Kondo Staff

Audiocrack

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2012
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Did you try KR 211? Shakti said they have the dynamics of 211 and mids of 845

After selling my Kondo/Audio Note Gakuons around 4-5 years back I have not played with 211 amps in any of my audio set ups. At the time I was playind my Gakuons with General Electric 211 valves and never tried other 211 valves. I also bought a matched quod United Electronics and an additional quod General Electric 211 tubes.

So in short, I have no idea how the Kron 211 - and for example Elrog 211 - tubes compare to the nos 211 valves I mentioned before. United Electronics and RCA tubes are extremely difficult to find and are very expensive indeed. So it is imo really good for us (as audiophiles) to have newly produced alternatives available.
 

howiebrou

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Jun 29, 2012
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Thanks Howie. And yes, you should sit back, listen and foremost enjoy your Kondo equipment!

As regards nos 211 tubes: most of the time I hear the following 'rating':
1. United Electronics
2. RCA
3. General Electric
4. Currently made 211 valves.

Of course there is always a matter of taste involved in these kind of listings.

Have heard the RCA 211 in the Kagura's and they sounded really fine. But as always it is also a matter of (fine)tuning: for example most of the time the GE power tubes sound brighter than the United Electronics and RCA 211 valves and you can 'remedy' this with choosing softer or more mellow sounding input tubes and rectifiers.

But there is undoubtedly more to it in order to get the best out of your kagura's: apart from the tubes - very, very important indeed with all Kondo equipment: a lot of people judge the performance of the (current) Kondo (pre)amps with the standard supplied Kondo tubes but in that case there is still quite a lot to gain - aspects like the fuses, pc's, ic's, loudspeaker cables, isolation and good matching with the loudspeakers are of course very important as well.

Oh yeah forgot about fuses....platforms....isolation feet.....
 

bonzo75

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I would interested to hear if anyone has tried these considering they are much much cheaper than NOS tubes.

Contact Shakti on this forum
 

earlinarizona

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2010
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Does anyone know this system room and who it belongs to? Is this person in this room by any chance? It has a bunch of Kondo equipment in it.


20257924_10159031562075134_4477948780321562999_n-1.jpg
 
Last edited:

Audiocrack

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Aug 10, 2012
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http://highfidelity.pl/@main-521&lang=en

Here is a link to a Kondo Kagura review in which the Polish reviewer describes what happened when he replaced some of the standard/stock tubes by nos valves. The differences were obvious and significant according to him, even when he did not have a chance to insert some high quality nos 211 tubes.
 

Audiocrack

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2012
2,175
687
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Does anyone know this system room and who it belongs to? Is this person in this room by any chance? It has a bunch of Kondo equipment in it.


View attachment 34849

I know who this room belongs to but I am not in a position to disclose his identity. I can only say that this audiophile has three dedicated audio rooms with top notch audio equipment and that he does not live nearby the Netherlands.
 

bonzo75

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What are the the main components in the the other two systems?
 

Audiocrack

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Aug 10, 2012
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What are the the main components in the the other two systems?

Without (explicit) permission from the owner I am not in a position to disclose the other audio components this audiophile is currently using. Sorry about that. Please be assured that all his systems are top notch and that he is very fond of his (various) Kondo equipment. Apart from the Kondo Ongaku and Gakuons he has all Kondo 'toys' available.
 

Tango

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Mar 12, 2017
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I can only say that this audiophile has three dedicated audio rooms with top notch audio equipment and that he does not live nearby the Netherlands.

Yes. He is quite far away from you.

The othe two systems are in his different house and condo.
 

earlinarizona

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Jul 17, 2010
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It is very nice that you know this person and system. Just the other day in Mono & Stereo it was stated he was testing the new G-1000 against his current M77 preamp and had not decided yet. I just wanted to keep up with how it joined with Vox Olympian. Same with Kondo Kagura with Vox Olympian compared to using the Gakuoh push pull. There are so few of the Vox Olympian;s in the world, any comparison in electronics is rare to hear and especially results. Keeping his privacy is very respectful on your part but when he does decide and does share it, can you post it up.
 

howiebrou

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Jun 29, 2012
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Ooh i would love to borrow some Vox Olympians. Then we could really start boogying!
 

Audiocrack

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2012
2,175
687
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It is very nice that you know this person and system. Just the other day in Mono & Stereo it was stated he was testing the new G-1000 against his current M77 preamp and had not decided yet. I just wanted to keep up with how it joined with Vox Olympian. Same with Kondo Kagura with Vox Olympian compared to using the Gakuoh push pull. There are so few of the Vox Olympian;s in the world, any comparison in electronics is rare to hear and especially results. Keeping his privacy is very respectful on your part but when he does decide and does share it, can you post it up.

I believe he is comparing the m1000 mkii to the G1000 but maybe I am wrong on this. I know Kevin, the designer of the Vox Olympian, pretty well and I know he developed and tested this speaker (mainly) with the m77 preamp and Gakuoh push pull amps. In other words, it is not strange that the owners of the Vox Olympians might in the end prefer the afore mentioned Kondo components with this particular speaker.

However, in my view the g1000 clearly betters the m1000 mk ii; in this regard I am only referring to the linestages as the G1000 - contrary to the m1000 mk ii - does not include a phonostage. Btw, also my Kondo m1000 mk 1 from the Kondo San era - of which only 17 were made btw (with a phonostage) - imho (clearly) betters the m1000 mkii.

With other loudspeakers than the Vox Olympians the end result might be different of course.
 

earlinarizona

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2010
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With the history of the Vox Olympian at Munich and 18 best of shows from so many publications it may be best to stay with the M77 and Gakuoh. Kevin spent years designing with this piece as a "System" I know the words from Peter of Audio Note UK "Most of the time it is a letdown and time consuming. System approach is the best way to have a correct sound that the original designer intended you to have" With Kevin the M77 and Gakuoh, Kondo cables were his "System" for years . He has spent endless hours fitting the Vox to the Kondo so changing would mean you are starting from scratch and on your own in many ways. It is interesting that Kevin has had the Kagura on display for two years at Munich but he still used the Gakuoh exclusivly on the Vox. Makes you think.

Here are clips I kept of many of the quotes from Munich on the Vox. Effortless, Large-Scale, Cinemascope Image Size, 104db efficient, No Limitations on big songs, impossible to beat Dynamic Sound, Authority, Sure-Footed, Layers, Big and Airy, Beautiful with a NON-Horn Sound, Musically Engaging, Coherent, Unrestrained, No Fatiguing, Organic, Lifelike, Warm, Beautiful, Invisible, Room Disappears, Good Color, Bloom, Power, Speed, Focus, It generates thunderous phenomenal low bass, and I mean really low, high impact, Refined, Makes Music Out Of Thin Air with beautiful Kondo sound, Creates 3D Images, It is The Top Reviewed Munich Show Sound 2015, 2016, 2017. Absolutely captivating, music flowing into space effortlessly, I have never heard sheer realism like this, Light years ahead of anything else, It was a listening experience that brought home just how constrained most speakers are and how much distance they introduce between the performance and the listener. “Laughably” better than anything else at the show” No horn or speaker at the Munich show, could deliver that sound. Best male and female vocals I've heard from a horn system. I heard Seamless integration of the three upper horns and never - ever heard better. Jonathan Valin said it is on a different level than ANYTHING else. The bass floats and envelops, full of texture and layered harmonics. Instruments take on the full weight, complexity power and subtlety. WHY MESS WITH SUCCESS!
 

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