaluating the Nagra PLL, I choose it over a BAT Rex, Ayre KXR and Aesthetix Callisto Eclipse in head to head same system comparisons. Now the Nagra isn't better in every way than those three...but did have the best balance of virtues. So like on scale of 1-10 the BAT Rex would score 10 of a few of my items then a few 7 and 8's. Ditto the others. The Nagra kept coming up 9's on most everything.
The Koda comes up all 10's with a few 11's. Just doesn't seem to have a weakness...just strengths.
Enticing description...would love to hear it. Jazzhead...have you read Martin Collom's review of it?
I would like to specifically touch upon a few reported points 1) it's immunity to aftermarket PC's and isolation , due a well sorted out PSU and structural built 2) a relatively low voltage gain of 6dB , means that it will not pair well with a similarly low gain power amp , have you tried it any other amps other than your Ayre. 3) The need to advance the volume knob above the 12'o clock to obtain a satisfactory SPL , this being a throw back to it's unique fully analogue mechanical solution .
How does the K-10 do on top octave "air" which is a speciality with tube circuits . Look forward to your thoughts , thanks for taking the time to provide requested feed-back ..
Hi, will try to hit these one by one...
1a power cords. I've only used Shunyata - a King Cobra CX and a Anaconda Zitron. Both direct to the wall and into my Triton/Typhon. I prefer the Anaconda zitron and the Triton/Typhon...however the amount of improvement seems a lot smaller than my other gear. So some truth to this...1b Isolation...I don't know...only place I've used it in on my Grand Prix Silverstone F1
2) Low gain. I've had zero issues here. My dealer tried it with a few Nagra amps. Of course with Digital...you likely won't have a issue given the higher output of most digital front ends...on my phono stage...zero issues to...and I've used a .2mv cartridge along with a .56 mv into a 60 db gain phono stage. The .2mv I did have to turn it up about 3 notches from the top setting.
3)Be careful on this one...Koda K10 has a incredible hand built volume control (I heard this takes like a day to build just one volume control)...has (very special) resistor per channel in circuit...so if the control is at 9am or 3pm the volume control isn't effecting the sound the way a pot might. Also...the reason for the 6db gain..is Robert feels he as to attenuate less, doing less damage to incoming signal. It apparently the 6db gain is a important element to his sound...
More on low gain...I think system matching here is crucial...so if your amps are low gain...I can see why you need to explore this...
I think it does top octave air fantastically. Sweet but highly resolved, very extended but keeps the "tonal density" I've used the K10 with 2 speakers, Wilson Maxx 3's and now the Rockports Altairs. The Wilson's are sensitive to anything "hot" in the top...The Rockport's and the beryllium tweeter is delicate, extended...but also revealing...beautiful match on both speakers.
Might be worth reading this: http://www.monoandstereo.com/2013/01/robert-koda-takumi-k-10-preamplifier.html
Just my 2 cents. I've had the K10 on trial for 3 days. It's been on the rounds on different auditions, so only cold during transit, and I've fully expected it not to need extended bedding in before singing, despite Jfrech's advice to me that it might need several weeks. Have been running it on the UK distributor's isolation pucks, and a power cord that is highly regarded and sounds great w/my current Hovland HP200 tube pre.
Initial impressions until earlier today were a real frustrating contradiction - the good/excellent: bass texture/tone, and transparency, to die for, and a Zen like "stillness" to the music, allowing unimpeded flow (I know "stillness" and "flow" seem to be contradictory, what I mean is that vanishingly low noise floor and stability of soundstage allows music to come thru naturally). BUT...the bad: a veiling or muting of the higher frequencies, which just applied a brake to snap and dynamics. It almost felt like a hybrid brilliantly neutral SS/overly warm and wooly tube amp.
I was about to swap it out today, no way considering spending £25k on a flawed (in my system) component. But I switched out the distributor's pucks and replaced them w/Symposium Acoustics Rollerblocks 2 modules, and vitally, switched out the power cord and replaced it w/my current fave, the Sablon Audio Quantum Gran Corona. And let it warm up over a cup of coffee.
OMG!!! Totally transformed! The bass/transparency/near zero noise floor/calm flow, maintained and actually enhanced - but critically, the treble is just flowing from the speakers. And so the frustrating bad hybrid sound is morphed into a really hypnotic performer. I've just listened to a little Stanley Clarke fusion from the 70s, and the recording is being revealed in terms of ability to listen right into the mix, w/the soundstage extending well beyond the confines of the spkrs, but at the same time the message of the music is fully transmitted. Bass texture is providing the flesh, treble the fireworks, and transparency/low noise floor the relaxation.
I haven't heard vast numbers of SOTA tube and SS preamps, but I suggest it must really be up there, and really seems to occupy that rare strata, a device which sounds neither like tube or transistor, but something better.
My other main conclusion is that i TOTALLY DISAGREE that it's immune to power cords/isolation etc. The change to the Sablon PC and Symposium isolation have radically changed it's nature in my opinion, from interesting but flawed, to ground breaking.
Initial impressions until earlier today were a real frustrating contradiction - the good/excellent: bass texture/tone, and transparency, to die for, and a Zen like "stillness" to the music, allowing unimpeded flow (I know "stillness" and "flow" seem to be contradictory, what I mean is that vanishingly low noise floor and stability of soundstage allows music to come thru naturally). BUT...the bad: a veiling or muting of the higher frequencies, which just applied a brake to snap and dynamics. It almost felt like a hybrid brilliantly neutral SS/overly warm and wooly tube amp.
I was about to swap it out today, no way considering spending £25k on a flawed (in my system) component. But I switched out the distributor's pucks and replaced them w/Symposium Acoustics Rollerblocks 2 modules, and vitally, switched out the power cord and replaced it w/my current fave, the Sablon Audio Quantum Gran Corona. And let it warm up over a cup of coffee.
OMG!!! Totally transformed! The bass/transparency/near zero noise floor/calm flow, maintained and actually enhanced - but critically, the treble is just flowing from the speakers. And so the frustrating bad hybrid sound is morphed into a really hypnotic performer. I've just listened to a little Stanley Clarke fusion from the 70s, and the recording is being revealed in terms of ability to listen right into the mix, w/the soundstage extending well beyond the confines of the spkrs, but at the same time the message of the music is fully transmitted. Bass texture is providing the flesh, treble the fireworks, and transparency/low noise floor the relaxation.
I haven't heard vast numbers of SOTA tube and SS preamps, but I suggest it must really be up there, and really seems to occupy that rare strata, a device which sounds neither like tube or transistor, but something better.
My other main conclusion is that i TOTALLY DISAGREE that it's immune to power cords/isolation etc. The change to the Sablon PC and Symposium isolation have radically changed it's nature in my opinion, from interesting but flawed, to ground breaking.
Maybe a handful of banks if I listen to the K70 
! Seriously, I'm about to listen a pair of highly recommended horns which retail for not much more than the K10. If I like those, the dilemma will be - go for a radical new sound (horns) hoping not too much system/listener bias upheval; go for the K10 maxxing out my current setup; or see where the lay of the land lies settling back into my existing Hovland pre and optimise existing set up w/my Sablon cables of choice and more Entreq grounding (Atlantis add on box, Atlantis ground leads) and more Symposium Acoustics vibration isolation. The last option is the only likely one at present as I've emptied the bank account recently w/audio purchases, but more for the next couple of years.
! Seriously, I'm about to listen a pair of highly recommended horns which retail for not much more than the K10. If I like those, the dilemma will be - go for a radical new sound (horns) hoping not too much system/listener bias upheval; go for the K10 maxxing out my current setup; or see where the lay of the land lies settling back into my existing Hovland pre and optimise existing set up w/my Sablon cables of choice and more Entreq grounding (Atlantis add on box, Atlantis ground leads) and more Symposium Acoustics vibration isolation. The last option is the only likely one at present as I've emptied the bank account recently w/audio purchases, but more for the next couple of years.I am really happy you got to hear the K10 at it's best. Not sure what pucks the dealer was using ... your symposium (which i've always been fond of and own a set) always seem to work well. How you describe the K10 towards the end of your trial is exactly as I hear it...
And I agree...like everything good isolation and good power only help it...
Trust me, when it leaves your system...it'll be tough to be with out....that's what sold me...all the little things it excels at...just saying
And I agree...like everything good isolation and good power only help it...
Trust me, when it leaves your system...it'll be tough to be with out....that's what sold me...all the little things it excels at...just saying
I am really happy you got to hear the K10 at it's best...And I agree...like everything good isolation and good power only help it...
Trust me, when it leaves your system...it'll be tough to be with out....that's what sold me...all the little things it excels at...just saying
I too will be curious to hear how that bit goes...who knows? Maybe it wont "go" at all...maybe it will stay!
No boys, it'll deffo be going. I'm sanguine about the high end to not be too regretful if I miss out for a while. I've been wanting to make a comparison to my Hovland for a while, as the only component in my system that's been in longer than 2 years (7 years in the case of the HP200), but I was actually only going to consider another tube pre. I'm astonished at the (almost) non existent noise floor, and the balance of power and sweetness which seems to transcend the tubes v transistor divide.
Instinctively, I think its the one preamp I would consider seriously besides my GAT. I have no desire to switch, and I am not going to inconvenience the Distributor with an audition, as I definitely would not be serious about it. Nevertheless, from all the people I have spoken to who have heard it and/or own it, and based on Robert's lineage from Kondo, this piece is most intriguing.
Just taken the K10 out of my system ahead of it going back to the distributor tmrw. Feel I've got a handle on it, esp. how it morphed when switching power cords/isolation. The only "issue" I have w/it is a tad lack of drive w/more distorted music like metal/grunge/rap etc. This is only a minor criticism, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first choice to a headbanger/rap fan. This slight caveat aside, the opening up of the higher frequencies going to Sablon Quantum Gran Corona power cord/Symposium Rollerblocks has completed the spell - what a performer: an amazing stability of soundstage based on ultra low noise/overengineered power supply, really extended supple bass, transparent mids, and (now) fully extended highs. What is most impressive is the truly holistic quality, non highlighting of any one part of the presentation over any other - no spotlighting a la: Krell iron grip, Soulution ultra neutrality/transparency, BAT warmth etc. As a result, you can listen "thru" the mix, or just melt into the music. And like all great components, it gives you that amazing "remix" phenomenon - listening to a really familiar piece of music sounds totally fresh w/strands and themes totally new being revealed, but comfortable because the piece overeall remains totally familiar but enhanced - like a new music library/impvd existing one, all at the same time.
I have heard the Koda in 2 systems now and while it is a great preamp, the value add by spending so much on a preamp seems negligible compared to investing in speakers. I would rather put the money in my favorite speakers, the Tune Audio Anima or the Cessaros, or a good full range planar rather than invest in the Koda.
K10 review has just appeared in high Fidelity. It is in Polish now (you can try google translate) but it will probably end up on their english version soon.
http://www.highfidelity.pl/@main-2060&lang=
http://www.highfidelity.pl/@main-2060&lang=
That's the new K15 vs the K10. 65k list is USA
Apparently has noise and dynamic range specs off the charts good...
Have you tried a Kondo preamp? For the money of a K10 it might be interesting to try a KSL-M7 or M77. The M77 is an amazingly good preamp...maybe even worth the money . If I had that kind of dought I know I would start there.
It all depends what you are looking for. I had the Kondo M-1000 mk II at home for a couple of months (so a model above the M-77), and it was very nice sounding, very Kondo-like - smooth, full, fluid with a great texture, but it isn't the most transparent preamp around.
Hi guys. It's been a while since I last posted here. I've finally took the plunge and went for Robert Koda Takumi K-10 preamplifier. If you recall, it was with me for a prolonged time a while ago for a test and review. Took me some time, but finally I've put my money where my mouth is and bought it. K-10 will serve as both reference preamplifier and musical machine for my late night quality time with favourite records collection .
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2014/06/robert-koda-takumi-k-10-preamplifier.html
.http://www.monoandstereo.com/2014/06/robert-koda-takumi-k-10-preamplifier.html
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