KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier – Preamplifier equipped for optical cartridges from DS Audio

KECES Audio can now offer a very special solution, namely the new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier. At first glance, you might think that you’re dealing with an ordinary preamplifier that is intended to expand the KECES Superior Series, and ultimately that’s exactly what it is.

However, this is not just a simple new preamplifier, because the KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier has a very special feature, and that is its integrated phono preamplifier.

Phono preamplifier developed with DS Audio

DS Audio or Digital Stream Corporation, as the Japanese company is officially known, is a manufacturer that can come up with very unusual solutions, namely optical pickup systems.

They follow the motto “Create the future of analogue music”, and in order to live up to this, they have raised the reproduction of music from vinyl records to a completely new level of quality, namely through the aforementioned optical pickup systems.

These pick-up systems are based on a completely different principle to the familiar MM cartridges or MC cartridges. Optical sensors are used here, which use a beam of light to determine the deflection of the needle carrier and thus convert this into electrical signals in a particularly precise manner, almost free from any of the inertia of the familiar systems.

Of course, a cartridge system working in this way requires completely different preamplifiers, and it is precisely such a system that is now to be found in the new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier – in co-operation between DS Audio and KECES Audio.

In addition to a phono preamplifier equipped for MM cartridges and MC cartridges, the new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier also features a special DS Audio equaliser.

The input for MC cartridge systems can be operated with 56 Ohm, 100 Ohm, 220 Ohm, 470 Ohm and 47 kOhm, while the input for MM cartridge systems is set to 47 kOhm, for the sake of completeness. The gain for MM pickup systems is 52 dB, for MC pickup systems 72 dB and for optical pickup systems the gain is 32 dB.

Flexible, compact preamplifier

In addition to the phono preamplifier, the new KECES S4 stereo preamplifier also has a range of other inputs, allowing it to be used as a very flexible preamplifier in a wide variety of configurations.

There are unbalanced RCA sockets as well as balanced XLR sockets on both the input and output sides. The headphone output should not go unmentioned, which can be found on the front of the KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier along with a rotary encoder for selecting the active input, two buttons and a toggle switch as well as a display. Surprisingly, this headphone connection is designed as a 4-pin XLR.

The new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier uses a single-ended, zero-feedback circuit topology, as the manufacturer itself describes it, which promises signal processing with a particularly clear, detailed presentation.

Of course, the fact that the power supply is outsourced should make a significant contribution to this, ultimately resulting in two components. This is by no means surprising, as KECES Audio is a proven specialist in power supply units, so it is only natural that this expertise should also be consistently applied to solutions such as the new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier. A KECES S4 Power Low Noise Linear Power Supply is used here.

Both components measure 300 x 279 x 66 mm, but while the preamplifier itself only weighs 3.5 kg, the power supply weighs 4.5 kg.

Prices and availability

The new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier will soon be available from specialist retailers. The recommended retail price will be € 4.000,-. The KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier will be supplied with a matching infrared remote control.

Getting to the point

The new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier is a new preamplifier in the KECES Superior Series, and it comes in a compact form with all the relevant inputs and outputs for flexible use in a wide variety of configurations. The real speciality, however, is the phono preamplifier of the KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier, as it is not only equipped for MM cartridges and MC cartridges, but also for optical cartridges from the Japanese specialist DS Audio, with KECES Audio even developing the new KECES S4 Stereo Preamplifier directly in cooperation with DS Audio.