Snaxo- kan
Posted by: Greg Bolen on 15 September 2000
an SBL snaxo ? NANA tells me this can be done by turning down the treble in the sbl-snaxo. However it doesn't sound quite as good as the snaxo-kan which is configured at the Naim factory. Can anyone comment on how much better the snaxo-kan sounds over the snaxo-sbl on the Linn speakers.
Also, when going active with Linn Kan2 or Tukans
I would imagine one would have to open the speaker
and remove the passive crossover - is this an easy job and is it easily reversible if I want to go back to passive ?
Greg
"Tukans ain't Kans, so lets not concern ourselves with them. Tukans ain't as good, so stick to Mk1s or Mk2s - that choice is harder to make… Hear both."
Maybe they're better. Tony, I'd love to hear the context of the system in which you compared the two speakers. I just bought a pair of Tukans a couple of weeks ago and they sound pretty good to me fronted by a Mana'd front-end into an Exposure 15. I did find they need to be 8 inches from the wall in my situation to really shine.
I'd love to get my hands on a pair of older Kans to compare the two but to me the Tukans sound closer to my Quads than my Kan 1's ever did (and I spent alot of time comparing the two).
I understand the Tukan will soon be replaced by a similar speaker that will be user convertable to active, unlike the Tukan or Kan 2 that needs to be done by the dealer.
Cheers,
John
[This message was edited by John Gilleran on SATURDAY 16 September 2000 at 02:54.]
quote:
I understand the Tukan will soon be replaced by a similar speaker that will be user convertable to active, unlike the Tukan or Kan 2 that needs to be done by the dealer.
In the 'stock' state the Tukans, when amply driven are very fine speakers indeed. Maybe not as quick and percussive on the leading edge as the original Kans, but not anywhere as colored either. The Tukans are actually quite easy to interchange between active and passive configurations... simply taking a single pair of wires from one place to another on the internal crossover. This can be done with a hamfist and a $15 RadioShack soldering iron.
The 'problem' is that even when actively configured the signal is still required to go pass through the very limiting PCB tracks of the internal crossover- it just does not go through the resistors, inductors and capacitors. But there is still the leg going from the binding posts to the x/o, then along the PCB tracks and then from another solder joint from the x/o to the individual drive units. Hardly the pared-down configuration which is one of the advantages of going active. I had my dealer strip down my Tukans to an active-only configuration. The crossover came out and the internal linn wiring was junked. Instead naim-supplied internal hookup wire was taken directly from the binding posts to the drive units. The passive crossover was then fitted with fly-leads so the speaker could then be fairly easily re-configured to passive use (if needed) by plugging in the now-external passive x/o into the binding posts.
I compared this pair of stripped down and minimalized Tukans to another pair in the standard active configuration with the indwelling crossover and the stock linn wiring. The differences were vast and easily distinguishable from an adjoining room (no, this is not hyperbole)... the stripped down and naim rewired pair sounded by FAR the more rhythmic, coherent and greatly more articulate. The stock pair sounded like you were listenening with fingers in your ears. In short, this fairly simple (well, for the dealer anyway) modification allowed the Tukans to soar to overambitious hights.
In my humble opinion these modded Tukans are the best speaker in Linns current range. And in many ways I prefer them to the SBLs. And in all ways to the Keltiks.
If you are a Tukan owner, and are thinking about going active, and can afford an IXO (at least) and another power amp, then try to persuade your dealer to 'circumcise' the Tukans. But don't expect him to do it for free.... given the labor involved and the great returns I think a cost of at least $100 would be very reasonable if not underpriced.
Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo
You said:
"My KAN II driver was held in with mastic, you need to remove the bass driver."
I have long been interested in accessing the xover in my Kan1's but have chickened out at the prospect that I might irreversibly damage the driver attempting to prise the thing out. Someone once suggested using oversize bolts in the frame retaining holes to jack the unit out but this doesn't look too easy either. When I asked a Linn dealer many years ago he suggested it was not possible without trashing the front baffle. So I would be very interested if you care to share the methodology you used with the Kan2. It may be possible to use the same with the Kan1.
Cheers,
Davi
[This message was edited by david skinner on SATURDAY 16 September 2000 at 06:32.]
quote:
Maybe they're better. Tony, I'd love to hear the context of the system in which you compared the two speakers. I just bought a pair of Tukans a couple of weeks ago and they sound pretty good to me fronted by a Mana'd front-end into an Exposure 15. I did find they need to be 8 inches from the wall in my situation to really shine.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Tukans, definitely prefer them to Keltiks or any other current Linn speaker. I just prefer my “real” Kans.
Ron said:
quote:
In my humble opinion these modded Tukans are the best speaker in Linns current range. And in many ways I prefer them to the SBLs. And in all ways to the Keltiks.
Would love to hear them in this guise. Whenever I have heard Tukans I have never considered them quite as revealing, and have always been aware of their ported bass, I would think the mods you describe would probably tighten them up sufficiently for my taste. I’m sure as ever its all in the set-up, and I have heard many people make a total abortion of setting up Mk1 and Mk2 Kans, I went through a lot of really bad speaker choices in the 80s because none of my local dealers could get Kans to sound anything other than small, thin, and screechy. On a similar note, its only about three months ago that I heard SBLs sounding good, I have previously thought they were absolutely awful speakers.
Tony.