To get more specific, a return of our regular Audio Physic Codex was mandatory. As soon as that swap was made, I felt right at home. The usual reference gear here is the $3'550 STP-SE2 preamp from Wyred4Sound and the €8'500/pr LinnenberG Liszt monos. Like civilians, reviewers engage many a sell/buy cycle to reshuffle hardware until the final sound matches their tastes just so. To like or even love a particular sound is no prerequisite for a reviewer to properly describe it, then identify a target audience. Just so, our kind can and does get impatient to return to their own kit and private reserve flavour. Appreciating, understanding or respecting a sonic flavour isn't the same as that perfect, perfectly personal bull's eye. Yet that's exactly what the Kinki gave me. Being a virtual stand-in for the Wyred/LinnenberG combo, where it went off-script was with just a bit more body and textural generosity. It's what with our resident inventory with the 1MHz Liszt requires replacing the STP-SE2 with the Nagra Classic preamp. Somebody else might achieve that shift with a far more affordable preamp. In our collection, the 12AX/AU7 Nagra simply contributes that certain subtle extra which the active linestage in the M1 now had over the passive Wyred. With Nagra also from CH, this too was Swiss sound, just not the exact CH Precision/Soulution varietal.


To rewind, like the wide-bandwidth Liszt, the Kinki was very quick and microdynamically twitchy. It was as powerful in the bass as it was controlled. It had lucid treble with its often faint recorded reflections and upper-harmonic decays. It also projected as dense in the outer quadrants of the soundstage where our palms squat as it did in the centre. This made for a fully opened musical window without slightly opaque curtains bunched up on the sides. On the stunning voices of Vicente Amigo's Requiem, I could simultaneously hear down their throats for that inner fire and gravel so prized by Flamenco cantaors; and admire the ambient haloes around them which illuminate the surrounding space. Low guttural male vocals like those from Abed Azrié and Omar Faruk Tekbilek portrayed chest and diaphragm, not just throat. Flamenco foot stomps weren't just heels but energized flooring beneath. Rapid guitar arpeggios like those by Latin ace Jorge Strunz or Manouche swinger Angelo Debarre weren't only Platinum staccato blister but developed wooden undertones. In short, speed, clarity and dynamic vitality didn't land on the somewhat stark side of the track but were accompanied by a very fine/modern body enhancer. That was key for recordings which bare fangs and claws like a chained junkyard dog. Think of that glinty harsh glare which comes off vocal peaks and close-mic'd strings to have you jump for the remote and turn things down. Leashed up with the excellent Allnic Audio ZL cable loom and driven off the Aqua Hifi Formula DAC, I just couldn't push the Kinki integrated into that neon zone. And I did try with some of my overcooked Arab Pop which is my form of whatever your own guilty pleasures might be - tunes we love despite their being recorded badly. If you want to listen to more than a fraction of your library, that's simply reality unless you're a production not content first type listener.


Whilst remote diagnosis is naturally error prone, in my book reader TP's all-speed/no-curves concern was in error. Though the Kinki unmistakably belonged to our generic Swiss school, it included that other Swiss, subtle yet distinctive, Nagra aroma. It derives from their signature obsession with tubes even though in much of their recent gear, they don't use valves to get there. Without impact on the noise floor to maintain superb magnification powers, it injects a whiff of textural extra and transient ease. I needn't spell out what that says about the M1's sell price.


Under the 4mm hood with its 6mm braces which bolt to the undercarriage on each side, one would find quality parts like capacitors from BC (incidentally favoured also by Nagra) and Nichicon, transformers from Talema and Amplimo, voltage regulators from JRC and Semi On, relays from Omron and those lateral Exicon Mosfets the intro already covered. The bores in the massive aluminium heat sinks continue unbroken through the top and bottom covers to create chimney-style air exchangers. At my civilized use, those got barely warm to suggest good efficiency. Whilst no 4Ω power rating is published, one expects from 350-400wpc. With our 89dB Codex and 3.8V XLR DAC outputs, the highest number I saw on the volume readout was 75. Cuts with sub 10dB of recorded dynamic range only warranted 25 but this amp tops out at 255. It held reserves way out of reach. In the EX-M1 from Kinki Studio, Vinshine Audio's Alvin really had the Denafrips Terminator of high-power integrated amplifiers. The man was possessed of quite the touch in finding obscure micro brands, then promoting them attractively.

For two more four-square inside shots, click on the left and right halves of this image.

Clearly, the EX-M1 should put a bad kink into the necks of competitors. To relax, they'll have to mumble yellow fever as though Apple's Foxconn factory wasn't in China; invoke lack of dealer support as though Vinshine Audio wasn't a dealer; sow here-today-gone-tomorrow seeds of doubt as though any business carried survival insurance. That's all the counter propaganda I might scare up in a fit. If you buy into it, this one's not for you. On quality of build, execution, parts, sonics, pride of ownership and value meanwhile, there simply is no possible denigration. It's a beast from the East.

Power cords with burly barrels for proper shielding leave little room for at least two RCAs in the lower row. Also note the proud country of origin declaration.

A bow of a wrapper. This assignment was a stem-cell cure for reviewers. It's not often that we chance across a discovery this undeniably brilliant. It recalls Gallo's Reference 3, the first chip-based integrated from Clones Audio, the diminutive but potent Boenicke Audio W5 monitor, Wyred's STP-SE preamp, the Job 225 and other finds where, regardless of taste, everyone could agree that they were worth shouting about. The Kinki too is that complete exciting package, with a sticker which more can befriend. Who actually needs 200 watts with 26dB of voltage gain in just the line stage followed by another x 20 amplification factor in the power stage? Very few. Because the EX-M1 hits its torque already in first gear, that number is mainly for bragging rights, peace of mind and yes, the rare customer who really does own that boat-anchor load to tap such power and gain. [As I learnt post publication, "Liu is very responsive to feedback. He has now added a gain switch to the EX-M1 rear panel so a user can toggle between high/low input gain to fit their needs."]  Because there's no built-in DAC, limited connectivity is fine. Your various digital sources will plug into your converter instead. Subwoofers need to go speaker level but could be surprised by just what this amp gets from their monitors on bass power/depth. The small volume steps are brilliantly gradual. Traversing them is far slower by knob than remote of course since there are 256 values to rotate through and each four only make for one dB. That's lots of twirls but few should ever get into the second-tier triple digits. The display is easily legible across the distance even to aged eyes. No full dim is smart since otherwise you'd not see that the amp is live.

Some could belabour the lack of a pre-out and ideally, the power IEC would be more out of the way of signal cables.

Nursed a Job 225 or Job INT in your cross hairs but thought them just a bit too fresh, lean and youthfully crisp around the edges though their speed, clarity and dynamics were right up your alley? Did you still want superior cosmetics, a more luxurious build and a balanced input? Had a Bakoon or Crayon integrated in your sights were it not for more power and a lesser price? Wished for that LinnenberG integrated which they don't make? Wanted a classier build and a tad more aural elasticity than the Audiozen? Hoped for less sonic gloss than Goldmund for pennies on the dollar? Then today's Kinki should uncramp your finger and pull that trigger. The EX for 'extreme' in the name isn't idle puffery. It's well deserved. If enough people catch on, this amp will become a classic. For now, it could already be your classic. Classy all around!


July 15th, reader TP checked back in: "Brilliant, indeed. Best money I’ve ever spent. This Kinki is destined to be a classic. It’s reeducated the way I listen to music as I no longer analyze but simply luxuriate in the music. To have a taste of what the big dogs experience has opened my eyes and ears. I cannot thank you enough for bringing this to light. All the best."

Kinki Studio website
Vinshine Audio's Kinki Studio pages