The Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Integrated Amp that I reviewed for Dagogo.com has the unusual capacity to allow for rolling opamps. I have used various combinations of Sonic Imagery, Sparkos Lab, and Burson in it. I am reviewing a fourth brand now and have been contacted by a fifth brand to asses their product.
It’s special when you know you can tailor the integrated to any speaker genre/model you wish by rolling opamps. Combine that with power cord options and the permutations are very powerful as a tool to optimize systems.
I currently have the rare King Sound King Tower omnidirectional speakers playing. When I first acquired them years ago, they sounded OK, but not spectacular. Now, with improved models of opamps in the EE Minimax Tube DAC Supreme and the EX-M1+, the King Tower speakers sound superb. I am very happy I kept them.
To date the EX-M1+ is the only integrated I know that allows for such discrete opamp rolling. I consider discrete opamp rolling to be a higher order of tuning than tube rolling.
Also, though it does not allow for opamp rolling, the Red Gum Audio Articulata Integrated Amplifier is a wonder with less efficient speakers. It is an unusual design, but has unusual capacity to drive loads better than most of the stereo and mono amps I have reviewed. It would be worth a close look by those having 2 Ohm speakers, who thought no integrated could handle them. I am quite impressed by how it drives the King Sound King III electrostatic speakers.
