A bit later than planned, but here are my initial thoughts.
But first, a little background...
I started my RPi Audio journey earlier this year (having never done anything remotely like it previously) with the following:
RPi 1 Model B NAS, running OpenMediaVault over ethernet
RPi 2 Model B, intially with an IQAudio Pi-Dac+, but now with a MamboBerry LS Dac+
YJ Blue TPA3116 amp
Mission 760 speakers
Rune (After starting off with Moode)
I played with some other 3116 amps, then tried a couple of TDA7498s before settling on a modified Audiobah clone. All of this so far was undertaken with little expenditure, as the amps are so cheap.
By now I was very happy with what I had, but the upgrade itch never stops, so I brought some Q Acoustics 3020 speakers, I was now content, and enjoying my music collection much more than I ever had before.
Frequenting a collection of HiFi/Audio fora (diyAudio, Art Of Sound, Audiokarma etc) I became aware of the Allo product range (http://www.allo.com/sparky/index-audio.html); I now have a complete Vana system to build. Before I go that far, however, I wanted to try the Kali reclocker in my current setup, as it is an iteration and any improvement should be readily identified.
The Kali board itself is of a higher quality than a lot of the amps I have bought, neater soldering, components aligned etc. It fits between the RPi and the Mamboberry, using it's own power supply (5v 3A). A jumper on the Kali allows you to power the RPi via the Kali. I decided to power the RPi indepently from the Kali.
Once everything was connected up, I, with some excited anticipation, switched everything on and played some of my favourite 'test' tracks:
Dire Straights - Alchemy
Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
Focus - Sylvia
The Who - Baba O'Riley
Sparks - Barbecutie
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Neil Young - Harvest Moon
Delibes - Flower Duet
Now, if you read some of the other reviews, people have invariably waxed lyrical about the improvements the Kali brings; let me say it's all true. My music has never sounded so good. It's hard to describe, and possibly harder to quantify, but I can sum it up as 'more'; more detail, more expression, more enjoyment.
I'm now intrigued to try the Piano Dac in place of the Mamboberry, the Volt in place of the Audiobah clone; the possibilties and combinations are numerous. For now, though, I'm going to enjoy my 'new' system.
As long as your Dac will work alongside the Kali, it's a must have upgrade...
