My experience with Kensai

[Adrian S]

I have been meaning to post since purchasing a pair of Kensai speakers.

I connected them to my Naim Superuniti in place of the PMC DB1i speakers and immediately the sound was transformed. For the first time, having tried and used many different models of small speaker, I could properly hear vocals and understand announcers and newsreaders on talk radio stations. Music was full range and very evenhanded with a surprisingly believable and extended bass.

I had fairly recently added the townshend supertweeters to the DB1i's which certainly opened them out and improved all aspects of their performance but the Kensai's are still way ahead of anything that that combo could do. So all in all, they're a bargain.

Friends who have listened have been very impressed.
I can hardly imagine how they can be further improved with AudioSmile supertweeters but I assume there is even more to be had with the addition of those.

I'm interested in what the tweeter might be able to do in conjunction with my Naim Audio S400 Ovators. I was reading a White Paper on the Ovators and their BMR unit which Naim published a couple of years ago. It mentions among many things the pattern of sound coming from the BMR. So I would guess that the supertweeters would take things further there.

Anyway, thanks again to Simon for the speakers and your help and info.

 

[RobHolt]

Thanks for the feedback Adrian.

The Kensai HF response if very extended but some will prefer a presentation which pushes more HF energy out into the room. This gives an airier and more expansive sound. The super tweeter would be worth considering in such situations.
It should also help the overall balance in a very dead room.
In both instances best results are likely with the super tweeter firing up/out or both rather than face-on.
However, we don't by any means claim that the super tweeter is always preferable to every pair of ears and in all rooms, and the Kensai is designed to sound well balanced in most rooms when running solo.

 

[Tenson]

Yes I think it can depend on the room, but I prefer the Kensai with supertweeter in my own room and also in Rob's room which is less absorbent than mine (although he has added some more absorbers since we tested the STs there). They just make the Kensai sound even more open and alive. However, I can apprecaite this is a bit more of a 'hi-fi' sound than the Kensai on its own which might be more of a 'direct monitor' sound.

Certainly I think the supertweeters really compliment the Advantage by improving the reach of the Kensai in both frequency extremes without loosing the good things this mini-monitor provides.