To learn more about Kinki Studio than where their website leaves us, I asked Alvin who obviously interacts with them regularly. What else could he tell curious shoppers about them?


"Kinki Studio was established in 2007. The company's designer Liu was born and raised in a military products manufacturing district in Guangzhou. The military factory mainly produces radar communications equipment for military vessels but also consumer audio. He enjoyed many opportunities to get in touch with related technical personnel and to obtain military parts to conduct his own research. With these influences, he later focused on electronics-related disciplines in high school and university.


"With the formation of Kinki Studio, he set the requirements for product tech very high. His designs were informed by studying world-class audio products. With the knowledge acquired, he then adopted reasonable optimizations for his own. His core design concepts are circuit minimalism with shortest signal paths to ensure the restoration of the signal rather than add unnecessarily circuits which can alter the signal. He also believes that audio components aren't just electrical devices but also ornamental art. Therefore the electrical design process and the final appearance must be considered as a whole.

"The audio aspect involves the combination of electronic and physical properties. Therefore the control of physical vibrations inside the chassis is particularly important. For sound, his understanding considers the overall balance and how the density of the sound directly affects the sense of hearing. The higher the density, the stronger the texture. He also dislikes an excessive bass balance which does more harm than good to the listening experience. Meanwhile the larger the dynamic range, the more micro detail and musical information one will hear. All Kinki Studio products carry a 3-year warranty. As their global distributor, we at Vinshine Audio handle all warranty claims." Relative to the M1, "it uses a dual active class A preamp stage with constant current sources and a power buffer with two pairs of Exicon lateral Mosfets per channel."


Before my loaner M1 had even left SIngapore, HomeTheaterReview.com colleague Terry London already gave me the results in case I'd miss 'em. "Just wanted to share that I'm about to write my review on the Kinki Audio EX-M1 piece. First, Alvin of Vinshine Audio is a wonderful individual to work with and highly respected by his customers here in the US for his excellent service to all who purchase his lines of gear. Besides the Ex-M1's superlative internal parts, build quality and beautiful chassis, this integrated reminds me of some of the most expensive historical Goldmund amplifiers I have liked, along with the first generation of Gamut amplifiers which were also favorites. The Ex-M1 is silky smooth, not warm, fast as hell, its overall macro-dynamics give a powerful presentation, there is no noise therefore it is extremely detailed but not analytical, colours are true to life and the bass control is iron-fisted. It also develops an excellent soundstage with precise placement of the players on the stage. I refer to this sound as the "Swiss-European" taste: clean, clear, accurate, coming right up to the point without crossing it of being analytical/electrical sounding. Listeners with this taste will love this integrated. It also would be a great amplifier to power a speaker that is somewhat slow and lacking in speed as it would infuse life into a system lacking it."