General Discussion about Källa

[David Neel]

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[Defender]

we are looking forward to your impressions :) enjoy!
with respect to design ... I like the more prominent Lejonklou letters on the devices more

[matthias]

.......and please offer Källa for serious comparisons to your LP12 the best place on your rack. :-)

Matt

[PetterS]

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Very curious to hear your impressions!

[David Neel]

with respect to design ... I like the more prominent Lejonklou letters on the devices more

The grey is actually very classy and (too?) understated, but yes, I'd prefer the white, too.

[David Neel]

.......and please offer Källa for serious comparisons to your LP12 the best place on your rack. :-)

Matt

I'm sorry, that is impractical as the network cable only just reaches. I know that the Radikal shows little difference between its current shelf and being under the LP12.

[David Neel]

Very curious to hear your impressions!

And I'm very curious too! I'm going to wait a few days, though, to allow a little time for it to settle.

[David Neel]

Källa has now arrived in the UK and my demo unit is already out with a customer!

Please don't ask me how it sounds, I haven't even heard it myself!

Do get in touch if you wish to arrange a demo!

Regards
John.

Thank you John! A couple of forum members will be round tomorrow for a day's listening...

[tokenbrit]

with respect to design ... I like the more prominent Lejonklou letters on the devices more

The grey is actually very classy and (too?) understated, but yes, I'd prefer the white, too.

I was curious about the grey... Agree it looks good, but originally expected white to match Sagatuns, Tundras, etc., and would have preferred a consistent look, but it's alright (not all white)

[Discodave]

Gotcha David, I had assumed that you were more local, and therefore so were those coming round for a listen.

Hi John, hope you're well!

[matthias]

today's visitors

Do we get a short preview in the evening today?
Thanks

Matt

[Kantata Audio]

Hi John, hope you're well!

Hi "Dave" yes, I'm grand thanks, just incredibly busy!!

That's probably a good thing though!

[Discodave]

During CoVid....id say it is!

[lejonklou]

Having learned that a group of enthusiast are listening to Källa 007 this evening, I must confess that the entire Källa team is sitting on pins and needles.

[matthias]

Having learned that a group of enthusiast are listening to Källa 007 this evening, I must confess that the entire Källa team is sitting on pins and needles.

The licence to kill.......

Matt

[lejonklou]

The licence to kill.......

Matt

Oh dear. I didn't think of that.

[Charlie1]

Spannko and I had the opportunity to listen to Kalla at David Neel's yesterday. As many will know, David has a lovely system comprising Lejonklou Sagatun Monos, Tundra Monos, and Grahams 5/9s. It looks great on Quadraphire Sunoko Vent racks and sounds perfectly balanced to my ear. I really think these speakers are a great match especially if you listen to a lot of classical and accouatic singer/song writer material that David plays. The combination sounds so natural and yet super tuneful with it. I never felt it had insufficient power which is sometimes a criticism of Lejonklou amps. It was a good size living room and easily played louder than I wanted.

The Kalla arrived the day before, obviously stone cold from shipping. It was powered on overnight but obviously not run in yet. Firstly, we listened to Hakai which I'd not heard before. For me, this was your typical digital music which is fine during a dinner party or whilst doing the washing up with the family but not something that would motivate me to play music in my spare time. Give me a vintage lp12 any day. I think any non-Klimax Linn streamer would fit in the same category. I don't really enjoy digital music tbh.

Listening to Kalla was different though and sounded genuinely engaging. Music had that special quality I look for. There was a musical event in progress. There was also a real calmness that Davids Klimax LP12 couldn't touch and I'm not used to. Hard to describe but it was a good thing.

Spannko bought his KDS1 which was probably only powered down a couple of hours between locations. It was good and was engaging but it's a lot of money for something that doesn't really grab me 100%.

The Kalla has certainly changed my perception of what digital can do. if you own Lejonklou amps, the Kalla will sound fantastic and really surprise you. I really felt they were made for one another, which of course they are, but I could sense the synergy It would be interesting to compare KDS3 to Kalla in a Linn system and I might prefer the Linn - really don't know. Similarly, I felt the KLP12 had more in common with the KDS and didn't sound as captivating as Kalla on modern recordings.

[Discodave]

Thanks for the review Charlie!

[Defender]

thank you Charlie for the impressive first review of Källa. I am especially astonished what you write in comparison to the LP12. If you would have to make a decision to let go your LP12 for in an exchange for a Källa would you do that?
Or what do you like on your LP12‘s in comparison to Källa?

@David do you have the Karousel on your LP12?

I would love to hear the impressions from others.

[Flowmotion]

Here is another one.

I have been listening to Källa during the weekend and I have never been so moved so continuously by recorded music. Piece after piece, song after song from morning to late night. It is almost impossible to stop listening and enjoy the music. Especially the tracks that I did not cared much for earlier.
All my gratitude and deep respect for Fredrik and his team’s achievements!

Cheers

[David Neel]

Yesterday's get-together had been planned since the start of last year, before covid forced endless delays. All summer we'd been trying to find a date that all three of us could make. The original intent was to have a vinyl day, and maybe try a couple of ethernet cables... and then John at Kantata asked if I'd like a home demo of Källa. I explained that we had this date set, and thanks to John and Marco 007 arrived on Friday, with John resisting the temptation to have a listen first. As I'm an Android phone and tablet user, I have also become the custodian of my granddaughter's iPhone 6. As soon as Källa arrived, it was powered up, and I started to get to grips with Spotify and mConnect, cursing the unfamiliar iPhone. A remark to Spannko, just before he set off, that although it wasn't going to compete with the LP12, it would be interesting to hear it against a KDS, meant that he brought his KDS/1. Now I had too few shelves and power outlets, so the LP12 and Radikal were removed before Charlie1 and Spannko arrived. The vinyl day was turning into a digital one.

NOTE: Källa is still burning in, and all comments should bear this in mind.

First we listened to my Hakai (3050, Debian) streaming from my LSNAS, switched to Källa from the LSNAS, then from Spotify. As expected, each step brought an improvement. The Hakai was removed, the KDS/1 connected. Wow, the KDS/1 was good in my system. Initial impressions favoured KDS/1, but I realised that it was sitting on the bronze upgrade shelf which normally has the LP12. So the bronze shelf was removed, and KDS/1 and Källa now had the respective top rigid shelves on either rack - see the photo earlier if this arrangement is unclear. Now the superiority of the KDS/1 was eliminated, and we had a contrast between two different presentations, and I preferred Källa. Finally, Källa went onto the bronze shelf and sounded better again. While we were listening to this, I felt that Källa was good, with a clean, open, natural presentation I'd not heard before in digital. Really nice, but not something I'd buy just for the minority of my listening that is digital, especially as I would want to use my LSNAS rather than Spotify. And we all know that a NAS won't touch streaming.

Just as I was saying something along the lines of "it's the best digital I've heard, but it's not got the energy of vinyl", the conversation went quiet, and the burn-in roller-coaster kicked off - suddenly this thing was not just nice, but totally gripping. To confirm this, we went back to tracks we'd played earlier, and yes, the performance had REALLY improved. Magical!

Time to conclude that it was clearly different in presentation, cleaner and more involving than the KDS/1, so that was removed, and the LP12 installed. This involved powering down Källa and moving it to a regular shelf, back to the layout in the photo I posted. From this point, Källa's perfomance was inconsistent, sometimes reaching the heights we had experienced, sometimes not. It was also interesting that there was sometimes better performance from Spotify compared to the same track on the LSNAS, but the gap wasn't very big, and nearly half the time we were preferring the LSNAS as a source. It seems that when Spotify is bad, it's really bad.

Conclusions so far:
1. Källa is burning in, and therefore inconsistent at present.
2. My LSNAS, with CDs ripped in iTunes to ALAC, is much closer to Spotify than Fredrik and jajo's comments led me to expect.
3. A second Quadraspire bronze upgrade is on my shopping list.
4. iPhones annoy me.

Okay, time for vinyl, after the Radikal and Entity had been powered up again for half an hour. The LP12 is Booplinth/Karousel/Keel/Akurate Radikal/Ekos SE/1/Kandid.

Källa is capable of being more beguiling than my LP12. Not on all music, and not, until burn-in is over, all the time. But the music is presented cleanly and naturally, with (at its best) the most realistic portrayal of musical instruments I've heard. So far, digital has been a way of listening to music unavailable on vinyl - now for the first time I can envisage buying very little new vinyl...

[Spannko]

Charlie1 and David Neal have done a good job of setting the scene, so I’ll dive straight in.

We started with Hakai, which for me was just ok. It’s good value, but not something I’d be interested in pursuing. It’s a digital player which sounds like a digital player.

Following up with the KDS felt like an instant improvement, both musically and sound wise. It’s difficult to quantify the difference but it’s easily discernible.

Next up was the Källa. I think the best way to describe the sound of the Käla, is by not even trying to describe it, it’s pointless. All digital systems I’ve heard have the same kind of “digital” sound. Some are better than others, but in comparison to a good vinyl rig, they still have a digital sameness. Käla is different. Very different. It doesn’t sound like a good digital player. Usually, with the best sources, it’s obvious we’re listening to something good. The sound is good. Käla is different. When we listen to live (unamplified) music, we don’t think about the sound. We experience the essence of the music. This is what it’s like listening to the Käla. It’s as if the essence of the music is transported into the essence of our being, if that makes sense? Traditional HiFi/audiophile language is incapable of describing what the Käla does. Bass? Mid? Treble? Imagery? Spaciousness? These words are totally meaningless when it come to describing the Käla. It’s a conduit into another dimension. One where we enter the dimension of the performer. Music doesn’t just sound emotional through the Käla, it’s more than that. It’s transcendental. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to sit next to good musicians and experienced a state where you are absorbed into the essence of the music, you’ll know what I mean.

Then on to the fully loaded (kli)maxed out LP12. Now we’re talking we said. This is what a good source should sound like! Excellent! But hold on. Where’s the music gone? I was stuck in analytic mode, listening to the sound of music (not the one about the singing nun!). A couple of tracks sounded a bit more exciting than the others, but at all times I was an observer of sounds being played rhythmically. At no time was I drawn into the world of the musicians.


I hope I’ve been able to describe the indescribable in a way that makes just a bit of sense!

The Käla really is, “something else”!

[Defender]

thank you Charlie, Spannko and David (and Flowmotion) I think your reviews are honest and impressive even more so when I try to remind myself that these unit(s) have not more than probably 50 hours of playtime on it. We are looking forward how the run in will even improve the impression of the Källa.
Well done Fredrik. Congratulation!

[tokenbrit]

...
The Käla really is, “something else”!

That's one 'l of a review :)

[matthias]

Thank you guys for your reviews :-)

I think I now understand what Fredrik mentioned:

It doesn't sound like any source you've ever heard. And even more importantly, it doesn't feel like any source you've ever heard.

Matt