Producent zaznacza, że używa wstęgi, chociaż efekt przypomina dobrą aplikację AMT – brzmienie jest wyraziste, precyzyjne w dziedzinie czasu, a przy tym barwne. Szarpnięcia strun gitar zachowują wysoką rozdzielczość i osadzenie w niższym podzakresie, które pozwala uniknąć piskliwości i szorstkości, a wnosi głębię i mięsistość. Czasem odzywają się nawet nie tyle blisko, ale tak, jakby uderzały wprost w bębenki. Krystaliczna czystość, połączona z miękką i ciepłą łagodnością, podkreśla bezpośredniość, jak gdyby ta była jeszcze niewystarczająca.

Czytelność faktury i przejrzystość sprawiają, że niemal wchodzimy do studia czy na scenę, a na pewno siedzimy w miejscu, w którym można muzykom podać rękę. Następna obserwacja dotyczy ocieplenia i zaakcentowania średnicy, jakbyśmy dodali szczyptę lampowej przyprawy. Przypomina fantastyczne połączenie z początku ostatniej dekady XX wieku – Eposów ES 14 z Musicalem Fidelity A1. To świat zarezerwowany dla wzmacniaczy w klasie A. McIntosh MA12000 to mocny piec, ma też lekki dodatek ciepła, jednak w tym przypadku robotę robią Kerry. Muzyka w rodzaju Cata Stevensa i innych legend rocka z tamtych czasów idealnie wpisuje się w tę estetykę.

Współczesny pop pozwala szybciej wyciągnąć wnioski. Skoro Prince brzmi świetnie, to znaczy, że głośnik jest dobrze zestrojony. Ciepło, mięsistość i gęstość średnicy pchają wokale wprost do uszu. Instrumenty towarzyszące również wychodzą naprzód. Obraz jest aż nadprzejrzysty i ostry.

Koniecznie trzeba też wspomnieć o energii. Prezentację w całym pasmie cechuje zdecydowany, szybki atak, sprężystość i napięcie. Uporządkowanie warstwy rytmicznej przez energię i precyzję uderzenia tworzy szkielet, który nie pozwala na poluzowanie organizacji całego ciała. Mocne granie ostatecznie rozwiewa wątpliwości: to świat wzmacniaczy w klasie A, ubrany w szaty studyjnego monitora bliskiego pola. Z wyjątkiem basu. Ten jest mocny i stanowi przeciwwagę dla zdecydowanych wysokich tonów, podanych bez zawahania.

Chyba udało mi się przeniknąć do głowy Jesa Kerra. Wydaje mi się, że wiem, co lubi i do jakiego brzmienia dąży w pracy producenta muzycznego. Adres okazuje się nieprzypadkowy – skorupka musiała nasiąknąć brytyjską szkołą i estetyką monitorów BBC. Jednak Kerrowi nie wszystko się w niej podoba. Nie dążył do neutralności i obiektywizmu, a priorytetem był realizm w innym ujęciu. Efektem jest głośnik, mało powiedzieć, że ciekawy. Realizacja stylu jest perfekcyjna, a do tego Kerr korzysta ze współczesnej technologii, co również słychać. Przyznam, że koncepcja mnie zainteresowała i chciałbym posłuchać monitorów. Na początek K300 – bo to taka sama konstrukcja, tyle że w mniejszej obudowie i z krótszą linią w środku. No i ogromnego K200 – z wielgachną kopułką średniotonową i wstęgą na górze. To może być niezła jazda.

Link do recenzji: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Hi-Fi i Muzyka

I was struck by how clean, straightforward, and open sounding the K320 mk3 is in my listening room. Indeed, you're not really aware that it is a transmission line design at all – such is its even yet wonderfully extended bass, relative lack of cabinet colouration, driver integration, and overall transparency. Its other stand-out characteristic is its transient speed, which I'd guess is a function both of its super-light ribbon tweeter and the cabinet loading system.

Speed, dynamic articulation, and power all proved top-notch for a floorstander of this size, and then there's its other pièce de résistance – the bass. Let's be clear here, never does it deliver a massive nineteen seventies disco speaker booming noise – so even at high listening levels, your internal organs will remain in place. Instead, Kerr's magic is its ability to go down exceptionally low for a speaker of its size in a linear, controlled, and even way. This is quite a thing to hear because there's no obvious bump in the response. Rather, the Kerr just emits powerful low frequencies in a committed but judicious and measured way.

Moving up to the midband, and there's an awful lot to like here, especially when the speaker has warmed up after fifteen minutes or so. You get a very balanced, smooth, and matter-of-fact sound that's laced with low-level detail. It's also exceptionally transparent, even for a speaker of this price. You can flick from say, Carole King's It's Too Late (1971) to Suede's Animal Nitrate (1993) and be transported in time and space. Listen to the former, and you'd accuse the K320 mk3 of being warm, soft, sweet, and spacious – maybe even coloured. Then move to the latter, and it's a hard, in-your-face and nasal speaker, with brittle upper mids and clangy treble. In other words, this speaker digs deep into whatever recording it is given and conveys it without prejudice. It's not about sugaring the musical pill, so to speak.

The ribbon tweeter fitted to the K320 mk3 is top-notch, at least for a speaker anywhere near this price. I've heard better, but you're into the realm of true esoterica – comparisons with which aren't really fair. When listening to it, I was constantly reminded of how crude almost all dome tweeters are, by comparison. The latter as a breed has more weight to move to emit sound, and the result is a slight suckout of air and space in any given recording and general coarsening of the signal. The Kerr's high-frequency unit, by contrast, proved deliciously delicate, a delight to hear reproducing hi-hat and ride cymbals. But there was more, as it's also great with lacerative harmonics from instruments such as electric guitars. Rat Race by The Specials was a treat, the lead guitar having a speed and scratchy incision that made the song all the more rhythmic. At the same time, this speaker handled the sparkling overtones of the piano and Hammond organ brilliantly. Everything sounded fast, vibrant, tactile, and alive.

Given that this loudspeaker is so good at everything else, you'd be surprised if it was sub-par in the soundstaging stakes. Not to worry, as bolstered by that excellent tweeter, it projected instruments into space with pinpoint precision. Kate Bush's Snowflake was quite a thing to hear; the producer positions the listener practically inside her piano and then hangs the main vocal line back a bit. The result was suitably ethereal, my review pair of K320 mk3s working wonders with immersive sound all around. Spatially, it's not the widest soundstaging speaker that I've ever come across, simply by virtue of its compact size. Yet, in terms of image precision and depth perspective, it is exceptional.

Link do recenzji: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Stereonet

You only have to hear the way that the K320 scythes through [Simple Minds’] New Gold Dream to know it’s something special. Whereas most of the others here handle it well, this speaker appears to mysteriously vanish when the play button is pressed. It boasts a tonality on the warm wide of dry and a soundstage of architectural precision.

Bass goes down extremely low in a tight and powerful way… Treble soars and sparkles, with a delicacy that no other offering here approaches. Impressive stuff, but what really floats my boat is the loudspeaker’s rhythmic prowess.

The most transparent design here, this speaker seems able to get right into the grain of the recording, throwing out vast amounts of detail.

A highly composed and controlled sound, yet one with firecracker dynamics and oodles of guts and glory on dynamic crescendos.

Link do recenzji: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Hi-Fi Choice

Their performance enthralled me. Let’s first talk about the bass. In terms of control, phrasing, texture, speed, and dynamics, these speakers are truly impressive. The speakers remain coherent across the rest of the frequency range; only when sitting a little too close could I pick out which drive unit the music was emitting from. The soundstage was as holographic as I achieved with the Totem Element Fire v2s, which I hosted a couple of years back, and I had considered the best I’d achieved in my room at that point. As I hypothesised earlier, these speakers do indeed sound fast, and they do so across the frequency range, but naturally so. That speed and the speaker’s headroom allow them to produce stunning dynamics, which increases listener involvement.

I have been listening to David Sylvian’s Secrets Of The Beehive for decades, yet I have never heard it sound so full, expansive, and expr essive as I have via the K320 MkIII speakers. Unfortunately, the final track, Forbidden Colours, which, despite being the perfect climax of this astonishing album, was omitted from the remastered version. Thankfully, I have the original CD, which also sounds better. The single drum strikes help demonstrate the speaker’s timing abilities, doubtless due to the dead cabinet and fast-responding drive units. Another album I particularly enjoyed via these Kerr’s was Beck’s Sea Change (24/192download). Most who have heard this album agree that it is a particularly fine recording. Here, I was treated to a vast soundstage and tremendous dynamics. The bass on both this
and the SACD version of this album can be overwhelming, which is something the MoFi CD version tames somewhat. Via the Kerr’s, although full and powerful, it was clean and entirely under control.

The Kerr K320 Mk3 give me the imaging qualities of a great stand-mount, such as the Serhan Swift Mu2 or Totem Element Fire v2, with a close to ideal low-frequency performance in my room. To answer the question posed earlier, as to whether these speakers offer good value for money, that would be a wholehearted affirmative. The K320 Mk3 considerably outperforms my Totem Forest Signature speakers in most respects, which admittedly retail for £2000 less, and I would sooner live with these than any mainstream speaker that I’ve heard in the £10-£12k bracket from better-known brands.

They provide listener involvement, create an engaging soundstage, produce fabulous dynamics and transient performance and are as transparent as I could wish for. They do not sound overly romantic or accentuate particular parts of the audiobook like others; instead, they remain true to their maker’s pro-audio heritage without that ‘warts and all’ sound you get from pure studio monitors.

Link do recenzji: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Pursuit Perfect System

With its transmission line loading, minimal styling and slim profile the K320 might be mistaken for a PMC but the tonal balance is richer and more relaxed, the bass more generous and the treble a shade sweeter. And I like sweet treble as long as it reveals plenty of detail and projects a strong image whilst keeping the timing on the ball. All of which are the case here, I rediscovered an obscure album by Michael Ivey called B.Y.O.B. which is an unusually laid-back concoction of hip hop and funk with powerful bass lines and a rambling style. The K320 managed to project the voices well, giving them shape and solidity whilst defining the rhythms being laid down by bass, drums and various other instruments and voices in the mix. Another more familiar album revealed more 3D solidity and real depth to the image and the bass, the reverb clearly rendered as it ebbed away. On Tom Waits’ Shore Leave (Swordfishtrombones) there is a physicality to the sound that when combined with strong tonal definition of instruments and voice makes it very real, the music being projected into the room extremely well. The Kerr achieves this by virtue of its 24/18mm ply cabinets that are clearly very stiff. Good quality drive units and crossovers squeeze a lot of fine detail out of the incoming signal.

Although not particularly sensitive the K320 responds with enthusiasm if you wind up the volume, Leifur James’ Red Sea is a slow builder but by the time things got going the level had reached a point I don’t often go to, yet the sound remained clean and calm as the sound filled the room and produced a huge vista that you could almost bathe in. It encouraged a few other lively tracks including Uptown Top Ranking with its easy groove and beautifully textured bass, and Trentmoller’s Chameleon. This had been recommended by another reviewer for its reflex port testing near square wave bass, something that this transmission line had no trouble in delivering with full depth and precision.

To get an idea of the K320’s driveability the Angel 6 amplifier was switched to an Octave V70 with KT20 output tubes and a power rating of 50W into four Ohms, this produced a more fruity result with beautiful tone on saxophone and rather more generous bass, to the point where the speaker really needs to come further into the room to reduce low frequency output. But there is plenty of gravitas and a fluidity to the sound that goes a long way to making up for the lack of grip in the bass. And pulling the speakers further away from the wall did the trick, the emphasis remained on the midband but the bass no longer made itself obvious and the results were inspiring, the trumpet and sax on Matthew Halsall’s Fletcher Moss Park were precisely positioned in a clear acoustic and tonally superb. I really enjoyed Herbie Hancock’s Rhodes keyboard playing on Sweet Sucker Dance too, the tubes bringing out the shine and life in the instrument and an all round degree of articulation that was highly engaging.

Link do recenzji: Kerr K320 Mk3 – The Ear

Link: Kerr K320 Mk3 – The Ear – Editor's Choice

Link: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Stereonet – Applause Award

Link: Kerr K320 – Stereo+ – Spesielt Anbefalt

Link: Kerr K320 Mk3 – Hi-Fi Choice – Grouptest Winner

Link: Kerr K320 Mk3– Pursuit Perfect System – Essential Audition