Translations:

At Sound Galleries we are known for our “no compromise” ultra realistic systems. Of necessity such systems tend to be expensive. As a general rule the prices for these systems are comparable to car prices. For true music lovers to be able to own one of our top systems is easily worth the cost of an additional car.

However we’ve always wanted to offer systems at much lower prices which could still be described as “High-End”. There will inevitably be some compromises in lower priced systems and it is a challenge to be able to put low cost systems together with as few compromises as possible.

You may well ask, “what is this thing called ‘High-End’ anyway?”. Does it simply equate to high prices? Is it pure snobbery? It is true that determining if a system is “High-End” is a subjective matter. You need to be able to use your ears. The designers of High-End equipment use their ears in the process of creating and perfecting their products.

Typical consumer Hi-Fi systems are usually sold on impressive sounding specifications. Amplifiers far more powerful than is actually required and speakers which promise deep bass and extended highs. Such systems sound artificial and unnatural. Natural sounding systems have to be able to convey the true tonal colours (timbre) of the various musical instruments. They also have to handle all the dynamic contrasts, both small and large. There shouldn’t be timing and phase errors, which prevent instruments from appearing within the three dimensional space as they were recorded. The rhythm, pace and timing (energy) of the music should come across, so that jazz can swing and dance music is danceable. All of this amounts to a pretty tall order for any HiFi system, particularly one which must sell for a very reasonable price. Where compromises have to be made it is better to sacrifice ultimate detail (resolution) ultra low bass, or very extended highs.

These become like “the icing on the cake” because most of the music takes place in the Middle range of frequencies. Get those right and you’re a good part of the way on the road to a system which could be described as “High-End”. Or let’s just say “naturally musical”.

Valve amplifiers tend to be more natural sounding than transistors or many digital amplifiers. They also tend to be more expensive to produce, if high quality and reliability is to be ensured. Amplifiers which are able to mimic these natural traits of valves may be preferred. When it comes to transistor amplifiers that share similar qualities with valves, they have tended to be the very large power hungry Class A designs.

Class T amplifiers, which use digital processing to modulate the input signal, showed tremendous promise when they were first introduced; but were prone to distortions from electromagnetic and radio frequency interference. Class T chips can provide an incredibly natural sound at a very low price, providing they are used with very well designed power supplies and carefully selected components, to avoid the problems introduced by the above interferences.

KingRex are a company which have achieved those goals and still kept their prices incredibly low. Their high quality T20U Class T amplifier and USB DAC in one very compact unit is available at only €291. Just connect it to your PC or Mac and play the music from iTunes or your preferred software. Simply add some high-efficiency speakers and you have a complete system.

We do recommend adding their separate dedicated power supply at an additional €100 to obtain the best possible sound from the T20U. The T20U will accept one analogue input in addition to the USB input. If you have the need for more than these two inputs you will need to add the KingRex pre-amplifier. Not only are the KingRex products easy to accommodate financially, also in terms of space at just 180mm x 138mm x 45mm, these pieces will fit discretely anywhere.

A recommended system, using a Mac or PC as the source and the T20U plus Power supply at €391, plus a pair of the excellent Aurousal A1 at €920 would provide a system that could be described as “High-End” at a price almost anyone can afford.

The KingRex products will work very well with any High-Efficiency speakers. They can be successfully used with Rethm Saadhana’s or Zu Essence for example. It may seem crazy to combine a €391 Amplifier/DAC combination with a speaker system costing between €5.000 to €8.500; but if you’ve been holding off on such speakers because you think you’d have to spend at least as much on Amplification, the KingRex once again provide an incredible value for money alternative. They can then become the benchmark against which more expensive amplifiers can be judged in the future. You will need to spend quite a bit more than the price of the KingRex to significantly improve on their sound.

KingRex easily demonstrate the real benefits of “High-End” audio without spending any more than usual consumer HiFi prices. That is is why all of their products described here have won the ‘Blue Moon’ award from the influential 6Moons High-End audio review web-site. Visit KingRex