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A year ago in our RoadTour I wrote that "I’ve heard other omnis before and must admit that I routinely missed a bit of snap, drive and kick. The K1 is shorthand for kick with a capital K. If you associate omnis with diffuse, structurally limp sonic clouds, close the book on that notion too." I now stand by that. This speaker is wonderfully rhythmic and quick top to bottom, without compression, hardness or dryness. Everything is agreeably fluid, airy and slinky. Admittedly other quality speakers can do this too. I think that combining these individual virtues in this grouping is where the Klangfluss distinguishes itself from the crowd.
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Conclusion: A normal wrap-up is a bit hampered by the fact that the K1 is also a quite exclusive object d’art. This puts it outside the ken of sound fetishists who’d tolerate refrigerators in their living rooms as long as they sound good. The Klangfluss sound too is different than standard dynamic direct radiators. Add up two differences and this speaker, in the full meaning of the term, becomes a matter of taste.
The core attraction—how music occurring in space is presented to engulf the listener—isn’t fully captured by the usual deeper, wider, taller. It really is necessary to seek out the Klangfluss K1 for a personal audition to fully appreciate how it goes about that business.
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Psych profile:
- The K1 is tonally neutral for choiceless equality. Mids and highs are very transparent and clear, the bass is exceptionally agile, articulate and fast.
- Amplitude and extension of bass are sufficient for ‘normal’ listening and perfectly matched to the general tonal balance. Given the steep price, it’s also true that competitors offer a lot more on the subject. If you’re a bass slut, get your fix elsewhere.
- This speaker plays in the pocket with excellent timing and transient liveliness plus—and this is rare—generously lengthy decays.
- This speaker is capable of casting an unusually expansive soundstage. Here experiments become mandatory particularly with regard to wider than usual spacing (I’d start at 2:1). Sound absorbers can be counter-productive since the speaker relies on the activated ambient field. Ideally one sits center stage surrounded by a semi circle of performers – or even better, inside one very large dome.
- Image focus is good to avoid ambiguity but surgical knife edges are lacking on principle. Virtual images occupy three-dimensional space but they aren’t fully solid (this is hard to describe accurately).
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Klangfluss K1 in semi-translucent back-lit soap stone
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Facts:
- Concept: Sealed two-way omni
- Dimensions and weight: circa 44 x 44 x 154cm (WxDxH), ca. 100kg/ea.
- Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m
- Nominal impedance: 4Ω
- Other: Outboard crossover, three different HF reflectors included; standard trim white or black piano lacquer; a surcharge secures most possible finish fancies (veneer, lacquers, air brushing, back-lit real stone)
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redaktion @ fairaudio.de
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