Oh No! Not another Kan convert!
Posted by: bigtrak on 04 March 2002
This topic in a way adds to some of the other threads concerning people contemplating getting rid of their Kan's.
Before I got into the Naim sound I had an old Sugden A21 amp, Meridian 207 CD player and Audio Note AN/K loudspeakers. Although great sounding it was a bit laid back and quite often lacked excitement.
Enter Naim. After starting with a nap140/nac62 and Micromega Stage 5, I moved up (sideways?) to a NAP160/NAC12 then to what I have now a NAP250/NAC32.5/HiCAP and a Micromega Stage 6. After reading about Linn Kan speakers here on the forum I decided to see what all the fuss was about (the Audio Note AN/K's were not sounding good with my new kit) I eventually tracked a pair of KAN II's down with Kan II stands and was all ready for audio nirvana, the problem was that the sound of the Kan's were so different to what I was used to that I couldn't get on with them, I too like many other people on this forum considered them too "bright", "shrill" and "shouty" I lived with them for about a month but found myself listening to music less an less (not able to see past this brightness) at the same time my local dealer had a pair of Linn Kabers at a pretty good second hand price of £400 so I borrowed these on a 10 day trial. My first impressions were good, more bass and not so in your face but the more I listened to them the less I liked them (my final conclusion of them being bland and unexciting - only my opinion) So I took them back and decided to wait for something else to come up. In the mean time I would just have to live with the Kan's and so decided to try and set them up as best as possible (I have always viewed this "set up" business a bit skeptically (or perhaps I'm just lazy)) this time though I really took my time trying the speakers at different distances apart, pennies under the spikes (now with cross head screws in the floor boards), checking and tightening the stands, connecting both speaker terminals with speaker wire instead of the crappy metal connectors. Well the end result is staggering, it seems like I have different speakers they sound fantastic! They have got everything, bass rhythm and above all else EXCITEMENT (finally) Whether this change is because of the time taken to set things up properly or that when I first got them they were so different to what I was used to that I saw this difference as a bad thing and needed a break from them and a fresh start to get past my initial first impressions. I don't know, its probably a combination of the two but I am truly amazed at the change.
Now I'm not saying their perfect but for the money I had to spend I would say they are hard to beat. My one criticism is that they can sometimes produce a touch of sibilance but I think this is probably due to the speakers showing up poor quality recordings (would a change of interconnect help? I am using a chord Chrysalis for the CD player and grey SNAICS)
Before I got into the Naim sound I had an old Sugden A21 amp, Meridian 207 CD player and Audio Note AN/K loudspeakers. Although great sounding it was a bit laid back and quite often lacked excitement.
Enter Naim. After starting with a nap140/nac62 and Micromega Stage 5, I moved up (sideways?) to a NAP160/NAC12 then to what I have now a NAP250/NAC32.5/HiCAP and a Micromega Stage 6. After reading about Linn Kan speakers here on the forum I decided to see what all the fuss was about (the Audio Note AN/K's were not sounding good with my new kit) I eventually tracked a pair of KAN II's down with Kan II stands and was all ready for audio nirvana, the problem was that the sound of the Kan's were so different to what I was used to that I couldn't get on with them, I too like many other people on this forum considered them too "bright", "shrill" and "shouty" I lived with them for about a month but found myself listening to music less an less (not able to see past this brightness) at the same time my local dealer had a pair of Linn Kabers at a pretty good second hand price of £400 so I borrowed these on a 10 day trial. My first impressions were good, more bass and not so in your face but the more I listened to them the less I liked them (my final conclusion of them being bland and unexciting - only my opinion) So I took them back and decided to wait for something else to come up. In the mean time I would just have to live with the Kan's and so decided to try and set them up as best as possible (I have always viewed this "set up" business a bit skeptically (or perhaps I'm just lazy)) this time though I really took my time trying the speakers at different distances apart, pennies under the spikes (now with cross head screws in the floor boards), checking and tightening the stands, connecting both speaker terminals with speaker wire instead of the crappy metal connectors. Well the end result is staggering, it seems like I have different speakers they sound fantastic! They have got everything, bass rhythm and above all else EXCITEMENT (finally) Whether this change is because of the time taken to set things up properly or that when I first got them they were so different to what I was used to that I saw this difference as a bad thing and needed a break from them and a fresh start to get past my initial first impressions. I don't know, its probably a combination of the two but I am truly amazed at the change.
Now I'm not saying their perfect but for the money I had to spend I would say they are hard to beat. My one criticism is that they can sometimes produce a touch of sibilance but I think this is probably due to the speakers showing up poor quality recordings (would a change of interconnect help? I am using a chord Chrysalis for the CD player and grey SNAICS)
So I guess the moral of this story is "You don't know a good thing till its gone"
Sorry for the long post I hope I haven't bored you too much!