King Sound ‘the King Panel Speaker Review

What separates the Kings from run of the mill performance is the capacity to inexhaustibly roll back the perimeters of the sound stage while magnifying the elements which would typically become lost. Let’s call this quality the “Imax Effect”. Just as Imax films are so much more than a regular movie in a theater, so also the King is much more than just another large speaker. The experience the King imparts to the music is not dissimilar to the film technique of the fly over; a horizon-stretching overview, where the music rushes past you and you thrill to take it all in. If you want the “actual size” experience of a realistic sound stage, where the instruments are localized and sized conservatively, then you won’t appreciate the King’s ability to expand the experience. It’s likely the King will not sound real or authentic to you. However, if you want a seemingly unbounded sound, the King would be among my highest recommendations.

It might not seem possible to accomplish both precision and expansion without injuring one or the other, but the King does so with consummate ease. The disc Sacred by the Taliesen Orchestra (I love the names for these groups; this is a husband and wife duo with guests) relies upon ancient melodies and contemporary synthesized orchestration to achieve its beguiling blend of sound. At times electronic effects pop in and out of the symphonic texture of the music. A particular effect which I had become familiar with as heard through the Legacy Focus SE, and its 4” magnetic planar, sounded like a malfunction. Whenever the sound was heard in the mix it would remind me of an electrical device short circuiting, an abrupt buzzing sound.

I attribute the far higher refinement in the reproduction of treble with the Kings to the generous surface area of the mid/treble drivers. Consequently, that same electronic effect in that piece was not heard as an abrupt buzz, but as a sizzling pulsation which was not cut offbut rolled off quickly. The increase in nano-acoustic precision sends the message to the brain, “more Life-like,” even though it’s synthesized music! From 30Hz to 25kHz there’s literally more to hear with the King.My ears are always perked up to hear new sensations in the music, so I find the King intoxicatingly stimulating.

Conversely, the Kings were absolutely seamless and it became extremely difficult to segregate their bass, midrange and treble performance as they flow acoustically from one to the next. It was a completely different experience having the bass distributed widely, or the treble extended from floor to ceiling. However, the sense of vitality was so authentic that one was not stressed by it. In some ways these were very un-planar-like. Most planars I have heard struggle to evaporate, to remove themselves from the stage. Even though the size and nature of the wave front was quite different (spread out or extended) from dynamic speakers, they still were quite noticeable. Not so with the King; for as huge as it was, it “disappeared” better than any speaker I have ever used. If it takes a natural sound to the ear to make a speaker disappear, that means the Kings are by far the most natural sounding to me.

Sultan of Smooth

I believe it is a misnomer that accuracy in reproduction of the music necessitates stridency. I look to put systems together which have a lot of detail or accuracy (but absolutely never at the expense of tonality and warmth), and the closer I get to that ideal the more they sound natural to me. This was born out with the King, as it had the highest degree of detail of any speaker I have used, but also was the smoothest sounding. I would suggest that the King is phenomenally articulate. It not only gets the details, but puts them in the proper context, much as an articulate person expresses himself in a highly effective manner. Indeed, expressive is the proper term to capture the capabilities of the King. It emotes, and in the process leads me to experience a wide range of emotions while listening to it. For those who are sensitive listeners, this is the kind of speaker which can bring tears to the eyes. Some people seem to have a suave, smooth personality and an ability to make difficult things look easy. Similarly, the King makes challenging pieces seem like a walk in the park.

Finally, I turned to my perennial favorites, the Pathos Classic One MkIII tube hybrid integrateds in Bridged/Mono configuration. Uh-oh, not bridged amp issues again! No, not in the least. Gianni Borinato of Pathos, the amp’s designer, gave me the green light. With a squint in my eye I flipped the switch on the Pathos amps. It’s one thing to experiment with amps having a full suite of protective circuitry under review, it’s another to work with amps that you own – ones without all the “safety nets”! Was I foolish to consider the Classic One’s in bridged mode with the Kings? I wasn’t sure, as they are 170wpc into 8 Ohms bridged, and about 270wpc into 4 Ohms in the same configuration. That’s why I emailed Gianni, who gave me good advice to do it; they not only did not blow, they were pounding on the Kings!

I have been in euphoria with the Ayon CD-2, the “Pathi” and the King speakers. This system has “best of breed” written all over it. I have four audiophile friends of very different sonic persuasions, who have never all agreed on any one piece of gear they’ve heard. They all heard the King, and to a man they all were impressed, which says to me that this speaker has extremely wide audiophile appeal.

Recently I finished Jim Smith’s Get Better Sound, a fine compendium of set up tips and experiences. At the close of the book Jim reveals his numero uno test disc, Tears of Stone by the Chieftains. What a better way to put the Kings to the test by seeing if I could harvest the same impressions as Jim had heard on his reference rigs!

It wasn’t even difficult, the Kings blew through every single “audiophile approved” moment mentioned in the book with aplomb. From the blending of keyboard and choirs, to the Dobro and drum thwacks, to instance of the distant bell centered deeply in the right speaker, or the creamy voice of the female singer, the King put on an inspiring performance.There was one exception; a track contained ultra low frequencies, noises actually, possibly from performers bumping a mic stand. Jim hinted that it required a good subwoofer set up to hear, and he was right in that it alone was the one test the King failed. Aside from that, the King earned an A+ from me with that set of music.

How good is the King Sound the King? Good enough that I think a lot of planar speaker makers are going to be shaking in their boots. This is one serious transducer, price no consideration. I would not want to be a maker of planar speakers going up against the King.

How good is the King? It has a one-year warranty, which Roger indicates is being considered for revision upward. The review set that I have operate flawlessly, unshakable in their construction and performance. I cannot predict long-term reliability, but based on several months of regular use I see no signs of weakness. Some products I hesitate prior to committing big money due to an abbreviated warranty; this is not one of them.

Consider this confession: Deep in my soul no matter what speaker I have acquired in twenty some years of audiophilia, I’ve never thought long term about any of them, either because there’s always been something seriously impaired about their performance, or because I could not afford them. Deep in my soul I’ve known it from the start, tried to ignore it as I’ve used the speakers, but ultimately moved on because of the serious shortcoming I couldn’t ignore. Considering its nature as a planar, the King does not seem to have a serious shortcoming, so I can actually picture myself owning it longer than a couple years (Unless, of course, there’s an upgraded version of it!). Assuming its reliability will endure, as a relatively new product to North America and me, it easily commands not only my respect but also my ears.

How good is the King Sound King? I knew within two minutes of hearing it at CES I had to review it. It only took ten minutes of hearing it in my room, before the VAC power supplies arrived, to know I have to buy it, and every second of every month of use has confirmed it. Emotionally I have owned it from day one of the review. It is a speaker fit for a king, yet available to the masses. It has completely dominated me, and I don’t mind it one bit. (Negotiation on Doug’s ownership of the review sample will not precede Mr. DuNaier’s receiving this draft from me. –Ed.)

U.S. Importer’s Comment:

Thank you and Douglas Schroeder for the favorable review and kind words regarding the King ESL. The staff at King Sound has worked long and hard to produce this technology, and we are grateful when the fruits of their efforts are recognized. Needless to say, our industry is awash in various speaker choices, technologies, opinions and a mountain of hyperbole. So it was refreshing to see a reviewer bring a thorough and objective style to their review.

On the issue of the power supplies or “wall warts” as they are commonly referred to, a few items of clarification. A simple extension cord can increase the usable distance of the power supply to the speaker without a decrease in performance. Agreed, the power supplies are not pretty, certainly not as “high tech” looking as the speakers themselves. However, they supply the required voltage to the speakers and allow them to perform to the level you refer to in your review. The supplied units are UL approved and replacements are inexpensive and widely available.

One high tech power supply that we experimented with actually degraded the sound of the speakers, so it should not be a forgone conclusion that using a more expensive power supply will improve the performance of the speakers. We are investigating the option of offering an optional regulated power supply, but that process is ongoing and not yet finalized. I know that Kevin Hayes has designed power supplies for his personal use, but I don’t have any information on those units at this time.

Regarding the subject of batteries in lieu of the supplied power supplies, I apologize to Douglas if I seemed preoccupied at the time (I picked an interesting year to introduce a new product line). However, I did not want to get into the practice of recommending something that I can’t guarantee with regards to quality, performance, compatibility or durability. We know how our products will perform with the supplied accessories and we offer a warranty based on that knowledge. Once you introduce third party products, we can’t be sure what, if anything, might happen.

Roger DuNaier
Performance Devices