Kudos Event at Signals
Posted by: J.N. on 06 July 2017
I attended the event today. My thanks to Alastair and Andy of Signals and Derek and Dave of Kudos for a most enjoyable (and potentially expensive!) musical experience.
The 707's (on 552/500) sounded flippin' gorgeous. Ditto the 606's on 252/300.
The fun continues tomorrow.
John.
Darke Bear posted:I attended the Signals event too with a friend who wanted to assess the new range - a nice environment with the three systems in different rooms for each of the three speakers.
You definitely hear the same 'family
Good morning Kerry,as the end of this term is nearing, just a few words about Jake's piano.I am very pleased with his progress and self confidence lately. It helps a lot that Jake likes the pieces/songs he is playing and I can see he is enjoying it.As we haven't enrolled for any exams, I gave him a mixture of grade 1 and grade 2 pieces and he seems to be coping well.Jake is also much more organized with regards to coming on time to his lessons, he is always on time and happy smiling. That is very nice and it makes the lessons that much more enjoyable
I would like to check if you would expect him to go for grades from now? It will help me organize the repertoire and books for next year. On the other hand, I am also as equally happy to teach any songs he likes and would enjoy learning and playing.I will wait to hear from you and wishing you a nice summer.Marina Ssound between them all as the range progresses, as might be expected, but nice to hear. These particular Kudos speakers did impress me - and more than the previous range that I also liked but felt had more character that you would either get on with or not. These were far more seamless and open in their presentation of the music to my ears and were very well integrated.
The 606 and 707 were particularly impressive in terms of ergonomics - I really like the look of the design. These two speakers appear quite slim but give a big open sound with plenty of depth and space when present in the music. When we swapped the larger 808 for 707 in the large room Statement system they performed remarkably well and did not collapse the performance. The larger 808 had better scale and deep bass articulation as you would hope it should have at the price difference, but you did not get the huge loss in performance when going to the 707, just a tailoring-in of the scale and deep-bass.
In the end the friend I arrived with was highly impressed with the 606 prototype and I can see a sale there when the production run begins. As for JN above, who I also met at the event - then unless they really don't work in his room I think there will be a 707 sale from what I heard.
As for me - I already have my room-friendly Ovator S800s which I'm very content with, but it is so nice to hear the evolution and improvements to the new Kudos range. At a previous event I'd not got the same impression when I first heard the 808 in another room and different system, but it was very at home in the Signals chapel of HiFi on Statement.
DB.
J.N. posted:meni48 posted:I`m thinking to buy those 707s`,,how do you compare my sl2 speakers to Kudos707 as an a upgrade step? for my nds/555ps 552/500dr and sl interconnect on fraim
I changed SL2's for Kudos Titan 88's (on DR'd 500 series kit) nearly six years ago and have been very happy with them.
I'm joining Elkman with a 707 home demo. They are coming on Wednesday. I shall of course report my findings.
John.
Great read as always DB. Very insightful , and I am somewhat relieved that you are still happy with your rather modest system 
.
Hi John, Very interested to your findings on Wednesday. Also, what are your thoughts/thinking to dem the 707's compared to your already wonderful speakers?
Been while and good to back...i never went away...just not much to say...and those who know me won't believe me!!!!!!!!
That could be an interesting discussion but would possible cost me a lot 
Christopher_M posted:SamS posted:For boundary challenged Naim SBL (me)......looking to possibly modernise, does anyone know if the 606 or 707 play nice right up against the wall behind the speakers? (or at least very, very close) - Thanks
Get a grip Man, there ain't nowhere else to go :-)
stuart.ashen posted:Don't do it Sams. Those SBLs will be very tough to beat even at these crazy modern loudspeaker prices.
Stu
Appreciate the concern chaps - I have had the SBLs for 20 years, I am obviously in no hurry and lots needs to be done prior to getting new speakers (should that ever happen) like DR ing the 500, phono stage & maybe a shiny new Hugo 2 - but many pennies need to be saved first.
elkman70 posted:I currently have a pair on demo and they are only 32cm from rear wall. They sound very good indeed. Although my wife is still saying they are big, very big.
Thanks Elkman but 32 cm is a mile in SBL terms. My SBLs with the mana bases right up against the skirting are 10.5 cm away from the wall - that's the cabinet not the metalwork which is closer.
Any chance you could push your demo pair back 1/2 way and see how you get on? Your wife might think they shrunk as a bonus !
Any chance you could push your demo pair back 1/2 way and see how you get on? Your wife might think they shrunk as a bonus !
No Dougal, these cows are small; those ones are far away.
Brilliant
Okay Darren. I was going to start a new thread but I suppose the Signals dem 707's have just moved north a bit. Andy arrived about 5pm on Wednesday and the beasts were unboxed. Sit down with a cuppa for Andy and me to have an acclimatisation listen to the 88's for possibly the last time.
A few minutes and a bit of huffing and puffing later ....................
One of the first test pieces was Steven Wilson's 'Hand Cannot Erase' which can get quite busy and dense. I used 'Happy Returns' and the simple piano part at the start of the track instantly revealed more timbre, resonance and decay of the instrument. The sound was nicely layered when it got going and the musical strands of dense/busy parts were better resolved than on the 88's.
Yes-style bass runs and the snarling Hammond B3 were deliciously tuneful and beautifully resolved on the second track 'Three Years Older'.
In simple terms the 707's sound sweeter, smoother, more detailed, more sophisticated, and better integrated than the 88's. With my relatively close seated proximity to the speakers, visitors have commented that the top end of the 88's could get a bit OTT, making one aware of the tweeter as a separate entity. The 707's seem to integrate the mid-band and the top end a lot better.
Bass on the 707's is better too. Low synth bass is still delivered with plenty of growl and power, but there's a better grip on it. The bass is not over-fruity or bloaty. FWIW, the 707's are spec'd down to 25Hz as opposed to 20Hz on the 88's. The 707's are also slightly harder to drive with a sensitivity of 89dB compared to the 91dB figure of the 88's.
The 707's produce a wider sound-stage too.
I've just enjoyed my last listening session of day one. The time being well past midnight, I used a lower volume setting with more acoustic-based material. The positive differences were still very apparent. Backing vocals in particular were striking in their improved level of resolution.
For all the enjoyable subtleties of the 707's, they still bite and boogie; losing nothing in the PRaT department over the 88's
I of course need to evaluate the 707's further over a few days with a wide range of music, but my first impression is that they are a keeper. A worthy evolution of the 88's at around their last retail price.
My thanks to Derek and Dave at Kudos and Andy and Alastair at Signals.
John.
J.N. posted:Okay Darren. I was going to start a new thread but I suppose the Signals dem 707's have just moved north a bit. Andy arrived about 5pm on Wednesday and the beasts were unboxed. Sit down with a cuppa for Andy and me to have an acclimatisation listen to the 88's for possibly the last time.
A few minutes and a bit of huffing and puffing later ....................
One of the first test pieces was Steven Wilson's 'Hand Cannot Erase' which can get quite busy and dense. I used 'Happy Returns' and the simple piano part at the start of the track instantly revealed more timbre, resonance and decay of the instrument. The sound was nicely layered when it got going and the musical strands of dense/busy parts were better resolved than on the 88's.
Yes-style bass runs and the snarling Hammond B3 were deliciously tuneful and beautifully resolved on the second track 'Three Years Older'.
In simple terms the 707's sound sweeter, smoother, more detailed, more sophisticated, and better integrated than the 88's. With my relatively close seated proximity to the speakers, visitors have commented that the top end of the 88's could get a bit OTT, making one aware of the tweeter as a separate entity. The 707's seem to integrate the mid-band and the top end a lot better.
Bass on the 707's is better too. Low synth bass is still delivered with plenty of growl and power, but there's a better grip on it. The bass is not over-fruity or bloaty. FWIW, the 707's are spec'd down to 25Hz as opposed to 20Hz on the 88's. The 707's are also slightly harder to drive with a sensitivity of 89dB compared to the 91dB figure of the 88's.
The 707's produce a wider sound-stage too.
I've just enjoyed my last listening session of day one. The time being well past midnight, I used a lower volume setting with more acoustic-based material. The positive differences were still very apparent. Backing vocals in particular were striking in their improved level of resolution.
For all the enjoyable subtleties of the 707's, they still bite and boogie; losing nothing in the PRaT department over the 88's
I of course need to evaluate the 707's further over a few days with a wide range of music, but my first impression is that they are a keeper. A worthy evolution of the 88's at around their last retail price.
My thanks to Derek and Dave at Kudos and Andy and Alastair at Signals.
John.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the 707s, are easy on the eyes!
Enjoy your Music!
Allante93!
I'm not surprised they are working so well in John's room. At the Signals event they impressed me, as did the 606 and larger 808 as a range, but the 606 and 707 obviously shared a design concept in appearance and music presentation that I liked in terms of seamless presentation of the music with clarity and without any sense of inhibition which I sometimes hear from relatively small speakers, so that is a real achievement.
It is obvious they are going to remain with John. 
Always good to run them a few days to confirm veracity of any large upgrade, but when the speaker is from the same stable as before but an evolutionary upgrade it is usually a safe bet.
A nice report John.
DB.