Building upon the success of the Kii THREE, Kii Audio unveiled its Kii SEVEN Wireless Music System at the recent UK Hi-Fi Show Live, which is said to start shipping in Q1 2024. Since 2015, the company has managed to carve itself a niche straddling both pro and consumer audio with the same products, thanks to their combination of innovation, quality, and ease of use. Needless to say, sonic performance is in no small part due to the genius of digital audio design whizz Bruno Putzeys.

The new Kii SEVEN Wireless Music System promises a combination of high-quality audio and intuitive smart functionality. It can be used with just one speaker, in a two-speaker system as a stereo pair, part of a multi-speaker surround system including Dolby Atmos, or part of a multiroom system. Furthermore, with Dante networking onboard, the Kii SEVEN will undoubtedly find itself in studios as a broadcast-quality monitor, just as the Kii THREE and BXT have also made themselves at home in professional studios.

During my listening session, I did enquire whether the Kii THREE and SEVEN could be combined in a system and then share Dante's controls. CEO and Kii Audio co-founder Chris Reichardt said, “This would be obvious and make sense later. Right now, Kii SEVEN is a standalone smart speaker system designed for audiophiles. We may introduce some kind of break-out box for the THREE and SEVEN at some point.” However, you can “combine multiple Kii THREE and Kii SEVEN units for Dolby Atmos mixing”, most likely via a Dolby Atmos processor with digital outputs so that you could connect each active speaker directly to the digital (AES) inputs of the speakers.

As you may have already guessed, the Kii SEVEN is quite unlike most smart speakers. Firstly, it has been designed as a cardioid speaker, with its sound dispersion pattern maintained in the lower-mid and bass frequencies. This provides more precise bass, and significantly limits acoustic room interaction, it's claimed.

Additionally, by using Active Wave Focusing, the speaker is designed to deliver 'audiophile-grade' sound that more accurately captures the essence of reproduced music. Instead of splitting audio frequencies into bands like traditional crossover filters, this system forces the specially positioned drive units to create a coherent wavefront only emitted towards the listener. This, says Kii Audio, ensures perfect time alignment over the entire frequency spectrum.

Measuring 310x200x310mm (HxWxD) and weighing 14kg, each Kii SEVEN is loaded with a pair of 6.5-inch Active Wave-Focused woofers, a 5-inch Midrange and a 1-inch Custom Wave-guided tweeter, which are pushed along by a 600 Watt amplifier. On top of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connections, the system offers XLR and TRS, AES/EBU, Dante and KiiLink/KiiCONTROL cable connectivity.

Roon Ready out-of-the-box, the Kii SEVEN lives up to its smart speaker promise with hi-res 24-bit, 192kHz playback, and support for Airplay 2, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect and Qobuz Connect when it arrives.

As well as the ergonomic Kii CONTROL digital preamp and USB interface that includes lossless volume control, Kii's HOME App makes it easy to access the Kii Seven's useful features, such as streaming playlists to controlling playback in multiple rooms. Whether you have one Kii SEVEN or a dozen, you can customise acoustic settings for up to twelve separate zones in your home.

The company says the target audience for this product is people who want the accessibility of smart speaker, with the audiophile provenance of a manufacturer that makes kit for professional studio environments – as already proven by the Kii THREE. The manufacturer says the Kii SEVEN promises to offer smaller studio spaces the same quality in a more compact design.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

StereoNET's first listen took place at an exclusive UK Hi-Fi Show Live demonstration, where it was clear to hear that this is an exceptionally capable smart speaker. The live version of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity sounded huge through the relatively diminutive standmounting Kii SEVEN, and admirably reproduced the track's impact alongside the show's atmosphere. The impressive bass extension goes well beyond what one would expect from such a compact box without becoming muddy or smeary.

The other neat trick was that, during some Infected Mushroom at reasonable volume, I was able to stand to one side of the slightly toed-in speakers and hold a conversation at normal levels thanks to that cardioid dispersion pattern – even though the listener is treated to a decent soundstage, in front of the stereo pair. For the above reasons, this speaker is easily good enough to be the primary all-in-one system for those wanting great sound while sidestepping the usual litany of cables. A pair of these would also create an end-game computer audio system.

Show environments are not ideal for critical analysis, so you'll need to wait until we get hands-on with a pair for ourselves when they start shipping later this year.

THE VERDICT

They say first impressions are everything, and at the price, the Kii SEVEN is an exceptional compact smart speaker. Thanks to its audio engineering provenance, it's able to deliver redoubtable performance in more compact listening spaces and earn its keep as a studio monitor. Hear a pair of them if you can.

The Kii SEVEN is due for release in early 2024 and will sell for £3,495 per speaker.

Visit Kii Audio for more information