KII AUDIO THREE User manual

owner´s manual
bedienungsanleitung
Kii THREE

face the music

Warranty Information:
Kii Audio provides a full FIVE (5) YEAR WARRANTY on the Kii THREE.
Beginning of the warranty period is the date of purchase.
Garantie Informationen:
Kii Audio gewährt Ihnen (5) JAHRE GARANTIE auf die Kii THREE.
Beginn der Garantiezeit ist das Kaufdatum.
5
YEAR/JAHRE
WARRANTY/
GARANTIE
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English
kiiaudio.com/registration
o[email protected]
your direct email, exclusive to owners.
Kii audio - Owners card
Register
Thank you for purchasing the most advanced loudspeaker to date.
Please register your serial numbers on the webpage below in order to receive full warranty
and information by email about upgrades and product news for your Kii THREE.
Vielen Dank dass Sie sich für den Kauf des fortschrittlichsten Lautsprechers der Welt entschieden haben.
Bitte registrieren Sie die Seriennummern Ihrer Lautsprecher auf der unten genannten Website, um die volle
Garantieleistung sowie alle Informationen über Upgrades und Produktneuheiten für Ihre Kii THREE per Email zu erhalten.
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English
Kii THREE
OWNER´S MANUAL - ENGLISH from page 8
BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG - DEUTSCH ab Seite 22
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Table of Contents
Owners Card / Warranty Information
Table of Contents
Unpacking your Kii THREE
The Connector Panel explained
Boundary Switch explained
Contour Switch explained
Setup examples / pictograms
Tech Specs
Safety Warning
page 4 - 5
page 8
page 9
page 10 - 11
page 12 - 13
page 14 - 15
page 16 - 18
page 19
page 20 - 21
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English
Unpacking your Kii THREE
what is in the box?
Each pair of Kii THREE speakers is delivered in
two boxes which contain:
1 | 2x Kii THREE Speaker
2 | 2x Power Cable
3 | 1x Cat5 Cable (5m)
4 | 1x Owner´s Manual
owner´s manual
bedienungsanleitung
Kii THREE
1
2
3
4
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Installation + Connector Panel
Power - The Kii THREE has no power switch. Simply plug the power cable into the IEC socket f.
If no audio signal is present at the input for more than 15 minutes,
the speaker will automatically go into standby mode.
As soon as the input detects any audio signal (analog or digital) it will automatically power on.
This can take up to seven seconds.
Here is an overview of the connector panel from left to right:
SERIAL NUMBER - This is the individual Serial No. for each speaker.
XLR INPUT - This is the single XLR Input connector which can be set to process analog or digital audio
signals, depending on how the Select switch (c) is set.
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
a
b
a
b
c
d
e
f
Boundary
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English
SELECT SWITCH - this three position mini switch selects whether the XLR Input functions as an analog
input for this individual speaker, or if either the right or left channel of the AES signal will be played by
this speaker.
P/R button - (RESET)
Press and hold the button for 5 seconds, this resets the speaker.
(The front LEDs will indicate this by blinking briey in violet color)
P/R button - (LATENCY MODE)
A short press of the button will switch the Kii THREE into low latency mode.
This allows to achieve lip-sync of the audio to picture, when used alongside a TV or beamer.
Pressing the button again switches the speaker back into normal mode.
For the best listening experience (without picture), make sure the speaker is set to normal mode.
(The front LEDs will indicate this by ONE red LED lighting up - low latency mode,
or TWO red LEDs lighting up - normal mode)
Kiilink - Input and Thru (or Output) - When a digital input (AES) is used, both channels of the
stereo signal will be sent together via a single digital cable from your source.
You simply choose the speaker that is located closest to your digital source and connect the AES cable
to its input, this is now the „master speaker“ while we call the other one the „slave speaker“. The slave
speaker gets its signal directly from the master speaker.
Both speakers are connected with the supplied CAT5 cable. Simply plug it into the right CAT5 port
(labeled „Thru“) of your master speaker and into the left CAT5 port (labeled „In“) of your slave speaker.
c
d
e
Boundary
11

Boundary Switch explained
The Kii THREE has a very controlled and well behaved dispersion, dierent from most common speaker
designs. The complete frequency spectrum from 40Hz on upwards has a cardioid radiation pattern thanks to
our Active Wave Focusing technology.
The result is that the sound is directed only towards the listener, thus eliminating the most common
negative acoustical problems of the average listening room in the low to mid frequencies. Only the very low
frequencies below 40Hz (down to approx. 19Hz/-3dB) are radiated omnidirectional around the speaker.
If you place the Kii THREE freestanding in your room, the Boundary switch should be set to „free“.
This means the speaker has a at frequency response and will put out equal energy
over its whole frequency range.
With the help of the Boundary switch the Kii THREE can be placed very close against the wall
or even into corners, while the DSP in the speaker will compensate the natural
overemphasis in bass response in these positions.
The result is that you always have an even energy response at the listening position. A nice side-eect of
positioning the Kii THREEs against the wall is, that the headroom is improved (because they have to put out
less bass energy) and the speakers can play even louder than in a free standing position.
12

English
Setting up is easy
Start by setting the Boundary switch according to the positioning in the room rst (free/wall/corner) and then
adjust it by ear if necessary. Both switches (Boundary and Contour) have a groove, which has a visible hole in
one end, this is the pointer of the dial.
Dial the switch counter-clockwise (towards free) for more energy/level below 40Hz and likewise clockwise
(towards corner) for less energy/level below 40Hz. Depending on the size and construction of your listening
room and its boundaries, a few clicks towards either side can help to even out the bass response in
the listening spot perfectly.
The default setting of the Boundary switch upon delivery is free standing (9 0´clock position, free).
Advanced tweaking:
Unlike any passive speaker system the Kii THREE oers the ability to adapt to a non-symmetrical room.
It often happens in regular living rooms, that your walls are dierent behind both speakers.
For example a window behind the left speaker on one side and a concrete wall behind the right
speaker on the other side.
In such a case setting the right speaker 1-2 clicks further down (towards the corner setting)
can help to achieve a perfectly symmetrical center image.
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Contour Switch explained
The Contour switch provides an easy method to slightly tailor the speaker´s linear frequency response
to your personal taste.
The default setting of the Contour switch upon delivery is linear (9 o´clock position, Ff).
For the Kii Three we use a single 16 position rotary dial that provides 14 dierent presets.
Whenever the slot of the Contour switch is in a horizontal position (no matter if pointing to the left or right),
the frequency response is set to at (marked Ff).
Always start listening in the at position and try out dierent settings in comparison.
Three dierent lters are implemented.
1 | A low-shelf at 300Hz
2 | A high-shelf at 3kHz
3 | A high-shelf at 10kHz
You can either use a single one,
or a combination of low and high shelf.
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English
Choosing a preset is easy.
Each of the 14 dierent EQ positions is marked with two letters.
The rst upper case letter (B/F/C) marks the setting of the bass shelf.
The second lower case letter (b/a/f/s/c) marks the choice and setting of one
of the two dierent high shelves.
Simply choose a combination of upper and lower case letter to nd the preset you prefer.
Please use the graph to document your personal settings in this manual:
B = Boost enhanced low frequencies < 300Hz
F = Flat no change to the low frequencies
C = Cut reduced low frequencies < 300Hz
b = boost enhanced high frequencies > 3kHz
a = air enhanced high frequencies > 10kHz
f = at no change to the high frequencies
s = soft reduced high frequencies > 10kHz
c = cut reduced high frequencies > 3kHz
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Setup examples A | Kii THREE used with computer + USB to digital interface.
You can use any third party USB interface that provides a digital
output in AES or SPDIF format to connect the Kii THREE to your
computer or laptop.
If your interface has an SPDIF output via RCA, a simple adapter
cable can be used between the interface and the Kii THREE (RCA
to XLR)
In this use case the internal volume control of the playback
software is used, therefore we recommend a good player like
JRiver, Roon or Audirvana.
>
USB CABLE
AES CABLE CAT5 CABLE
USB TO AES Digital interface
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
>
>
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English
Setup examples A | Kii THREE used with computer + USB to digital interface. B | Kii THREE used as an active speaker within a regular, classic Hi system.
The Kii THREE simply replaces a poweramp
(or two monoblocks) and the passive speakers.
Multiple sources can be connected to an
analog preamp which provides source selection
and volume control.
The preamp outputs are connected to the
analog inputs of the Kii THREE:
Set select switch in middle position
No CAT5 connection is necessary.
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
> > >
>
> > >
>
PHONO
CD
ANALOG PREAMP
with volume control
PHONO PREAMP
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C | Kii THREE used with a Streaming Bridge / Network Music Player / Music Server
Some high quality streamers have built-in digital volume control. This provides the most elegant and
straightforward setup, only consisting of the streamer/network player and a pair of Kii THREEs.
If your streaming bridge or network player doesn´t provide a high quality digital volume control,
there are two other options:
• The streamer oers a good DAC and preamp functionality, so you can connect its analog outputs directly
into the Kii THREEs and set the Select switch to “analog”.
• Another option is to use a third party device like a Weiss INT203 inbetween streamer and the Kii THREE,
to provide digital volume control..
AES CABLE (OR SPDIF TO AES CABLE) CAT5 CABLE
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
Input Select In Kiilink Thru 230V~ 120V~200W
R Dig L
Analog Boundary Contour
P/R
S/N
Kii Audio “THREE”
CAUTION
RISKOF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DONOT OPEN
free
corner
wall
b
a
c
b
a
f
s
c
b
a
f
s
c
f
s
Ff F
B
C
Bb
f
c
a
s
C
F
300
3k
10k
>
>
NETWORK MUSIC PLAYER
MUSIC SERVER
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English
Technical Specications:
Compact DSP controlled monitor speaker
4x 6.5” woofer, 1x5” midrange, 1” waveguided tweeter, all individually driven
Amplication: 6x250W full-custom Ncore (power consumption in standby < 0,5 Watt)
Active Wave Focusing crossover lter
Frequency response: 20Hz to 25kHz +/- 0.5dB
Phase response: minimum (best possible time coherence).
Long term SPL(*): 105dB / Short term SPL(*): 110dB / Peak SPL: 115dB
Controlled Directivity: 4.8dB (80Hz - 1kHz, slowly rising thereafter)
Size: 20x40x40cm, 8”x16”x16” (WxHxD)
Weight: 15kg (33lbs)
Inputs: Analogue, AES/EBU
Selectable correction for free-standing, near wall or in corner
Latency: normal mode = approx. 90ms / low latency mode = 1030us (1,03ms)
(*)IEC60268-5 Paragraph 20.6
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Safety Warning:
KiiLink is NOT a standard network connection !
Although common CAT5 cable and RJ45 connectors are used, KiiLink employs its own
proprietary protocol.. Connecting a KiiLink port to a non-Kii product can cause permanent damage to your Kii
THREE.
NEVER connect a Kii THREE to a home network!
NEVER connect a Kii THREE to the Ethernet port of a computer!
Instructions for safe operation:
1 | Dangerous voltage is inside this apparatus.
Opening is only allowed by qualied service personnel.
2 | Do not defeat the safety purpose of the safety earth connection. Use the provided three-prong power
cord to insure the product is connected to safety earth. If the provided mains cord does not t your outlet,
consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.
3 | Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles,
and the point where they exit from the apparatus.
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