Kudos Super 20a in an Active System
Posted by: sunbeamgls on 30 March 2017
Finally, after about a year of trying to get this to happen, I had a chance to listen to Kudos Super 20a in my system last weekend. Its a revelation of what these speakers are actually capable of.
Once we had a very satisfactory sounding system following quite a lot of set-up, we cracked on with listening to some tracks. Along for the ride, friend R has been listening to these speakers for around 3 years now and has been through a good few system upgrades during that time, so he's very familiar with their capabilities. It turns out, whilst they might be familiar, they haven't really reached their full potential in the passive system. What we heard in about 90 minutes of listening in the active system was a revelation. These speakers, whilst not carrying the same weight and authority as the PMC 20.26s (which have a somewhat larger visual and physical presence in the room), they're no longer out of their depth in my room. They go astoundingly deep from such a small box, with plenty of drive and give a bass line that, had we not already heard the PMCs, would be thought of as very good indeed - add in their relatively small dimensions and that makes them quite remarkable in this area. Tunes that needed to boogie along did so, attack is good as is the timing of the tune.
What about detail? Well, its astounding - these speakers really can resolve tiny tiny details that is beyond the capabilities of the PMCs and significantly beyond how they sound at home in the passive system. Both acoustic guitar tracks (Lofgren and Chris Jones) deliver string sounds that are crisp, clear and easy to pick out - delivering initial attack in spades and long long decays into the background. Spitty anger in Mary Gauthier's voice make you feel a bit uncomfortable and pleased that you're not the subject of her aggression. Vocals are superb - a good bit more texture, inflexion and intent than with the PMCs. Imaging is spot on too - rock solid, easy to place, 3 dimensional and a little unsettling on those tracks (such as Ficci) that use processing to give a wrap-around effect in the room.
Is there a downside? Well, its difficult to find anything to fault but I would prefer a little more subtlety in treble leading edges - R found it just to his taste, for me its still a bit sharp.
But here's the thing - throughout, we could both follow tunes and feet were tapping - and I mean throughout. On top of that, R kept giving little involuntary smiles and shaking his head in disbelief. These speakers are very much more capable than either of us really knew and active amplification has brought that out from under the covers of passive operation. Let's hope there'll be a SNAXO soon to at least bring some of this benefit (or possibly more of course).
I'll leave it with some of R's words - stunning, outstanding, and several more that I won't repeat in a public forum.