active kabers

Scotty, you have seen "aktiv" Kabers on E-Bay,do they come with aktiv cards?.
i run a pair of Kabers in my setup.
i have 3 power amps, one aktiv Kaber crossover box (treble x2-bass/mid x2-bass x2).they are tri-wired as Kabers are a 3 way speaker.
do they come with plinths?,the polymer/granite stands do make a huge difference and i believe they are increasingly hard to get hold of these days.
of course you could always six -pack them too, which would be nice!. Kabers love power ,so think carefully about matching amps /cabling.

good hunting
Dennis

quote:

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Originally posted by scottyhammer:
hi people,
seen a nice pair of active linn kabers on e bay,
i have some questions about them , maybe someone could help.preferably someone who has active kabers.
my system currently is cdx2-82/180. and soon im going to add a s-cap.
to go active is it a case of just adding another 180 and another run of naca5 speaker cables??
or is there more to it than that!!
the guy says i can easily pick up passive crossovers on e bay if i want to run them passive for now. but this seems pointless when i could go active. what do you think??
regards, scotty

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As a very recent new owner (4 days and counting) of passive Kabers, I may not be the best person to give advice as I am still getting used to my own, but when has that ever stopped anyone on a hifi forum? ( )

I currently run mine with a 32.5/hicap/160 and, whilst I acknowledge that there is more to get from the Kabers than I may be getting at the moment, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending them at secondhand prices. They probably would be pretty merciless with a weak front end, and I don't think I'd try to drive them with anything smaller than I have(the 160 runs fairly warm and the 32.5 is almost at the halfway mark on the volume control when listening to vinyl), but if your demands are similar to mine - average sized listening room(13' square) and 'normal'(I have neighbours) listening levels - then you could do a lot worse. I have also found it a lot easier to find a suitable placement for the Kabers in my room than I have other, less 'demanding' speakers.

Hope that's of some use,

Chris.

I'm not certain, though, how easy it is to make active Kabers passive again

I think adding a passive crossover is very easy, if you can solder and source the crossover.

Paul

Scotty-

1- Active Use

For active use with these speakers, you will need far more Naim equipment than you currently own. You will, as noted above, require three stereo amps, and I would say the 180 is as low in the Naim amp line as you would want to go. You will also require a Hicap and an appropriately configured SNAXO, and two more runs of Naca 5 speaker cables. While this is potentially a system you might love, I would urge caution if you have never heard such a system. The Kabers, in my experience, are a very hard speaker for some listeners to like, much less love. If you haven't heard them recently, or worse, at all, I would pass on them. If you always loved them, and lusted after them, maybe then.

2- Passive

While far simpler, and less costly in terms of your Naim system being immediately usable for them, I would check to see if Linn can or will supply passive cross overs for these before you assume you can easily or inexpensively add a passive crossover. These speakers have not been in Linn's line for many years now, and they are clearly not able to support some of their legacy products.

3- Other Speakers

For my money, with my tastes in music, and hi-fi, I think their are many designs out there today that will offer greater listening pleasure than this model. It was a speaker that really needed a top class LP 12 ahead of it, it really liked tons of power, and it never really grew more than taught and defined in the bass. Many Kaber owners I knew grew tired of these speakers, and dumped them, some even grew to hate them. Some, loved and may still love their very tight fisted and fast style of sound.

Modern speakers from all the likely suspects would probably offer more in my view.

Hope this helps. Good luck