General Discussion about Källa

[matthias]

Great write up macrotech2! Thanks for sharing.

+1

Matt

[Defender]

Thank you macrotech2 especially also for giving us insights about the performance with other options than the ones rated at highest performance (different IPhone model, different streaming services).

BTW there is an offer for spotify premium free for 3 months if you have an paypal account - not sure if it also applies to the country you are in.

I would still be interested to understand how much of a performance drop you get when you would stream from your NAS. Is Källa in this case still better than your Vitus?

Its always good to know its exceptionally now and will be even better when you use an Iphone 11 and Spotify ;)
Iphone 11‘s seem to be difficult to get right now and I hope the situation improves over time - it would be a pity if Apple would drop it because parts are difficult to source.

[V.A.MKD]

Great write up macrotech2! Thanks for sharing.

+1
Matt

+1

[V.A.MKD]

Thank you macrotech2 especially also for giving us insights about the performance with other options than the ones rated at highest performance (different IPhone model, different streaming services).

Its always good to know its exceptionally now and will be even better when you use an Iphone 11 and Spotify ;)
Iphone 11‘s seem to be difficult to get right now and I hope the situation improves over time - it would be a pity if Apple would drop it because parts are difficult to source.

+1 ...

[sunbeamgls]

Great write up macrotech2! Thanks for sharing.

+1

Matt

+1

[springwood64]

Great write up macrotech2! Thanks for sharing.

+1

[David Neel]

Anyone who listens to Martha Tilston, is worth listening to....

[Arjen]

Just listened a few songs. Nice. Voice like scottish singer Kathryn Joseph, but lyrics less cryptic.

[macrotech2]

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments about my review.

A small update - 007 has now moved on to its next tour stop and I am the proud owner of 006 as of this morning (nerd alert: as a fan of Patrick McGoohan's classic 60s TV show The Prisoner I find this quite appropriate).

In the interim I renistalled the Vitus RD-101 and listened to it after leaving to warm up overnight. Considering how good I thought it was, it is striking how confused and digital it now sounds. Compared to the effortless music making of Källa I found myself mentally struggling to make sense of every track. Individual instruments were there but it was almost as though they were playing in isolation and not as part of a coherent whole. I know that sounds weird! In addition, much of the subtlety and nuance was gone leaving a thinner digital sound.

What a relief to switch over to 006.

I will eventually get round to trying different control points and streaming services, plus compare NAS to streaming, but it sounds so good at the moment that I just want to listen to more music!

[Spannko]

Brilliant! I’m really pleased for you. I really can’t wait to get a Källa myself, but I really would like to move some stuff on first. I’ve known HiFi shops to have less stock than I’ve got boxed up! Every time I offer to fill my wife’s glass, she wants to know what I’ve done and accuses me of ordering one!

[tokenbrit]

Cool reference to Number Six in The Prisoner - "central character" sounds perfect for Kâlla :)

Congrats on the upgrade - sounds very exciting; can't wait to hear for myself.

[Gammaboy]

Kalla is turning me into a shut in.

[beck]

.............. Every time I offer to fill my wife’s glass, she wants to know what I’ve done and accuses me of ordering one!

:-)

[matthias]

I will eventually get round to trying different control points and streaming services, plus compare NAS to streaming, but it sounds so good at the moment that I just want to listen to more music!

Thanks for your update.
Looking forward to these results.......Enjoy :-)

Matt

[ThomasOK]

.............. Every time I offer to fill my wife’s glass, she wants to know what I’ve done and accuses me of ordering one!

:-)

+1

[ThomasOK]

Very nice writeups from macrotech2 and gammaboy. Good to hear people are enjoying this lovely product.

I hooked 005 up at home Monday night and managed to listen to it a little bit. Once I got good connection (WiFi is a little sketchy in the living room, something I will address) the initial setup was simple and quick. I listened to Kind of Blue - 1959 version, a little bit of NIN Pretty Hate Machine (turned off quickly as it didn't suit my mood) and a bit of Loreena McKennitt. All of this streamed off Spotify. I was definitely surprised by how good it sounds, no comparisons with anything else but it just sounds like music. In particular I keep noticing that bass instruments, particularly stand up bass and drums, come through in a way I haven't heard from digital reproduction. They have a body and naturalness instead of a bit of a threadbare tightness that I have found in digital playback in the past. Källa is still burning in but it is doing so by providing a classical mix for Lily to listen to while I am gone, fulfilling two purposes at the same time.

When Fredrik told me Källa was in the works I was happy to hear that we would have a Lejonklou HiFi source. I did not at the time imagine that it would end up being one of the best sources available, but it appears so far that it is. I have to remember not to underestimate Fredrik in the future!

[ThomasOK]

I forgot to mention that I was using an iPhone 8+ for control. I have a 7th gen iPad which I tried a bit in the store but I haven't yet compared it to the iPhone. Apple indicated my iPhone 11 won't be available until mid to late November! While I am at work I can't have it running off the iPhone so I set up my old MacBook Air with Spotify to run the classical music 24/7 when I'm not actually listening. I was surprised yesterday to find that my iPhone was showing me what the MacBook was playing and would let me control it. But I was also surprised how quickly it ran down the iPhone battery so I have Spotify turned off on the phone for now. Other than that it is the BlueJeans cables and the GS108Tv2 connected to the Internet router with 10 meters of Microconnect. At some point a WAP will be added up front for more consistent wireless access in that part of the house.

[u252agz]

Kalla 007 Road Trip

007 arrived nice and early this morning and was hooked up to Sagatun/Tundra Monos and 242s, using Spotify. Sitting on the floor and using a suboptimal mains connection ( Lp12 and KDS /2 using the best ones)

Straight out of the box and controlled by an old iPhone 6s it sounded just great.

But when I gave it the fixed IP address ( after 30 mins of being run in) it went to an astonishing level that is really out of this world for digital replay.

Quickly tried familiar test tracks - wow, the level of musicality and engagement is stunning .

It does not even sound ‘digital’ - its just
fantastic ; period.

The best example was ‘The Joshua Tree by U2 ( super deluxe version) - I have only really been able to listen to U2 on vinyl to date but this digital version was totally gripping - so much tension, atmosphere and just so utterly compelling.

I then tried this version on my KDS/2 and was just stunned by how poor it was in comparison - I never thought that this would have been possible but Kalla brings out so much more music, and emotion that It’s hard to get your head around this.

After two hours I had to vacate the main room and set Kalla up with Boazu and Komponent 110s - Still stunningly good. Its a real game changer.

I asked my son to play his favourite tracks and he was astonished at how good his songs actually are.

Even my wife sat up and took notice when U2 was playing and that’s saying something.

I am now trying Kalla with Giella Pi and JBL 308s with Nigel Kennedy’s Four seasons - just brilliant, and frankly quite unbelievable.

This is a quite extraordinary achievement by Fredrick and his team and anyone remotely interested in digital music really needs to listen to Kalla.

[Fred11]

Great description!
Thank you.
F

[matthias]

Great description!
Thank you.

+1

Matt

[macrotech2]

Yes, many thanks u252agz.
Are you going to order one?

[sunbeamgls]

Great description!
Thank you.
F

+1

[u252agz]

Great description!
Thank you.
F

+1

Thanks for the feedback, everyone

There is no question of not ordering Kalla - but the decision of what to do with my KDS/2 and the timing is tricky.

I’m hoping for some clarity in the next few days.

[u252agz]

After two days away I’m back with 007 listening to a couple more live recordings - Eric Clapton Unplugged and Emily Sande at the Albert Hall.

I’m deeply impressed with Kalla - never have I had this level of insight into these albums - just magical.

I’m just shaking my head in disbelief.

[matthias]

A question for all the lucky ones who were able to listen to Källa:

How big is the impact of the rack on Källa?

Thank you

Matt