PliniusKaitakiusedPlinius Kaitaki balanced linestage preamp [MINT] - no phono***PRICE DROP*** Asking price includes: shipping and insurance, all original accessories, and I will absorb all PayPal fees. Serious offers welcome. Truly MINT via the Audiogon scale. Visually...2200.00

Plinius Kaitaki balanced linestage preamp [MINT] - no phono

Listing ID: lisa3f60 Classified 
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Condition
10/10
Payment methods
Ships fromMcKinney, TX, 75071
Ships toUnited States
Package dimensions22.0" × 24.0" × 13.0" (30.0 lbs.)
Shipping carrierUPS
Shipping costFree
Original accessoriesRemote Control, Box, Manual
AverageResearch Pricing

***PRICE DROP*** 
 Asking price includes: shipping and insurance, all original accessories, and I will absorb all PayPal fees. Serious offers welcome.
 
Truly MINT via the Audiogon scale. Visually and sonically perfect. No defects. Fully balanced Plinius Kaitaki linestage active preamp. With lessons learned from previous halo products, the Kaitaki is a pinnacle product for most. 
NO PHONO STAGE is inside the unit. Plinius uses the same chassis to make the phono and no-phono (this unit) version of the Kaitaki. All connections are present inside the chassis to connect the Plinius phono board if one were to acquire said board. Adjust a few dip switches and voila! But this unit does NOT have that internal phono board, despite the selector on the front and the connectors on the rear.

All original packaging and items are included. The massive aluminum bar remote, the original manual, the original box, and all original packing materials. The remote is a statement piece unto itself and is quite imposing. 12" long and weigh over a pound, it feels amazing in the hand. It's an extruded tube of aluminum with a finish that exactly matches the preamp itself. One could use it as a weapon, if required. It's that sturdy. Designed to sit on an armrest, it has a bottom lined with grippy foam. To protect its finish and the finish of whatever supports it.

The Plinius Kaitaki utilizes a fully balanced design and actually provided identical gain for my Benchmark Media AHB2 amplifiers as the Benchmark LA-4 linestage which replaced it. A feat unto itself (The Benchmark AHB2's were run in their lowest gain setting) and it means that the Kaitaki will easily drive any known amplifier well past clipping. My new rack just doesn’t have the space for the Plinius.  The Benchmark LA-4 is just physically tiny in comparison in both width and depth and is now a better fit for me, in the most literal sense. My loss is your gain. The Kaitaki is a statement piece.

The dual balanced JFET output devices are run in a true single ended topology. Custom Audience Auricap XO caps are used in the input buffer stage along with Auric OFC wiring. HT Bypass functionality, RC5 trigger, 12v trigger can all be used to integrate into a larger system. Custom toroidal transformer that is larger than some entry level 7 channel AVRs. Pure analog with an infinitely variable volume control, no stepped attenuation here. Sounds just as good a passive preamp, but significantly more dynamic and illuminated. On par with Levinson, Ayre, Audio Research, Macintosh, Bryston, Pass Labs, et al. Will pair very well with speakers that are neutral to slightly dark. The Kaitaki is very revealing of texture and soundstage and could be slightly too revealing for speakers that are on the lean side. Tons of detail, texture, tone colors, and that panoramic sound stage. Things can come from behind you if your setup and room are right. Very good center image that stays locked in place even when material gets busy. Not the last word in image depth (front to rear), but it’s decent. My setup is mixed use and does have a 65” TV located between the speakers; this doesn’t help imaging at all. So take that with a grain of salt.

If you must stick with solid state, this is a fantastic performer. I would take it over some tube gear, actually. And it’s obviously going to be less maintenance. Hand made in New Zealand by Plinius. Plinius is a fully vertically integrated company and they actually make every metal part of the device on their own CNC machines, and conduct all assembly by hand.

All fuses have been replaced with Schurter silver ceramic audio fuses over the OEM glass tubes. Used with Cardas Golden Presence and Cardas Parsec XLRs. Very transparent to cables. Does not include the internal phono preamp that is optional. Which is fine, because a decent Moon phono preamp will beat that preamp for less money. If you wanted to buy the preamp card from Plinius, it can be added later.

I’m the second owner; the first upgraded to the Plinius Reference M-10. No kids or pets or smoking. Always plugged into a Panamax Power Conditioner.

Feel free to DM for questions about speaker/amp pairings. The Plinius Kaitaki is very neutral and pairs well with a wide variety of amps and speakers. Feed it lossless digital (HR PCM, DSD, etc) or high quality streaming services such as Tidal, Amazon HD, Qobuzz, or Deezer and you'll be rewarded with lush, enveloping sound. The wrap-around machined aluminum face plate with "PLINIUS" crisply machined in relief is a classy and powerful statement that you swim upstream.

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