Kudos S20s

Going to have a go tomorrow Chris!

I would just enjoy the music 

Congrats Lindsay.

But you did play some hip hop before buying, right

Arun

Spooky Arun - I played some Massive Attack last night!

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Spooky Arun - I played some Massive Attack last night!

Intertia Creeps and Butterfly Caught...

THE STRAT (FENDER)    What kind of tone are the Supers playing out for you ?

Bridge. Middle. Neck or those other two ?  Or maybe a mix ? Or something else entirely like a Les Paul Junior workhorse ?  

A couple of pics uploaded to System pics 2017.

Toby - I genuinely think in my room they are playing out pretty neutral but certainly rich, textures.  But they've only been installed 72 hours - I'd say they've on;y been playing for 30 hours so a way to go.

Regards,

Lindsay

Okay I've just spun Vodoo Child by Eric C and Steve W - breathtaking. 

Very interesting thread, as I also own Dynaudio Focus 260 speakers, I would agree they need some space and they love a powerful amplifier. In fact in some ways my previous Dynaudio X32 was somewhat easier to drive than the bigger Focus.

One very interesting aspect mentioned is how the Kudos is able to keep the sound quality at low volumes.

I wonder how the Kudos sounds compared to Ovator S400 or Proac D20 driven by 282/HCDR/250DR?

analogmusic posted:

I wonder how the Kudos sounds compared to Ovator S400 or Proac D20 driven by 282/HCDR/250DR?

Based on experience, a lot better in my room. I also tested against B&W 804dii and Audiovectors and the Kudos came out tops.

Regards,

Nick

very interesting. Does the S20 have some kind of arrangement on the speaker terminals to go active? 

analogmusic posted:

very interesting. Does the S20 have some kind of arrangement on the speaker terminals to go active? 

 

The latest version of the Kudos S20 is the S20a. There are indeed link pins by the binding posts on this latest model that remain in place for passive use but can be removed for active set ups. Kudos have been working with Linn on active use so I am not sure if using the S20a in active mode is reserved for Linn electronics. 

At this point in time the Active configuration only works with Linn. 

Proacs and BWs weren't on my shortlist.  Dyna 260s are the spiritual successor to my 1.8s   In comparison I found the Kudos a very considerable improvementt all round. 

analogmusic posted:

Very interesting thread, as I also own Dynaudio Focus 260 speakers, I would agree they need some space and they love a powerful amplifier. In fact in some ways my previous Dynaudio X32 was somewhat easier to drive than the bigger Focus.

One very interesting aspect mentioned is how the Kudos is able to keep the sound quality at low volumes.

I wonder how the Kudos sounds compared to Ovator S400 or Proac D20 driven by 282/HCDR/250DR?

I've owned 250/SupercapDR and 250 (non-DR) with S400s and Super 20s.  S400s have more slam on rock music but less imaging and detail than Super 20s. I'd also say S400s play loud in an "unburstable" manor in a way that the S20s don't.  I sold my S20s after a year as they were just too bright for me, in a way that was very fatiguing.  But I think I'm alone in this verdict.

Noogle - it was the reputation for brightness that initially had the S20s almost off my demo list.  But once they were set up in my room it all clicked. 

252/Supercap

The Strat (Fender) posted:

STRAT,

I know that the Kudo's are the hot item of the month, it use to be Neat's were the apple of everybody's eye on the forum, then the Art's for a while, then PMC's for kind of a short burst, now it's Kudos and Focal's turn. 

No disrespect, but you are comparing speakers that cost four times what your previous, kind of very elderly speakers cost, soooo, they should perform better.

I have heard Kudos speakers, and I am still of the opinion you should have auditioned like valued Dynaudio, ATC's, and Proac's also. I happened to prefer those speakers to the Kudos I heard, which were kind of over the top, hot sounding, but that's just my ears.

nigelb posted:

I have just returned from a listen to a pair of S20s at my dealers on the end of CD555/555PS/552DR/300DR. Blimey they are impressive!

Not taking anything away from the speakers, but I would guess any speaker on the end of that system would probably sound pretty impressive!

Badlands,

When the 260swent out of production  I think they were £3k, thes20s are £4400.     

Min the subject of Neats they were the speaker I always hankered after but the porting just made them unsuitable for my room.  I've heard the Ultimatums in other surroundings and they are hugely impressive. As it happens I ended up spending less than I anticipated. 

Regards,

Lindsay

The Strat (Fender) posted:

At this point in time the Active configuration only works with Linn. 

Proacs and BWs weren't on my shortlist.  Dyna 260s are the spiritual successor to my 1.8s   In comparison I found the Kudos a very considerable improvementt all round. 

/me hears the klaxon sound effect go off...

Faulty information ... they'll work active with anything that has an active crossover that has appropriate settings for them ... So they've been running with Linn Exact and Devaliet and mine are running active too.

Phil

Arghh.  Little knowledge of Devialet     Stand corrected

Badlands, you bought the X38, but you have said (if I may ask) that proacs were maybe the finest speaker you heard.

is there any reason you didn't buy proac speakers? What do you think of the  proac D20 compared to your X38? 

I have heard the D20, and it is very good sounding, one of my friends has it and I will be testing them again. I have no chance of auditioning Kudos where I live.

I don't have any problem with my focus 260, other than my room may be too small for them,  Whenever I have heard Dyna's sounding excellent at Dynaudio dealers, they are well away from the wall, in fact sometimes in the middle of the room.

But the option of going active with Kudos is attractive, has anyone tried to use A Naim SNAXO crossover with Kudos S20?

Strat,

Here in North America, the Kudos C20's, which are less expensive than your current speakers, are about double the price of the Dynaudio Focus 260's, which retailed for around $3800.00, the C20's, not the S20's are $7395.00. So a pretty big difference between North American pricing and UK pricing.

The price difference I was referring to were your previous 1.8 Contour's which retailed somewhere in the 2 to 3 thousand dollar range, so your current speakers are roughly about four times that cost.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Kudos are excellent speakers, I just think comparing them to much older and less expensive speakers is not really a fair comparison.

At launch, the Focus 260 was a 4900 Dollar speaker. You did previously tell me that focus 260 needs at least a NAP 300?

I'm not sure how similar or not it is to the Contour 1.8, for instance the focus has an older generation esotar tweeter (although Dynaudio called it esotec+), and different crossover and drivers.

In any case, Focus 260 s is not made anymore. Either one has to buy Emit/Excite range or the new Contour range.

analogmusic posted:

<<snip>>

But the option of going active with Kudos is attractive, has anyone tried to use A Naim SNAXO crossover with Kudos S20?

The 'standard' off the shelf SNAXOs for Ovators etc are the wrong crossover points but SNAXOs have been done in the past for a number of non-Naim speakers if there has been the commercial justiification...

Phil