Kiwi Ears rebuilds the KE4 as the $199 KE4 II, adding a micro-planar tweeter

Kiwi Ears released the KE4 II on 25 October 2026, a redesign of the KE4 sold through its own site and authorised retailers and listed at $199. Each side carries a 10 mm biocellulose dynamic driver for the bass, two custom balanced armatures for the midrange and lower treble, and a micro-planar tweeter, split by a three-way crossover with three acoustic tubes. The company rates it at 15 ohms and 104 dB at 1 kHz, in hand-finished medical-grade resin shells with a standard 0.78 mm 2-pin cable.

A micro-planar at the top of a budget hybrid has become a familiar recipe, and the usual question applies: whether it extends the treble smoothly or adds a peak the armatures were not producing. Acoustic tubes are part of the crossover here, which makes the handover physical as much as electrical and puts it exactly where an in-ear measurement looks. At 15 ohms the source's output impedance matters too, since a high one tilts a multi-driver response.