"Integrity", "Quiet" and "Transparent" These words are my summary of the combination of KECES S3 preamp/headphone amp, decoder all-in-one machine + S300 pure power amplifier: For those who need a powerful and simple high-fidelity system For anyone looking for a solution as well as excellent headphone performance, this is a pleasant combination. Like the KECES E40 integrated amplifier, the S3 and S300, also from Taiwan's KECES, perfectly demonstrate the company's minimalism .
I believe that readers of "PF" are smart people and can better understand today's topic through the core information of S3 and S300 on the official website. The S3 is a very good headphone amplifier. It drives my Grado SR125e very well, and in all perceivable sonic aspects, the S3 outperforms the Parasound Halo P6 preamp, which also has excellent amp capabilities, and it also outperforms another Bottlehead Crack amp, so let's I gave up on this close friend of more than a week.
Admittedly I am not a headphone expert, but when I switch the S3 to headphone mode, I can hear that the preamp part has been cut off, so the noise is reduced and the headphone amplifier system can be fully demonstrated. According to my experience in KECES products I can imagine the performance it brings, and I think that even if you are just looking for a high-performance headphone amp/DAC combination, the S3 is a very good choice at this price point.
S3 also provides a powerful high-resolution DAC function. It uses the default analog filtering of the ESS ES9026PRO chipset and supports PCM and DSD256 Native up to 32bit/384kHz. At the same time, S3 also has a controllable stage volume, which uses a complex 128-level high-precision resistor array, which can achieve a good balance between the left and right channels. The single set of balanced/unbalanced outputs is also limited in functionality, but if you plan to use the DAC section in the S3 with a separate phono stage, such as KECES' Ephono, then this can be overcome.
When I saw the S3 for the first time, I thought it was just an amp. Later I found out that it was an all-in-one decoder, amp/preamp. Although the S3 has a small and smooth appearance, it drives the S300 of the same brand. When it comes to the power amplifier, its sound performance is as quiet and powerful as the headphone performance. It is obvious that KECES has invested a lot of effort in the design of S3.
This S300 pure power amplifier is a new product of KECES. Compared with the small size of S3, it looks stronger. Two devices can still be placed neatly on the desktop when stacked. Most of its weight comes from the internal 1.2kVA. The transformer, and of course the solid aluminum chassis of the S3 and S300, all help to withstand external RFI/EMI interference.
This compact amplifier packs a heavy punch. It is a class A/AB amplifier , although conservatively rated at 130 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 225 watts per channel into 4 ohms. The peak current of 45 amps is a good indication of its high performance. Stacking a lot of electronic products in a small space should not be a good thing, but putting components of a Class A/AB amplifier into a compact space that could only accommodate a noisy Class D amplifier is sufficient. Demonstrated the professional capabilities of KECES.
Whether or not it can drive complex, ever-changing speakers is what can really separate an "adequate" amplifier from the realm of great amplifiers. The Parasound A21+ is rated at 250 watts, the S300 is rated at 130 watts, and the Bricasti M15 is rated at just 125 watts, all into 8 ohms. This all seems counter-intuitive, as the M15 is far superior to the A21+ and S300 in terms of quality performance and all-around driving power (since it's supposed to cost five times as much as the A21+ and S300). The key point here is to look at wattages, they don't always deliver the full amp signal, and I also found that the S300's wattage was definitely premium performance in this regard. The
S300 also features a selectable "high bias/low bias" mode. In high bias mode, the S300's initial 5 watt output will operate in a pure Class A manner. In my system, it will be more biased towards high bias, which sounds pleasant, while low bias is a bit thin.However, the S300 also has very significant advantages. It can reach 410 watts of power (8 ohms) through bridge connection. The entire amplification circuit adopts a direct cross-connection design, which can reduce the overall distortion. It can be said that it exceeds my expectations at this price. . My biggest gripe with the S300 is the LED light on the front. I wish manufacturers would opt for a more subtle indicator method, but come to think of it, my nitpick (which looks like "The Princess and the Pea") is the LED indicator. lights, then it means that the S300 is indeed an excellent performer!
Audition settings
I benchmarked the S3 with Parasound Halo P6, S300 and Parasound A21+. Parasound’s products can be said to have advantages in terms of cost performance, and it is also a strong competitor of KECES. The entire audition object switches between each other, which can be said to be very messy.
For example, the A21+ made the S300 sound less authoritative, and the S300 struggled to keep up when it came to handling more demanding 4-ohm speakers. But the S300 delivers much better detail and space on the same speaker, and by comparison, the A21+'s normally quiet background looks more like dark gray than black. I decided to level the playing field by asking for lower speakers (a 10-inch 3-way, rather than a dual 10-inch 4-way), which also softened the contrast a bit, in this case making the S300 more of a lively summer The sun rises every day, and the A21+ has sunset. The S300 seems best suited to speaker systems with modest 4-ohm or 8-ohm requirements, where people's listening habits tend toward refinement rather than raw power, which also puts the S300 where its value deserves.
I personally am very picky about the control of speakers, and I am worried about hearing bass-midbass that lacks strict control. The latter will affect male voices, trombones, and . snare drum , cello, etc. But fortunately, these worries are not found on the S300. When driving 10-inch 3-way speakers, it can happily demonstrate everything it has to offer.
The S3 is so feature-rich that I had to try it out with my Bricasti M15, and it turned out that they work very well together. In the DAC department alone, the S3 performs better than the Parasound P6 (I must emphasize that the P6 is no slouch), which reminds me of one of my personal favorite DACs: the Grace M920, and the S3 is able to demonstrate its value very well. , although it lacks common control features compared to similarly priced preamps. The DAC part of
S3 can present a very elegant sound. When playing fine recordings, it can project an ideal sound field. As an independent preamplifier, when connected to the Bracasti M1 DAC, it can retain more internal details, and Produces quieter black backgrounds than Parasound P6. Like the E40 integrated amplifier, the KECES S3 is compact yet high-performance value, making it a great value for money for those looking to build a minimalist amplifier with powerful performance.
The most important thing: listening to
Immersed in the music of the S3 and S300 pairings, I chose to stick with the 10-inch three-way speakers of my own design. The speaker cables are high-purity 8AWG copper cable with a multi-strand stranded rope construction. They It has become my daily monitoring cable because the extremely low resistance and capacitance can better create the soundstage and internal details. I use Cardas Clear balanced signal cables between the S3 and S300.
I use the Qobuz streaming platform and the most recent thing that caught my attention is John Williams 's "The Vienna Feat" performed by Ann-Sophie Mutter and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra . This edition contains 13 of John Williams' famous musical numbers composed for classic films. Over the years, my "Yodas" (movie characters) have taught me the proper use of the power of music, and yet no matter how hard I try, it seems that nothing ever comes of it. You can never be a Jedi musically.
Until now, I found a recording and performance of the theme song from Star Wars, which is the highest honor imaginable! This is thanks to the carefully designed work of German grammarians, and it may also be because the 87-year-old John Williams personally conducted it. In short, because of the discovery of this album, I think I can finally get the title of "Jedi" . The
S3+S300 also delivers like a brand new X-Wing fighter. I'm impressed by how coherent they are from top to bottom while retaining a wide soundstage. They sound a lot like mint chocolate ice cream. Instead of plain chocolate, it adds a nice bite to the croissants , giving them incredible dynamic range that totally exceeded my expectations at this price point. The highlight of the S3+S300 combination is the richness of detail, and the background is cleaner than I expected, but this is not surprising, because the two are also quiet and gentle in character when listened to separately. The pair's low-frequency response is well controlled and consistent with the rest, and even when pushed to cinematic levels, the S300 remains tactile.
The Who need no introduction here, "Eminence Front" is a track from their 1982 album It's Hard. The lyrics and guitar parts can easily get lost in the dominant synths, plus, with sixteenth notes playing throughout the song, the entire composition can get out of control and become a mess. A big part of what makes this song so interesting is its dynamics, and the S3+S300 did a great job of retaining that, and when the beat transitioned from synth to drum beat, I started to groove to it.
rock 'n' roll from the 1970s and 1980s is like a piercing dagger on many hi-fi systems, due to the flaw in older recordings that, while they have "adequate" resolution, rarely perfectly represent the deep The internal details, combined with the tonality of vintage audio that leans more toward the warmer side of the spectrum, are the perfect storm of rocking .
In modern HiFi equipment, as long as there is enough headroom and low distortion, as in the S3/S300 combo, there will be an audibility similar to that of old HiFi despite the recording flaws. The benefit of this is being able to hear the subtleties of the musicians' talents without the near-infinite digital tracks recorded today, and artists of the "classic rock era" had to demonstrate their virtuosity in every note to ensure it It makes sense that I'll list a few of the more classic rock tracks at the end, because I find the lack of ear-fatiguing internal detail to be a truly special mark in the S3/S300.
While not comparable to previous artists, I have also found some creative and enjoyable modern music, and the ideas of Billie Ellish fall into this category. In her first album "WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO", she used lyrics, music, and performance to demonstrate many youth problems in today's society. The S3+S300 both fleshed everything out perfectly while maintaining a dynamic fit with the drum beats, Billie's over-embellished chorus was deftly addressed, and the bass had all the authority and control you could ask for at this level. While it lacks all-out drive compared to the Parasound A21+, I prefer the S300 in this case.
Billie Ellish is a good artist who understands that the silence between notes is just as important as the music, and she is able to play it as an instrument in most music. The S300 captures this correctly too, with a slightly softer bass response, but no lack of low frequencies at all, just not as extreme as the A21+.
Journey's End
The KECES S3 preamp/headphone amplifier sells for $1400 and the KECES S300 power amplifier sells for $2800. As a complete system, both parts offer considerable value when combined Together, the overall fidelity is higher than their respective selling points.If you're looking for a small-format but serious high-fidelity system, this is the one for you.
For S3, its high performance does come at the expense of built-in multiple bypasses or multiple functions, but it is still very competitive. I really recommend S3. It may be the best I have heard so far. One of the best values for high fidelity, the S300 is also a very good competitor in its class. It's not exactly a monster amp, but it has plenty of quiet power and headroom to drive any reasonable speaker. You want to maximize overall fidelity and should consider this.
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