New integrated amp in office rig

heiney9

I have been sort of on an audio vacation for a while. Not really listening to either rig all that much. I bought a pair of R200’s when Polk offered the discount. Mainly because of Troy and others that attended Polkfest. Their resounding endorsement got me excited to start “rebuilding” the office rig…..or rather add to the stable of gear and speakers. I am in the process of “rebuilding” the main rig, but that’s for another post.
I have 3 integrated tube amps I rotate in an out of the office rig. Not always the most convenient when I want a spur of the moment listening session while I’m surfing the web or working from home as I do occasionally now.
I have 2 pair of Polk speakers for the office rig, my beloved, modded Monitor 5B’s and a wonderful pair of RT25i’s. These will probably never leave my abode. I have also been using the excellent Keces Audio USB DA-151 dac converter to play my lossless FLAC files. It’s a real hidden gem, as is all Keces Audio gear. Their attention to detail is impressive.
The goal is to attain the best possible sound even though it is an office rig running through a computer, etc. There are settings and steps one can take to make an audiophile rig. I have always had a rule of thumb not to spend excessively on gear, etc for the secondary rig. I sort of broke that rule buying the R200’s, but they were new and a killer deal!!! And they are getting rave reviews everywhere, so to me worth the investment. So, I got the itch to simplify the office rig, but not sacrifice sound or break the bank….although that 2nd part might have happened…lol.
I became aware of a new line of audio gear from Keces Audio and they have a stellar USA distributor. I started reading the reviews of an integrated amp they released in 2019. It seemed to be the perfect fit for what I was looking for. From experience and a plethora of reviews I know their power conditioners, linear power supply’s and DAC’s have been superb in build, parts, design and performance.
Enter the Keces Audio E-40 integrated amp. I wasn’t able to find a used one in the USA, so I bit the bullet and bought a brand-new unit from Power Holdings Inc, the US distributor. I usually won’t spend that much for the office rig, but I just couldn’t shake it from my mind after reading the reviews. The price included free Priority shipping from Taiwan. Best experience I’ve had in a long time.
I ordered on a Friday afternoon and it was in my hands the following Thursday morning!!! I have spent the entire weekend breaking it in. I want to be fair and let it break in before doing a review. So far, especially today, it sounds freaking fantastic!!! First word that comes to mind is ‘transparency’ and pitch black quiet. This is seriously a true audiophile piece. So far, I am hugely impressed.
I’ll leave you with some reviews and pics and I’ll come back after I properly break her in. On a side note, I haven’t listened to the R200’s yet.

https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/power-amps/keces-e40-integrated-amp-preamp-dac-headphone-amp-review/

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/keces-e40-integrated-amplifier/

https://alpha-audio.net/review/review-keces-e40-integrated-amplifier/

https://soundperfectionreviews.com/review-keces-e40-stereo-integrated/






H9

jbreezy5

Chock full of parts and massive toroid. Looks like it would be a good space saver for a serious office system.

Congrats on your purchase!

pitdogg2

tubes suck....

Clipdat

Looks like a high price to performance ratio! Nice!

I incorrectly assumed it was Class D because of the size.

mhardy6647

It looks nice & I was doing some reading (you know, google-era 'research') on the company & the product, and it's certainly intriguing.

I was surprised to see that the name's an acronym. I was kind of pleased to see that, because, otherwise, it sounds like a fancy medical term for some sort of bodily function.

heiney9

Clipdat wrote: »

Looks like a high price to performance ratio! Nice!

I incorrectly assumed it was Class D because of the size.

It's actually heavily biased class A/B. The thing sound really, really good. Still evaluating. Review to come.

H9

heiney9

mhardy6647 wrote: »

It looks nice & I was doing some reading (you know, google-era 'research') on the company & the product, and it's certainly intriguing.

I was surprised to see that the name's an acronym. I was kind of pleased to see that, because, otherwise, it sounds like a fancy medical term for some sort of bodily function.

I have their DA-151 USB dac from about 8 years ago and they really know how to design and implement. I am not an EE, but I can appreciate building a solid component with the PS section being the first building block. The PS section of most mid-fi isn't very well designed and is usually the compromise area vs. adding extra features.

It seems Keces would rather build a solid foundation starting with the PS as a first priority. I was hesitant because of the cost, but took the leap based on reviews, company philosophy and my own experience. I got in before the substantial price increase. There was $120 price increase 1-29-22. I got in before the price increase which was openly posted on the distributors website ahead of time.

Still evaluating, review to come........so far it has really opened my ears. It sounds really, really good. Transparency is phenomenal as is the sound stage.

H9