Kaiju thoughts / mini review

[slm]

Have been listening to Kaiju for a few days now and very impressed .
Build was pretty straightforward except for my own ham-fistedness .
Had a slip during driver stage testing and wiped out a constant current source board and the zener string . Its my fourth bottlehead kit and first major stuff up ( hands not steady enough ) . Love the test as you go process - makes troubleshooting much easier compared to the earlier kits.

Associated gear :

I have several amps which rotate through 2 systems .

Main system : Coincident PRE speakers . Sources Rakk dac II for 16/44 and esoteric D-07 handles the higher sample rates . Bee pre on preamp duties
Analog - garrard 301 with zyx airy 3. and K & K audio maxxed out phono


Other system is Josh Stippich custom field coil berrylium compression drivers into le cleach 150hz horns with 15 inch bass drivers ( very idiosyncratic speakers but do some things better than any other i've heard )

Comparison amps are paramounts with some cap rolling and magnequest outputs and plate chokes.
Homemade dc 845 set amps
Almarro 318b
211 monoblock set amps which were roughly 5 times cost of Kaiju Limited edition  and another pair of set amps which were nearly 10 times as much as the Kaiju ( don't want to name names !)

Compared to all the other amplifiers the Kaiju are clearly superior in my system, and in some areas dramatically so .

The imaging is extraordinary ( my wife's word was expansive) Instruments and voices are placed precisely yet still beautifully integrated . The image extends far beyond the back wall of the listening room , stands much higher and wider than the speakers and extends forward into the room  . On the opening track to Roger waters "amused to death" a dog bark startled me as it appeared to come directly to my right at 90 degrees to the main image . I replayed it to check it was on the track and not the neighbours dog . Actually swapped amps around after this to compare, none of my other amps are close . On several orchestral tracks ( Dorati firebird does it best) in the period just before the music starts, the walls fall away and I have the unnerving sense of being in a large hall .

The bass is easily 1/2 an octave deeper ( subjectively - not measured ) than the other amps , with the exception of the almarro which has similar depth but not the quality . Its the first tube amp in the coincident system where the bass was satisfying .

The clarity is stunning with the leading edge of guitar notes ( Eric Clapton "Slowhand" Hi Res ) perfectly natural, and cymbals shimmering .The strike of piano notes on Martha Agerich Rach 3 is staggering and captures beautifully the scale of a concert grand.  Voices are just plain real ( Angus and Julia stone "draw your swords" was mesmerizing ) and the tone and timbre for acoustic instruments have a righteousness that I am really enjoying.

The Kaiju's are stock, so while I realize Doc chooses parts carefully I suspect there are several places that gains can be made . ( I'm thinking v-caps for coupling and some cerafine cathode bypasses on the 300b's??).

I really appreciated the layout which clearly recognizes the parts which rollers will feel compelled to change and places them in easy reach for the soldering iron.

Currently they are not quiet enough on the horns and even on coincident speakers could be a little blacker in the background ( best I could get was about 6.5 mV on both channels ) but I have yet to install dc supplies so my only quibble will, I suspect be solved .

Thanks Doc B - a lovely piece of kit !!!

The limited edition livery sitting next to the standard Bee pre makes it look a bit sad .........

Worth precisely my $0.02 YMMV

 

[johnsonad]

Nice post, now for some pics when you have the time please?

The Kiaju DC will take that hum down quiet a bit.

 

[slm]

Ha Ha - confession to make before photos . I haven't finished the base - either on the Kaiju or the Bee pre . In fact as I'm sitting here listening ( after attempting to fill my body with red wine ) there is still a small piece of masking tape on the front of the walnut base. Will get photos up soon. ish .

 

[slm]

Not the prettiest iteration...

 

[slm]

nt

 

[slm]

nt

 

[Doc B]

Thanks for the lovely review! You have quite an impressive array of gear to be sure. I notice a couple of things in your images that prompt me to make a suggestion or two-

With horns that sensitive I would be inclined to try shielded interconnect cables everywhere. Even if you don't hear any noise you might find that the background gets more black with shielding. Do install the DC supply in the Kaiju first, that will make a big difference on the horns.

I see no acoustic treament in the images. Putting up some absorptive material at the first reflection points on the side walls and on the front wall of the room might take your system's imaging from stellar to cosmic.

Great review, and great work! Thanks for the pics!

 

[BNAL]

Great review. Makes me want a Kaiju. I better start saving my pennies.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Your observations about the Kaiju are roughly equivalent to the one I recently completed.  The bass extension is considerably deeper, which I had previously measured in the lab, but it's something else to hear it on your own system where Paramounts had lived for many, many years!

You are quite fortunate to have such sensitive speakers, have you tried the 2 or 4 Ohm setting?  With the DC board and setting for a lower impedance, you'll get a little less power out, but on the positive side the noise floor will be incredibly low, damping will be higher, and distortion will drop nicely.  I don't think you'll miss the lost power, but you never know till you try 

 

[slm]

Thanks for the Advice guys !

Doc - did not realise the benefits of shielded Interconnects so will try that . The room treatment is on the plans - Hifi for me like I suspect most of the people here is a journey not a destination . I have fun building and will start something new now the kaiju is finished ( need a nicer base for the turntable next ) but I guess , probably erroneously  I viewed room treatment as a tweak after other stuff was settled . What do you recommend for room treatments ??

The Kaiju was never really meant for the horns . They are heartbreakers and have been in and out of the main system for five or six  years - I get pissed off with their flaws and drag them to the workshop but then miss what they do well. The dynamics are to die for and on live material they are like being teleported to the venue ( think Nirvana live at reading ) but they are too coloured for long term enjoyment. They have been relegated to the family room and I usually fire them up when no one else is home and I want it LOUD .

 

[Doc B]

Room treatment is, to me, a very important part of good sound. I'd give it a 33% weighting, 33% speakers, 33% other gear. I have seen more than one system at an audio show get best sound simply because the exhibitor was one of the few who bothered to treat the room. And I've done it myself.

Start by treating the first reflections. Put a rug in front of each speaker. Hang something acoustically absorbent on each side wall, where you would see a reflection of the speakers in a mirror from your listening position. Rugs, tapestries, ceiling tiles all help. Then do the same thing on the front wall, between the speakers. If you want to get serious, do the same with the ceiling. In general it's a good thing to treat the front wall all over, not just behind the speakers, because it will help to reduce some of the room resonances. Obviously WAF will be critical regarding this stuff, so consult the SO about what you use for treatments.

Once you have dealt with first reflections you can start to generally treat to room for smooth bass. The two tricks here are to 1) get some free room measurement software and measure the response while you move the speakers around a bit, looking for the smoothest response. Luckily, putting the speakers right up near the front wall can actually work quite well with some speakers. And 2) get some more absorptive material into the room. A soft chair or couch, drapes, wall to wall carpet, all will help. Last, and to me least important, you can put something like books shelves or open cabinets in the back of the room to break up the standing waves a bit.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

They are heartbreakers and have been in and out of the main system for five or six  years - I get pissed off with their flaws and drag them to the workshop but then miss what they do well.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a set of speakers (or two) like this that I can't quite let go of, but still don't use regularly.

 

[corndog71]

V-Caps are great but pricey.  For better performance I recommend Clarity CMR caps for coupling.

I was recently reminded the importance of room treatment and finished my man cave this past weekend.  Spaciousness improved and previously hidden details emerged!  I recommend ATS acoustics panels.

 

[Doc B]

Looking good!

 

[slm]

Lifted the hood and put in the Dc supply - Wow - major difference - 6.5 mV hum has now become 0.2 mV and was so quiet I thought I might have blown a fuse, no sound from speakers, nothing at all with the inputs shorted .

With the bee-pre hooked up and running I get 0.2mV on the left channel and 0.4mV  on the right - cannot hear either so haven't bothered switching tubes in bee-pre to see if they are to blame .
For me, in my system, the dc supply is a must have - blackest background ever.
Currently building some sound panels for walls and ceiling so will report in when they are finished ...........