Kissahane

Bairro Azul, Lisbon

A private listening room, by appointment.

Book the room

The room is €40 a visit plus €10 per 30 min. Drinks and snacks are extra; if you bring your own drinks, we serve them for €5 a glass.

You book the whole room for your party. Nobody else comes in.

Place
Bairro Azul, Lisbon
Visits
By appointment only
Price

€40 a visit + €10 per 30 min

1 h €40 + 2 × €10 = €60
The listening room from behind the sofaLine drawing of the room as a camera sees it from just under the ceiling behind the sofa, on its centre line, the rear wall cut away as in an architect’s section, the same view as the 3D model’s, looking down over the sofa’s cushions, the rug and the side table to the television between the two LS50 Wireless II on their stands, GIK panels on the front wall and a KEF KC62 subwoofer on the floor at the front right, with a PSI AVAA C214 column in each rear corner, the second KC62 at the rear left, beside the balcony end of the sofa, its outline dashed where the sofa hides it, the door from the hallway standing open, and, through the open gate, the dining table and its chairs. A band across the sofa’s seat at ear height is shaded where Dirac Live measured the room at 17 points and corrects it. Each speaker faces straight down the room, not turned in, its axis dashed ahead of it, with wavefronts spreading from it across the whole sofa; each of the 17 positions Dirac Live measured is marked with a cross, those at two heights joined as on a microphone stand, the first, the centre seat, in a ring; the centre seat, midway between the speakers, is where the stereo image centres and every timing correction is set from. Each absorber’s tag opens a plot of what it takes in across frequency: the GIK FlexRange 244, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 98 Hz, its half-absorption frequency.

2.45 m from the centre seat

2.45 m from the centre seat

45 Hz low pass

45 Hz low pass

15 to 160 Hz

Ø 21 × 64 cm

15 to 160 Hz

Ø 21 × 64 cm

17 Dirac Live points

The first of them: Dirac Live sets every timing correction from here

A listening café for one party

Kissahane is a living room treated for sound, booked by one party at a time. There is a sofa at the listening seat, drinks made by hand and art on the walls. Bring a list of the albums you have been saving for a proper listen, or a film, and the room is yours for the time you book.

The name joins two words. Kissa is the Japanese listening café, where the music is the point and conversation drops to a murmur; it gave us the idea. Hane is Turkish for house, as in kahvehane, the coffeehouse: we are Turkish, and we live in Lisbon.

The room, drawn to scale

The listening room and the dining room beside it, drawn from the model’s measurements.

  1. The front wall, measuredFront wall, measured: the LS50s stand 0.87 m either side of the centre on stands 0.66 m tall, their drivers 0.81 m off the floor, either side of a TV unit 1.48 m wide, with the three GIK panels behind them. Each absorber’s tag opens a plot of what it takes in across frequency: the GIK FlexRange 244, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 98 Hz, its half-absorption frequency.
    Absorber

    Front-wall panels

    They take in half the sound reaching them at 98 Hz, their half-absorption frequency, and less below it.

    The front wall
  2. The plan, through to the dining roomPlan from above, through the open gate to the dining room.
    Toward the dining room
  3. The rear wallRear wall: three GIK panels over the corner sofa, an AVAA column in each corner under a TriTrap, and a KC62 subwoofer. Each absorber’s tag opens a plot of what it takes in across frequency: the GIK FlexRange Monster, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 81 Hz, its half-absorption frequency; the GIK TriTrap, taking in at most 1.2 square metres of absorption each, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz.
    Absorber

    Rear-corner trap

    At its most, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz, it takes in as much sound as 1.2 m² of open window.

    Absorber

    Rear-corner trap

    At its most, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz, it takes in as much sound as 1.2 m² of open window.

    Absorber

    Rear-wall panels

    They take in half the sound reaching them at 81 Hz, their half-absorption frequency, and less below it.

    The rear wall, seen from the speakers
  4. An LS50 Wireless IIAn LS50 Wireless II on its S2 stand, side and front, with its Uni-Q driver.
    An LS50 Wireless II
  5. Panels overheadCeiling plan: four GIK panels overhead, between the speakers and the seat. Each absorber’s tag opens a plot of what it takes in across frequency: the GIK Classic 4-inch panel, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 66 Hz, its half-absorption frequency.
    Absorber

    Ceiling panels

    They take in half the sound reaching them at 66 Hz, their half-absorption frequency, and less below it.

    Panels overhead
  6. The dining roomThe dining room from above: the table and four chairs on the rug.
    The dining room
Walk through the room in 3D

Albums, occasions, films and games

A system tuned to the room

A pair of KEF LS50 Wireless II speakers and two KEF KC62 subwoofers make the sound. GIK absorbers and two PSI AVAA C214 active bass absorbers take away what the room would add, and Dirac Live, measured at several points across the sofa, corrects what the room still does to their tone and timing.

Plan of the listening room, to scale, with the area Dirac Live corrects across the sofaThe 5.30 by 3.37 m listening room from above, to scale, front wall at the top. A pair of KEF LS50s stand either side of the television, facing the L-shaped sofa against the rear wall, its chaise along the balcony side, with a side table in front of it. The centre seat is where the stereo image centres and every timing correction is set from; the band across the sofa around it is shaded where Dirac Live measured the room at 17 points and corrects it. Each speaker faces straight down the room, not turned in, its axis dashed ahead of it, with wavefronts spreading from it across the whole sofa; each of the 17 positions Dirac Live measured is marked with a cross, those at two heights joined as on a microphone stand, the first, the centre seat, in a ring. One KEF KC62 stands at the front wall and one at the rear, at the balcony end of the sofa. Taking in sound: GIK panels on the front and rear walls, a GIK TriTrap over a PSI AVAA C214 in each rear corner. The gate to the dining room is open in the right-hand wall and the glazed balcony door is in the left-hand one. Each absorber’s tag opens a plot of what it takes in across frequency: the GIK FlexRange 244, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 98 Hz, its half-absorption frequency; the GIK FlexRange Monster, first taking in half the sound reaching it at 81 Hz, its half-absorption frequency; the GIK TriTrap, taking in at most 1.2 square metres of absorption each, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz.
Absorber

Rear-corner trap

At its most, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz, it takes in as much sound as 1.2 m² of open window.

Absorber

Rear-corner trap

At its most, at 80 Hz and 100 Hz, it takes in as much sound as 1.2 m² of open window.

Absorber

Front-wall panels

They take in half the sound reaching them at 98 Hz, their half-absorption frequency, and less below it.

Absorber

Rear-wall panels

They take in half the sound reaching them at 81 Hz, their half-absorption frequency, and less below it.

25 mm tweeter at the centre of a 130 mm cone

70 Hz high pass

2.45 m from the centre seat

from 11 to 200 Hz within ±3 dB

45 Hz low pass

15 to 160 Hz

Ø 21 × 64 cm

17 Dirac Live points

The first of them: Dirac Live sets every timing correction from here

miniDSP UMIK-1

The listening room from above
  1. The room
  2. Furniture
  3. Absorbers
  4. Speakers and subwoofers
  5. Each speaker’s sound, straight ahead
  6. Where you sit: measured and corrected across the sofa

The signal chain

Music, or the sound of whatever is on screen, stays digital until the LS50s turn it to analogue and amplify it. The deepest bass goes on to the subwoofers as analogue, and they amplify it themselves.

  1. WiiM Pro, for music

    The streamer. It plays from AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect and Roon, at up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

    Out: coaxial S/PDIF

    LG 42C4, for the screen

    The television sends the sound of whatever it shows: a film, a game, a music video on YouTube, or a device plugged into it.

    Out: optical S/PDIF (TOSLINK)

  2. miniDSP Flex Digital

    The DSP. It tailors the sound to this room. Dirac Live corrects frequency response and timing from measurements taken around the sofa. It takes either source on its own digital input. This version has only digital outputs, so nothing is converted to analogue on the way through.

    Out: coaxial S/PDIF

  3. KEF LS50 Wireless II

    Active speakers built around KEF’s Uni-Q driver with MAT. Each speaker processes the signal itself, in what KEF calls the Music Integrity Engine, tuned to the Uni-Q, then turns it to analogue in a DAC for each driver and drives each driver with an amplifier of its own: 100 W Class AB for the tweeter, 280 W Class D for the cone. KEF gives its loudest output as 108 dB.

    A Linkwitz-Riley crossover sends the deepest bass to the subwoofers instead, so each LS50’s cone, which also plays the mids, moves less and plays them more cleanly. Each speaker has a third DAC for its subwoofer output, so that bass leaves analogue, and unamplified.

    Plays everything but the deepest bass itself, and passes that on. Out, to the subwoofers: KEF subwoofer output, mono, over a QED Performance subwoofer cable

  4. Two KEF KC62 subwoofers

    Each has two 6.5-inch drivers facing opposite ways, so their forces cancel and the cabinet stays still. Each processes the bass digitally, in KEF’s Music Integrity Engine, and amplifies it for its drivers itself: 2 × 500 W Class D. KEF specifies them from 11 to 200 Hz within ±3 dB. The main one stands by the front wall and takes the LS50s’ mono bass; it passes the same signal on to the second, by the rear wall, diagonally opposite. Driven with the same signal from opposite ends of the room, they cancel some of the room’s lowest modes instead of exciting them, so the deepest bass changes less from seat to seat than it would with one subwoofer.

    Out, from the main to the second: mono, over a QED Performance subwoofer cable

, so a second here is in the room. The cables carry the signal in a few billionths of a second, so each one lights all at once; the pauses areits delays are the devices working on it: about 12 ms in the Flex, where Dirac Live runs, and up to 6 ms in the LS50s. Each KC62 adds about 0.5 ms, as long as sound takes to cross 17 cm of air: far too little to hear.

How the room sounds

What a visit costs

€40per visit

+ €10per 30 min

Included: the whole room, the sound system and the screen, for your party alone.

Bring your own drinks, if you like.

Serving your own drink (a glass, ice or a straw) is €5 per glass, paid on the day. Refills in the same glass are free: bring a bottle and pour from it all evening, and it is still €5.

Where
Bairro Azul, Lisbon; the exact address comes on confirmation
Open
Daily, 14:00⁠–⁠21:00 Lisbon time
Length of a visit
1 h to 7 h, in steps of 30 min
Party size
Up to 6 guests
Book ahead
At least 12 hours
Book up to
21 days ahead
Room for the shortest visit
€60
Room for the longest visit
€180
Payment
On the day
House rules
Read them before you book

Request, confirm, arrive

There are no walk-ins. Every visit starts with a booking request.

  1. Request a time

    Pick a free day and start time on the booking page and tell us who is coming. Book at least 12 hours ahead and up to 21 days out.

  2. The owner confirms

    Your request is held for up to 3 days while the owner reviews it, and at most until 12 hours before the visit. You get an email when it is confirmed, or if it could not be confirmed in time.

  3. The address arrives

    Kissahane is in a private flat in Bairro Azul, so the exact address is only in the confirmation email.

  4. Arrive, listen, drink

    Shoes off at the door. The room is yours for the time you booked. The visit is paid on the day, in cash, crypto or bank transfer; nothing is charged online.

An example request
  1. Guest

    Saturday, 18:00 for 2 h, four of us?

  2. Kissahane

    Requested: Saturday 18:00⁠–⁠20:00, 4 guests. The room is €80, paid on the day, in cash, crypto or bank transfer. It is held for up to 3 days while the owner reviews it.

  3. Kissahane

    Confirmed. The address is in your email.

House rules

Kissahane is a private home built around a carefully tuned room. A few rules keep both in good shape.

  • ShoesShoes off at the door.
  • PetsNo pets, please.
  • SmokingNo smoking.
  • DrugsNo drugs of any kind. Zero tolerance.
  • FoodNo eating, apart from snacks from the menu and a dinner arranged with your booking.
  • DancingNo dancing.
  • The equipmentPlease leave the system exactly as it is: the speakers, the subwoofers and their knobs, the acoustic panels, the AVAAs, the miniDSP, the WiiM and every cable. The remote controls are the one thing to use; everything else is set up for the room and stays that way. If you would like your own device plugged in, just tell us and we will gladly connect it for you.
  • Your accountsSign out of any streaming or music account you signed in to on the television or the WiiM before you leave.
  • Bass absorbersKeep clear of the two AVAA C214 active bass absorbers (the white columns in the rear corners of the listening room), and never place large reflective objects near them: they listen to the room, and a reflection can push them into feedback.
  • VolumeChange the volume only on the miniDSP Flex, and never above −10 dB.
  • CancellingCancelling is free until 6 hours before your visit. A later cancellation, or not coming at all, counts as a no-show and means no bookings for 6 months. Any other bookings on the same email or phone are cancelled too.

Questions

Where is Kissahane?

In Bairro Azul, Lisbon, in a private flat. The exact address comes in your confirmation email, sent once the owner has confirmed your booking.

Can we just walk in?

No. Kissahane is by appointment only, and each booking has the whole room to itself.

How many people can come?

Up to 6 guests, including you.

What if we need to cancel?

Cancelling is free until 6 hours before your visit. A later cancellation, or not coming at all, counts as a no-show and means no bookings for 6 months. Any other bookings on the same email or phone are cancelled too. The email confirming your request and the email confirming your visit each carry a private link for cancelling. Once your visit is confirmed, only the link in the confirmation works.

How do we pay?

At the room: the visit is paid on the day, in cash, crypto or bank transfer. Sending a booking request costs nothing, and there is no online payment.

Can we have dinner?

Dinner is for visits longer than 4 h. Choose it when you book. A dinner served by us is priced on request: we will agree the menu and the price with you by email, it is paid on the day, and it is up to the owner. Bringing your own dinner, carried in or delivered to the door, is €5 per person for plates, cutlery and clearing up, paid on the day.

Can we bring our own drinks?

Yes. Tick the box when you book so we know in advance. Serving your own drink (a glass, ice or a straw) is €5 per glass, paid on the day. Refills in the same glass are free: bring a bottle and pour from it all evening, and it is still €5. Drinks and snacks from the menu are billed per item on the day.

Can we choose the music?

Yes. Music plays from a network streamer, so bring a list of what you want to hear. There is no turntable in the room, but records are welcome: bring your own turntable, mention it in your booking notes, and we will plug it in.

The art is for sale

Every piece on the walls is a framed print, and each is for sale. See the prints

Kissahane Acoustics

The people who treated, measured and tuned this room also plan the acoustics and sound systems of other rooms: small venues, homes and studios in , at fixed fees per phase from . If you are planning a room, you can come and hear this one first.

About Kissahane Acoustics

Partner with Kissahane

If you make something a guest could taste, hear or hold during a visit, we would like to hear from you. How a partnership works

Come and listen.

Open daily, 14:00⁠–⁠21:00 Lisbon time, by appointment.

Book the room