When I was using only the K41 via ethernet compared with the Grimm into the C1.2 DAC, interestingly, the soundstaging and focus between the two were very similar. How different this became after adding the K22. Now, the room was positively filled with ambiance! This was not an artificially blown-up stage with unnaturally expanded instruments and vocals within. The stage itself retained its width and height and the focus and overall precision also remained very similar. More impressively still, the artists within that room-filling ambiance had suddenly become living-and-breathing entities.

The presentation is not just expansive in a static manner, but it breathes, moves, and flows just as required by the music. All this culminates in the kind of performance that totally takes the focus away from audiophile aspects and lets the listener undergo the music. But with my critical mind screwed back on, I can add that the K22, like the K41, has a fulsome sound. It’s meaty, full-bodied, and rich in tonality and this also makes it a little less tight and articulate than I normally like.

However, the Antipodes duo is not about ultimate precision, it is all about conveying the soul of the music. In addition, vocals and center-stage instruments possess something of an inner essence, almost like a glow. I realize this may convey a feeling of warmth or honey-like behavior but it’s not like that. I wouldn’t even call the K41 and K22 warm per se. They’re richly saturated and full-bodied, but there’s no rose-tinting and no cream added.

Somehow, the duo injects the music with passion, soul, and depth. Speaking of which, the K22 not only allows room-filling ambiance but also extends the soundstage layering considerably deeper into the depth plane.

I played all kinds of music just to make sure I wasn’t being seduced by what could ultimately be an effect but sure enough, everything I played sounded nothing short of absolutely credible. Everything sounded just right, utterly realistic, and always with an inner soulfulness that made me connect with the music ever so effortlessly.

I also tried the K22 as an endpoint together with the Grimm as a server but that resulted in a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the K22 now sounded tighter and leaner than with the K41, but on the other hand, it was now missing a sizable portion of the well-saturated and involving organic naturalness that develops so synergetically when it is combined with the K41. It sounded really quite good, just like the K41 on its own sounded very good. But, clearly, the real magic is achieved when the two units are combined.

Link do recenzji: Antipodes Kala 41 – Hifi-Advice

Link: Antipodes K41 – Hifi-Advice – Highly Recommended Award