Nice to see the Table Stable active isolation table under that baby...
Robert Koda Takumi K15 Preamp
- Thread starter Namaste
- Start date
Nice to see the Table Stable active isolation table under that baby...
while I don't have one under my pre (may try one in the not too distant future), I use the TS 140 under my Air Force One turntable. It provided a very significant sonic improvement.
I also enjoy my TS-150 under my dart pre; can't wait for the 'new' dart pre to take the old one's place.
I am using Halcyonics vario devices under my (wooden) audio racks and as a consequence under my audio components (apart from my power amps). The contribution to the sound quality is very significant indeed, notwithstanding that all my components are located on an part of my floor that is completely disconnected from the floor where my Genesis 1.1 loudspeakers are standing. If you force me to choose, I believe that the positive effect under my tubed preamp was the most impressive although all components were very clearly helped. So in short, I am not surprised about your findings.
How do you use the Halcyonics with the Shun Mook Ultras that you have, and what is the difference that you find?
WoW, so many active anti-vibration platform users here!
Here are photos taken three days ago. Comparison of Accurion i4 vs Herzan TS-150 !
WoW, so many active anti-vibration platform users here!
Here are photos taken three days ago. Comparison of Accurion i4 vs Herzan TS-150 !
View attachment 19848
View attachment 19849
View attachment 19850
Which do you prefer...Table Stable or Accurion ?
Hi Christian,
The story is long and has many photos.
I will post it in the Audio Tweaks Forum when have time today.
CK
I would suggest that using a wooden shelf under those active shelves will compromise any rigorous comparison. the wood is a compliant surface with it's own degree of flex so will reduce the ultimate performance. you need something a bit more unyielding and grounded to reduce the influence of the supporting structure. and I assume there is a concrete floor hopefully on the ground floor of the building with a solid firm floor interface (a spike is ideal).
the rack with the steel/metal legs looks promising based on what I can see in the picture; I cannot tell what shelf material is used.
I'm not suggesting that the active devices are not effective on less than ideal shelves, only that comparative information between the two products would be provisional.
Hi Mike,
You do understand these active anti-vibration platforms and are meticulous. Good!
The two platforms are not tested on that all-wood rack. Don't worry. They were placed there just for photo taking.
On the other hand, the ideal habitat such as concrete floor, G/F of a building ...etc is rarely feasible in the home environment of audiophiles. Some compromise is inevitable but it's fair for both brands to operate in the same less-than-ideal condition.
Sirs
I am sorry for not replying to this thread over a long period of time as I have been too busy with work while I've just had another baby boy, so daddy job takes all my time. Now I have the K15 running in here and its getting better and better everyday. I have to say I am lucky enough to have the privilege to have the K15 in my home, and I will write a proper review soon which I will make comparisons between the K15 to the K10 and some decent valve preamps which I had before.
Some contributions and inputs from other owners of the K15 needed here as there is limited information about this pre online.
All the best,
SR
I am sorry for not replying to this thread over a long period of time as I have been too busy with work while I've just had another baby boy, so daddy job takes all my time. Now I have the K15 running in here and its getting better and better everyday. I have to say I am lucky enough to have the privilege to have the K15 in my home, and I will write a proper review soon which I will make comparisons between the K15 to the K10 and some decent valve preamps which I had before.
Some contributions and inputs from other owners of the K15 needed here as there is limited information about this pre online.
All the best,
SR
I am very curious here. I have a person interested in buying my K10 and then I'll get a K15...looking forward to your comments !
Dear Sirs
As English is my second language and I am not a professional reviewer, so that I try my best to give you my feelings about this special product. I have no benefit when doing this, just purely sharing my experience as an insane audiophile who loves music and audio equipment.
Firstly, I can say the Koda K15 is a superb pre in every aspect which I can hear the differences compared to its sibling, the Koda K10. In fact, the experiences I have with the K15 during the running in period are very similar to what I had with the K10.
In the early day when the K15 was new, although it has the Koda house sound, the quality was not as good as the K10. It seems the K15 had thinner sound and lacked the boldness (full body and heavy weigh) compared to the K10. However, the K15 had bigger soundstage and push it further away from the listening position. This trait remains even after the running period.
In fact, the K10 provides so much details but the K15 lifts this to few more notches. The trebles are superb and I can feel them everywhere in the air with incredible details which I could not recognise before with the K10. Given that, the K15 sounded bright and thin when newly running in. But after 100 hours, this changed remarkably with more weight on the sound with very high definition.
Midrange and vocals are fantastic, the K15 produces those even smoother and more live like presentation compared to the K10. I feel the instruments sound better with the K15 too, especially the piano, the guitar and the violin. I tried so many classical CDs with the K15 and I can say this amp sounds best with this type of music. I can simply change CDs and listen to my system the whole day with joy and excitement from duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sonatas, concertos, symphony...That said, if you are listening most to classical, this K15 preamp is the killer.
In fact, besides classical and vocals I listen to various types of music from rock, pop, jazz to electronics, instrumentals etc. So that I tried all of them with the K15 and I see the sound quality depends on recordings. The K15 is a very transparent and honest pre. I still remembered how I was stunned when listening to the K10 revealing my CDs collection but the K15 does this even better. There is no mercy or tolerance with the K15 with poor recordings while the K10 is 'somehow' polishing the sound to make them to become nicer.
For the bass, as the k15 is still running in and I have not yet heard its full capacity, therefore it sounds similar to the day when I just received my brand new K10 with 'floating' bass. I believe in the long run, the K15 will achieve the bass quality of the K10 now and maybe even better. However, what I can hear clearly is the K15 produces more bass than the K10 albeit lack of control in the very low notes at the moment when it allows the bass keep flowing and vibrating (if you know what I mean). For easier to compare, let imagine the K10 produces the bass like a hammer with flat surface while the K15 with 'curve surface'. Thus, you can hear more slam, more punch and higher definition bass with the K10 at the moment.
Nevertheless, as previously stated, the K15 is still running in and its getting better and better everyday. I dont know when it reaches full capacity, how more amazing it could sound. But now, the K10 comes quite close to the performance which the K15 can offer although with a bit less details, a bit smaller and closer soundstage, a bit less smooth and transparent, but better with the low end.
Comparing the K15 to some decent valve pres which I had before like Einstein, Allnic and BAT. The K15 has all the virtues of tube sounds such as truly musical and involving. It is very easy for me to listen to the music and forgetting to evaluate the sound when listen to the K15. I did have several ss pres before so I see the K15 combines the best of both world inside its body to create a superb performance in terms of reproducing music. It gives me the feeling like no others, especially in beautiful midrange, and lot of details with flying trebles. The bass quantity which the K15 offers is as good as the tube pres but (I believe will be) better in quality like the K10 does.
All the above is my own feelings and experiences about the K15 when having it here with me for a limited period of time. Unfortunately, I cannot buy it at the moment due to my family commitment and I wish I had the dose to keep this pre with me forever. I hope in the future, I will be able to afford it without any hesitation regarding my limited budget. If you have the money, I strongly recommend you to try the K15 and compare it to any pre available on the market then decide for yourself. I bet you dont want to see this awesome pre leaving your rack after 100h or so. You will miss it, I mean really miss it.
Best regards,
SR
As English is my second language and I am not a professional reviewer, so that I try my best to give you my feelings about this special product. I have no benefit when doing this, just purely sharing my experience as an insane audiophile who loves music and audio equipment.
Firstly, I can say the Koda K15 is a superb pre in every aspect which I can hear the differences compared to its sibling, the Koda K10. In fact, the experiences I have with the K15 during the running in period are very similar to what I had with the K10.
In the early day when the K15 was new, although it has the Koda house sound, the quality was not as good as the K10. It seems the K15 had thinner sound and lacked the boldness (full body and heavy weigh) compared to the K10. However, the K15 had bigger soundstage and push it further away from the listening position. This trait remains even after the running period.
In fact, the K10 provides so much details but the K15 lifts this to few more notches. The trebles are superb and I can feel them everywhere in the air with incredible details which I could not recognise before with the K10. Given that, the K15 sounded bright and thin when newly running in. But after 100 hours, this changed remarkably with more weight on the sound with very high definition.
Midrange and vocals are fantastic, the K15 produces those even smoother and more live like presentation compared to the K10. I feel the instruments sound better with the K15 too, especially the piano, the guitar and the violin. I tried so many classical CDs with the K15 and I can say this amp sounds best with this type of music. I can simply change CDs and listen to my system the whole day with joy and excitement from duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sonatas, concertos, symphony...That said, if you are listening most to classical, this K15 preamp is the killer.
In fact, besides classical and vocals I listen to various types of music from rock, pop, jazz to electronics, instrumentals etc. So that I tried all of them with the K15 and I see the sound quality depends on recordings. The K15 is a very transparent and honest pre. I still remembered how I was stunned when listening to the K10 revealing my CDs collection but the K15 does this even better. There is no mercy or tolerance with the K15 with poor recordings while the K10 is 'somehow' polishing the sound to make them to become nicer.
For the bass, as the k15 is still running in and I have not yet heard its full capacity, therefore it sounds similar to the day when I just received my brand new K10 with 'floating' bass. I believe in the long run, the K15 will achieve the bass quality of the K10 now and maybe even better. However, what I can hear clearly is the K15 produces more bass than the K10 albeit lack of control in the very low notes at the moment when it allows the bass keep flowing and vibrating (if you know what I mean). For easier to compare, let imagine the K10 produces the bass like a hammer with flat surface while the K15 with 'curve surface'. Thus, you can hear more slam, more punch and higher definition bass with the K10 at the moment.
Nevertheless, as previously stated, the K15 is still running in and its getting better and better everyday. I dont know when it reaches full capacity, how more amazing it could sound. But now, the K10 comes quite close to the performance which the K15 can offer although with a bit less details, a bit smaller and closer soundstage, a bit less smooth and transparent, but better with the low end.
Comparing the K15 to some decent valve pres which I had before like Einstein, Allnic and BAT. The K15 has all the virtues of tube sounds such as truly musical and involving. It is very easy for me to listen to the music and forgetting to evaluate the sound when listen to the K15. I did have several ss pres before so I see the K15 combines the best of both world inside its body to create a superb performance in terms of reproducing music. It gives me the feeling like no others, especially in beautiful midrange, and lot of details with flying trebles. The bass quantity which the K15 offers is as good as the tube pres but (I believe will be) better in quality like the K10 does.
All the above is my own feelings and experiences about the K15 when having it here with me for a limited period of time. Unfortunately, I cannot buy it at the moment due to my family commitment and I wish I had the dose to keep this pre with me forever. I hope in the future, I will be able to afford it without any hesitation regarding my limited budget. If you have the money, I strongly recommend you to try the K15 and compare it to any pre available on the market then decide for yourself. I bet you dont want to see this awesome pre leaving your rack after 100h or so
. You will miss it, I mean really miss it. Best regards,
SR
I had the K10 here for trial some 2 yrs ago. A truly stellar performer, you could swear you were listening to the best of tubes. Let down by it's volume control and lack of graduations, which I believe the K15 has addressed. If it's even better, w/more practical volume control, then it will be close to beyond compare.
SR, thank you so much for posting. I to love my K10 and hopefully can hear a K15 one day soon...
Spirit, I went from a Nagra PLL with a infinitely variable volume control to the Koda K10 with ~40 steps. It just doesn't bother me at all. I tend to listen to just 1 or 2 settings on vinyl and then 1 or 2 different settings for digital. Could be the sensitivity of your speakers, how the amps matched up to the k10 or just your preference - all of which are good ! Not arguing...we're just opposite on this one...and that's ok!
Spirit, I went from a Nagra PLL with a infinitely variable volume control to the Koda K10 with ~40 steps. It just doesn't bother me at all. I tend to listen to just 1 or 2 settings on vinyl and then 1 or 2 different settings for digital. Could be the sensitivity of your speakers, how the amps matched up to the k10 or just your preference - all of which are good ! Not arguing...we're just opposite on this one...and that's ok!
Sure J, I could NEVER get my volume right. I'm now on a 100-step volume on my Nat Audio preamp, and am a lot happier.
But I was left breathless by the K10 sound quality, it's in a league of it's own.
But I was left breathless by the K10 sound quality, it's in a league of it's own.
Saw this posted on Mono and Stereo K-15 Extreme
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2015/08/robert-koda-takumi-k-15-extreme.html#more
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2015/08/robert-koda-takumi-k-15-extreme.html#more
Info of K15 Extreme at Audioexotics Forum :
The entire true balance differential circuit board inside the EX is brand new. Technically speaking, it is a completely new preamplifier.
The following is from Robert's simulation result:
The following is a spectrograph. There are 7 singular frequencies fed into the amplifier and they are represented by 7 sharp vertical spikes that each go up to about "-95" on the vertical scale on the left hand side.
Both K-15 and the K15EX show the 7 singular frequencies. Now looking lower down towards the bottom, you can see a whole bunch of shorter vertical lines, mostly in red. Each of those lines represents a new frequency the amplifier has generated (Distortion) and the height of each line indicates the strength of each distortion.
You will see that there is also a little bit in green (becoming yellow if it coincides with red). The green graph is for K15EX and the red graph is for the original K-15. This is NOT an illustration. It is a high powered simulation.
The results show K15EX does substantially better than the K15.
On average, not only are the intensity of each distortion reduced by about 30 times but also K15EX has fewer of them to begin with.
http://audioexotics.hk/forum/#/disc...-the-robert-koda-takumi-k-15-preamplifier-new
The entire true balance differential circuit board inside the EX is brand new. Technically speaking, it is a completely new preamplifier.
The following is from Robert's simulation result:
The following is a spectrograph. There are 7 singular frequencies fed into the amplifier and they are represented by 7 sharp vertical spikes that each go up to about "-95" on the vertical scale on the left hand side.
Both K-15 and the K15EX show the 7 singular frequencies. Now looking lower down towards the bottom, you can see a whole bunch of shorter vertical lines, mostly in red. Each of those lines represents a new frequency the amplifier has generated (Distortion) and the height of each line indicates the strength of each distortion.
You will see that there is also a little bit in green (becoming yellow if it coincides with red). The green graph is for K15EX and the red graph is for the original K-15. This is NOT an illustration. It is a high powered simulation.
The results show K15EX does substantially better than the K15.
On average, not only are the intensity of each distortion reduced by about 30 times but also K15EX has fewer of them to begin with.
http://audioexotics.hk/forum/#/disc...-the-robert-koda-takumi-k-15-preamplifier-new
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