Linn Exakt and Kudos Super 20: World First Review

There's a bit of a back story, so please bear with me.

First, I'm going to assume a working knowledge of Linn Exakt and what it can do to process the musical signal coming from a DAC, through a set of power amps and on to each driver in a loudspeaker.  If you're not so sure, you can follow these links for some more information:

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/linn-exakt-and-pmc-twenty26-world-first.html
https://linn.co.uk/technology/exakt

Also, there's lots on the blog about my current system of Linn Akurate Exakt and PMC Twenty.26 which forms the basis of comparison here, so have a dig around if you need to catch up on the reference point for this review.  But before the PMCs, I tried some different options, one of which was the Kudos Super 20.  At the time, this was with a Linn Klimax system using a more traditional, passively driven, approach.  That review is here, but to summarise on my view of the Super 20s in that system in my room:

"So its a mixed bag.  I really understand why they're a good seller and why their owners enjoy them so much - I get the appeal of the etched instruments, I get the speed, I get the way they do female vocals. If I was in the market for speakers at this price point, I would say that they could be on a short list. But I need to relax into my music.  I like chilled out music to wash into the room and give a warm feeling as I sit back after work and wind down. When a system doesn't let me do this, its not right for me.  Others will have a different view.
As such, these aren't the right speakers for me or my room.  They're different to the M140s, but they're not the right mix of abilities to justify a change to the Super 20s.  I'm looking for a bigger difference, but perhaps, more of what I have, rather than a different direction."

 

So not a ringing endorsement in my system and room, but certainly something to consider in the right size room - they work well in their owner's own listening room which is somewhat smaller in volume than my own room.

Kudos Get Activated

Since then, Kudos have committed to delivering all their "upper" range speakers (at the moment, that's Super 10, Super 20, T-707 and T-808) with the ability to run with active amplification - ie, the passive crossover in the loudspeaker is by-passed, an active crossover is placed in front of the power amplifiers and each power amp channel controls just one driver each. This has been successful for T-808 with both Linn Exakt and Devialet implementations which you can read about at those links. Most recently, I had my first taste of Kudos's newly launched T-707 being partnered with Naim electronics including a SNAXO active crossover. This is a deeply impressive combination, heard at the Chester Hifi Show 2017.

A little while ago, the Super 20 (re-named 20a) has been treated to the Kudos connection panel which allows passive or active use of the speaker. Conversion from passive to active is extremely simple - just pull out 4 jumper hoops and connect your amps to the appropriate driver connections. So simple, in fact, that Kudos don't explain how this is done on their instruction sheet. Perhaps there is an expectation that the dealer is involved in most installations.

New Kudos Super 20a ready for listening

 Review Caveats

There are a couple of caveats to this review to bear in mind. First, and crucially, we had a pretty much brand new demo pair to work with. So new, the Cherry veneer was still very pale indeed - I know this darkens over time to something much deeper and richer. We estimated the speakers had about 50 hours of use on them - this is important to bear in mind as you read the review, as speakers often take a while to settle down or 'break-in' from new and their character can change a surprising amount over this time. Second, we only had a 3 hour window to work within, so there's a chance there may be more to come given more set up time - on this one, we saved a good chunk of time by going straight to the speaker position we'd found had worked best for the speakers in passive form. I think that's a very reasonable approach to take and should result in something pretty close to optimal.

Local friend R has earlier passive Super 20s in a Naim NDS/555, 282/Supercap DR and 250DR system with SuperLumina cables throughout. This lot feed a pair of the earlier Super 20s which don't permit active operation. This means there are 2 of us with experience or extensive experience of the Super 20s in this system. R's Super 20s are the ones reviewed in my previously passive Linn Klimax system. This gave the opportunity to directly compare the brand new speakers against a set with thousands of hours of use. Hence the first caveat - straight out of the box the newer pair were over bright and the bass was 'stiff' and inarticulate in comparison. To the extent that both of us found listening rather tiring. So they were left playing away to themselves, facing each other with one out of phase to reduce the amount of sound they produced. This is how we know they have at least 50 hours of music under their belts.

Set Up

Distinguishing the Super 20a from the Super 20 is the connection panel. At the base are the normal single-wire passive inputs. The second row down are normally vertically linked to the top row by u-shaped links during passive operation.  Here the top row of connections are being fed active treble and bass signals from Naim SuperLumina cables.

So some perspective from the above in the context of a familiar system and a current (very happy) owner.

2 days later and they're set up in the Musings listening room, positioned where the passive pair had sounded best. A quick look at the brief instructions soon told us that we had to work out the active connectivity ourselves, but it is simple. Pull out the 4 connecting loops and hook up the correct speaker cable to their respective 'active treble' or 'active bass' connection.  Linn Konfig was spun up on the laptop and the Exakt filters for the Super 20s were selected from the menu and installed into the Exaktbox whilst the power amps were still switched off. After confirming the Exaktbox connections against the Konfig diagram, it only took 15 minutes or so for everything to be ready to go. As is the way with active systems - care with connecting is critical.  Connect a bass channel to the tweeter and you can expect a short puff of smoke, silence and a bad smell.  So the bass driver is always connected first - if you accidentally send treble information to this driver its no big deal.  So make sure the bass drivers are connected then listen to music at low volume and make sure the bass driver is producing bass.  If its all good, then connect up the treble and listen to it very quietly to make sure its only handling treble.  If all is good, on with the music...

System

Here's the system driving the Super 20a with an Exakt feed, in source to speaker order:

• 16 bit and 24 bit uncompressed FLAC files
• QNAP 251 NAS with WD Red drives
• Minimserver UPnP database
• Cat 7 ethernet cable
• Netgear GS-108T network switch with Friwo medical PSU
• Chord Anthem streaming cable
• Linn Akurate Exakt DSM streamer / Pre-amp (with power from PS Audio P5 regenerator)
• Chord C-Stream streaming cable
• Linn Akurate Exaktbox 10 DAC/processor (with power from PS Audio P5 regenerator)
• Linn "silver" analogue interconnects
• 2x Linn Akurate 4200/1 power amps (with power directly from the mains)
• 2x 3m pairs of Naim SuperLumina speaker cables
• All electronics supported by Cyrus Isoplats on Quadraspire EVO racks

 Tracks used:

• Falling Out of Love - Mary Gauthier
• Six Blade Knife (24 bit from DSD) - Dire Straits
• Gula - Deadmau5
• Keith Don't Go - Nils Lofgren
• Fender Bender - Chris Jones
• Breathe You In (ft. Laura Hahn) - Ficci
• Wicked Game - London Grammar
• Walking With Elephants - Ten Walls

First Impressions

Here you can see how fresh the Cherry veneer is on this pair - contrast with the Quadraspire cherry shelves.  Akurate Exakt DSM is on the far right hand rack, the Exaktbox 10 is on the middle shelf under the TV with the 2x 4-channel 4200/1 power amps on the lowest shelf

 

That brightness noted in R's home system was still in evidence here, making the system difficult to listen to, but bear with me as this isn't the end game here.  One thing we also noticed immediately was the articulation, drive and rhythm in the bass line - although there were some room modes being driven here, leading to a touch of boom - that initial stiffness noted at first listen in R's system isn't evident in the Exakt system - either due to the different system, some benefits of the 50 hours of playing time, or perhaps a combination of both. Vocals immediately stood out as crisp and clear with tone and intonation clear in the expression of the words.  So, some work to do.  I think it would've been good to leave them playing for a couple more days, but time was against us.

SPACE

Turning once again to Linn Konfig, the first thing to address was the room modes which were giving a touch of boom in the room - it wasn't at all excessive, but it was there.  Whilst the room measurements themselves were untouched, the position of the speakers in the room was amended to suit the positions of the Kudos boxes and the optimise button was pressed.  The newer SPACE implementation - where each left / right speaker receives different settings - was evident in the profile graph - much more so than with the PMC 26s.  This brought an immediate improvement to the punchiness, tunefulness and articulation of bass line.  But it was a touch light so we took a couple of dB out of the notch and narrowed it significantly and that worked a treat.  As usual with SPACE this opened out the mid-range and treble too - a mixed blessing.

Sometimes, its possible to tackle some vocal harshness by adding notches in space in the 65 to 74Hz range and whilst these gave some subtle benefit, it just wasn't significant.  So we moved up the range and added a -1.8 then -2.0dB treble shelf which Linn allows you to add from 8kHz upwards - and this was a little helpful, but not the answer.  So that was moved up to 17kHz and then we added a custom filter - a -2dB dip centred around 8.5kHz but with a very high width value which effectively gave us a 3.5kHz to 17kHz wide shelf. And that really hit the spot.  Notching this down to -3dB across the same frequency range got us to the right place.  Everything clicked at that point and we started to settle down into listening to the music rather than to the system and its tendancy to spotlight every single thing in the upper frequencies.  This is the first caveat - it would be great to get the speakers back again soon when they've had a lot more hours of use - to see if this treble attenuation can be dropped over time as the speakers break-in.

Listening to Music

So now we had a very satisfactory sounding system, we cracked on with listening to some tracks.  Bear in mind here that 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 Naim passive system. What we heard in about 90 minutes of listening with Exakt was a revelation.  These speakers, whilst not carrying the same weight and authority as the PMCs (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 Exakt with active amplification has brought that out from under the covers of passive operation.

I'll leave it with some of R's words - stunning, outstanding, and several more that I won't repeat in a public forum.

Post Script

We hope to get the speakers back again in a couple of weeks time to follow up on if they've settled in and need less treble attenuation - if this happens I'll report back here.  Also, after the Super 20s left the building, the SuperLumina speaker cable stayed in the house for a little longer.  Interestingly, using this cable on the treble of the PMCs reduced the gap in detail resolution by about 50%, bringing the PMCs closer to the Kudos boxes in this area.  Would I swap the PMCs for a pair of Super 20s? No, but that's no reflection on the capabilities of the Super 20a, more that there is a different set of priorities from which to choose.  Having lived with the superb bass performance of the PMCs, their relative lower level of detail resolution and lesser capabilities in vocal resolution are a reasonable compromise to live with.  And I'd be looking for a substantial improvement if moving on - not a different compromise.  Roll-on the Kudos T-606 in the summer! 

Thanks to Kudos and Acoustica for the loan of the speakers.

Glossy Black Towers. PMC Twenty.26

PMC? ATL? Not a letter K in sight?  What's going on here?

If you've been paying attention (hopefully!) then you'll be aware of Linn's movement towards their Exakt proprietary technologies.  These are, inevitably, focussed heavily on delivering to their own range of loudspeakers - either built into the speakers or delivered via Exaktbox digital crossovers / DACs which permit the use of any kind of amplification. However, as with the SPACE room optimisation algorithms, Linn is planning to support non-Linn loudspeakers.

So there's a bit of long term planning to be done before future system changes - see the review of the Kudos Super 20 from a few weeks ago which describes how I've gone from active to passively driven speakers to open up the options, which was the first of those longer term steps. So what of Linn's own speakers as options?

Well the Akubarik is a speaker I've been keen on since it was launched about 3 years ago, and something of an aspiration. It used to be available in passive (any amplifiers you like and make it active with Linn amps if you wish) and an active version with the active crossovers and amps built into a module on the back of the cabinet.  It comes with Linn's Exakt technology now - you need an Exakt compatible DS or DSM, so its not a straightforward speaker upgrade, its a complete system change (although many existing DS/DSM products can be upgraded to Exakt by Linn).  And the standard active version is locked to Akurate DACs and Majik+ amps.

My Klimax DS/1 was upgraded to KDS/2 in 2015, part of that upgrade includes the addition of an Exakt output, so that part is future proofed to an extent (I say to an extent, because I would need a music only system to use that function, as it stands, using Exakt on my DS would not integrate into my 5.1 requirements). Now, when thinking about Exakt options, I would really like to stay with Klimax level DACs, having been used to them for some time.  In Linn terms Klimax > Akurate > Majik in sound quality.

Why is this relevant to choosing speakers?  Well, the Akubarik (the obvious and desirable direction to go within the Linn range) has 5 drivers in each speaker cabinet.  For Exakt, that means a 5 channel Exaktbox (which would include 5 DACs) per speaker and 5 channels of amplification per speaker.  The Akurate range includes a 10 channel Exaktbox which would do the job, but, of course, only includes Akurate DACs.  To stay at Klimax level DACs requires a Klimax Exaktbox which only comes in a 6 channel version.  So that means 2x Klimax Exaktboxes.  Plus 10 channels of amplification of course - which, in Linn terms is 5x Twins or 10x Solos. Gulp. Double Gulp.  Not really sure that the room is big enough for 12 boxes of amplification and crossovers.  And that's before considering the costs involved in that lot.

My concern is this:  Exakt Akubariks at Klimax level has ceased to be aspirational, it has become something that could be achieved with a lottery win, but otherwise is highly unlikely to be attainable for me, even after a few years and used examples becoming available.  So whilst Exakt is impressive technology (I've heard it sounding good and not so good - it seems to be very dependent on a good installation / set up process), it doesn't look like an option whilst staying with Linn speakers.

I mentioned earlier that Linn are looking to extend Exakt to non-Linn speakers.  So perhaps there is still an option out there to progress the system that remains attainable and doesn't exclude Exakt as an option for the future - or maybe even makes it more possible than with Linn's speakers?  This is a limited range at the moment - B&W 802, Kudos T-808, Kudos Super 20 are the ones that are available.

A PMC Twenty.26 option is due to be announce in Feb / March 2016.  The B&Ws are out for three main reasons - they're big and I don't particularly like the look of them, they're very expensive and I'm not a big fan of the super smooth sound they make.  The T-808s I've heard a few times and really like them, but they're also too big in 2 dimensions - physically and financially.  So the Super 20s were tried a few weeks ago (results here - thanks again to Richard for their loan) and here, its time to give the PMCs a try.

How do either of the Kudos or PMC options mean that Exakt is still an option, when Linn's own speakers don't? Simple - fewer drivers.  The Kudos have 2 drivers per speaker, the PMCs 3 drivers.  So a pair of either of these can be supported by a single 6 channel Klimax Exaktbox and 2 or 3 Twin amps.  Still a lot of dosh, but significantly less than demanded by a pair of Akubariks.  Plus, they're not locked into Linn and keep other options open.  One more thing to mention here - Kudos don't yet produce a dedicated centre channel speaker, but they do offer to build a single C10 with horizontal branding for use as a centre.  PMC offer a dedicated centre speaker. Linn don't offer a centre speaker at all, above Majik level - very short sighted.

PMC Twenty.26 with drivers exposed.  Masking tape in place to indicate the position of the Majik 140 speakers - helps as a starting point and helps when re-positioning the Linns in the room

Any confidence in the PMCs before getting them into the listening room?  Yes and no.  PMC speakers haven't been on my list of favourites in the past.  The transmission line seems to have delivered a slightly detached bass, leading to confusion of the musical timing.  However the Twenty.26 has been at quite a few of the hifi shows reported on here on Audiophile Musings.  First at the Bristol Sound and Vision show for their launch back in February 2014 when they sounded excellent and to me, more enjoyable and musical than PMC's own FACT 12 demonstrated on the same day on the same system with the same music.  The FACTs were more detailed, probably a little faster, but most definitely not as much musical fun to listen to.  At the other shows I've heard them they've acquited themselves well too.  Which is as good as it gets for hifi shows as (read the reports elsewhere on here) they're often very challenging for the room hosts and most certainly for show visitors.  Getting a good sound at a show seems to be rare compared to the rooms that struggle to get a good result.  So bringing them into the pretty much exclusively Linn system at home wasn't a worry - its also interesting to see that Linn are supporting this speaker for Exakt, seemingly without PMC's support (although that's not an official position from either company), so there must be some respect for what they do, up in Glasgow.

Shiny cabinets installed with industrial looking drivers.  Not so obvious from this picture are the 2x large foam covered transmission line vents at the base of each cabinet 

With the help of Paul at Hifi Lounge (dealer visit report on here soon), even though I was a completely new potential customer for them, a pair of demo Twenty.26s were made available to take home for a week.  They're in "diamond black" (PMC speak for piano black) which wouldn't be my first choice of finish, but the best they do in terms of fitting in at home - the other finishes are Amarone (a reddish wood), walnut and light oak.  They're about 50mm taller than my current Majik 140s, but they look much taller than that - I think its the visual effect of the narrower front baffle emphasising their height.  At least their height means that the top is not visible from the listening position - so at least the dread "dust on gloss black" won't be obvious when listening.

I'd prefer a matt black (black ash perhaps), but the quality of the piano black finish is absolutely superb - faultless in fact.  They lean back about 5 degress (the stand extends out the back to provide apparent stability, but its really an illusion as the spikes are directly under the corners of the speaker cabinet, not the back corners of the stand) to provide a degree of time alignment of the drivers.  It was this lean back that caused most of the "domestic acceptability" discussion, rather than the finish itsself. Once the grilles were fitted that is. With the grilles off, the 3 different drivers and their mounting bolts lend a rather industrial look.  The grilles are full length, feature a PMC badge near the bottom and are held in place by magnets which are both very strong and very accurately placed which ensures the grilles align perfectly with the top and side edges - they're very well done.  With the grilles on, the speakers are quite discrete, despite their size.  PMC themselves are a much larger and older company than Kudos, with a wider range of products and their origins in the professional world, not that is particularly relevant really.

Having picked up the loan speakers from Hifi Lounge (with a week available to play with them), they were unloaded at home, which was no mean feat as, although they're not massively heavy, their boxes are very large and therefore challenging to manoeuvre.

Unboxing

Having watched Paul box up the speakers, it was easy enough to unbox them.  The key thing is not to lay them on their front at any time as that would be disastrous for the dome drivers.  Their box is sturdy, they're wrapped in a fleece cloth bag with the stands separate.  With the speaker upside down on a towel, the stand goes on easily with 4 allen bolts - allen key and spike spanner are included.  The instructions on tightening the stand bolts are very explict - after the bolts stop turning by hand, just turn them one half turn - this is to prevent crushing the large but thin cork washers that sit between stand and speaker - they form some kind of decoupling / damping role.  The stand is a substantial lump of MDF in matt black finish - makes me wonder what a stand like the sold metal M140 stands would do.  Something for later experimenting perhaps. Much later. Four substantial and nicely machined stainless steel spikes are provided.  These were left off during room positioning.

The rear is where the terminals are - there are 3 pairs of substantial gold plated posts that accept 4mm plugs, bare wire or spades - this allows for bi/tri wiring/amping.  As standard these three pairs are connected by gold plated solid rods to allow a normal single wired connection.

Around the front there is a 27mm dome tweeter right at the top of the cabinet (somewhat above normal seated ear height), a large 50mm mid-range dome (at around ear height) and a smallish 155mm bass driver with a large 90mm dust cap.  They all look well made and finished with the cabinet cut outs perfectly machined.  Well presented in terms of quality and finish, but rather industrial.  The pair of rectangular transmission line exit holes at the base of the cabinet are filled with a very rigid foam and not the most attractive of features. We preferred the look with the grilles installed - less distracting that way.

Looking much smarter with the grilles in place.  This is how they stayed

Positioning

These are probably the least position sensitive floorstanders I've had in the room.  Perhaps this is a contrast to the Majiks which have large rear ports, the PMCs are front facing and subject to a lot of damping /  absorption / tuning as the soundwaves travel along the 3.3m internal advanced transmission line (the ATL in the opening paragraph above) - with only very specific frequencies making it to the outlet.  With Linn's SPACE optimisation switched off, Van Damme 4sqmm cables connecting the Klimax Chakra Twin/Dynamik power amp to speakers and starting from where the M140s normally stand, they worked very well in the start position and moving them back and forward by up to 150mm has some effect on the bass response, but not as much as normally experienced.  Settled on them being about 100mm further forward than the M140s, but due to the sloping of the baffle, this ended up being only about 5mm further forward when measured at the top of the cabinet (although the cabinet itself is deeper than the M140).

Best imaging was experienced with a little less toe-in that the Linns.  In my room I don't get the ideal equilateral triangle of speakers and listening seat.  So toe-in (or not) is critical to getting the best imaging.

Once the positioning was complete, spikes were installed and each speaker levelled.  Levelling needs to take place on the stand, which is good for not having to put a spirit level on that piano black lacquer.   A small spanner is provided for tightening the spikes.  Seems that this is deliberately short so as not to over tighten the spikes.

SPACE Time

Linn provides for the Twenty.26 within their ever expanding list of speaker options for room optimisation, so that was easy enough.  the laser "tape" measure came out and the new speaker positions entered into the settings in Konfig.  The algorithms do their stuff and the usual result - 4 room nodes and too much attenuation at each frequency position.  The result was a bit flat and distinctly lightweight.  About 3 hours of messing with the settings (using Linn's guidance instructions) gave me this set of notches.  I think there may be a bit more to do, but this is working well for now. The light grey are the calculated settings, the blue dip at around 25Hz and the green dips are the settings I ended up with.  Perhaps this is a reflection of how these speakers are not massively position dependent in my room:

Listening

Lets get on with some proper listening.  Again, as per the Kudos review, I will make comparative comments to my M140s, the Kudos Super 20 and the Linn Akubarik - only the Akubarik hasn't been in my room, so those comments are based on hearing them many times in many different rooms and configs. Not perfect, but that's often the way it goes with this hifi lark - perfect and back to back comparisons are not always possible.

The speakers are the demo models, are about 15 months old and as such, should be run-in, if such as thing is necessary for them.   What are the initial impressions?  Well, a certain amount of solidity to bass notes, a very even treatment of all frequencies and lots and lots of fine details.  There's a sense of speed to the sound too - something more immediate than the Linns, but not as insistent as the Kudos. Without the grilles there's something edging towards sibilance - but never actually getting there - the grilles tone this down a touch.

I leave them playing to themselves for a bit at moderate volume.  Each time I return to the room, there is something very striking about the continuing even treatment of the full frequency range. Even at only 40 (out of 100) on the volume control (normal, properly focussed listening volume is in the 60-65 range in my room), there is that serious and solid bass going on.  Nice, I like that - good for when the kids have gone off to bed.

So, once they'd been playing a while, a selection of choice choons get loaded up into the playlist and some proper music listening gets underway.  Nils Lofgren, Deadmau5, Yello, Thea Gilmore, The Black Smoke Orchestra, Ian Shaw, Tuung, Jamie Woon, Asa, Daft Punk you get the idea - a fair amount of variety gets thrown at the PMCs.  And there's one clear aspect of them that stands out time after time  - their ability to play a bass line that's solid, stable, tuneful, complex and, when needed, visceral.  Evaluating using Tune Dem (for those Linnies out there) is no challenge at all.  Following the tune is child's play, but I'm quick to realise that the tune can be much more complex than I'm used to.  Towards the end of Daft Punk's Georgio Moroder track (on Random Access Memories), there's a crescendo section that builds and builds in volume, but the bass guitar's part also builds in complexity and speed.  Its a revelation - playing this far more clearly than the Kudos, with resolution the 140s can only dream of, and from what I remember of the Akubarik, the 26 plays it with a greater sense of timing and boogie factor.  At the end of the track as the "click" slides down the scale it ends deep, rich and solid in the room. Goosebumps!

Black Books from Lofgren's Acoustic Live album is a favourite track and again, the guitar playing is demonstrating many more subtleties, attack and complexity. Where has all that information been hiding? Asa's Bibanke (from the [Asha] album) lilts along beautifully - again that tuneful bass is clear - on the M140s the double bass is playing a simple few notes but with the 26 there are a good few extra (but very quiet) in-fills in between the main bass line.  Those extra elements enable the tune to be followed that bit easier.  On this track, the drums are played with wire brushes - now the drums are not only distinct, but the kit seems to have a space to itself in the mix, with the floor tom responding to a hit from the brush with the usual thud, but its preceded by the "bong" of the taut drum skin. Impressive.

What about imaging?  Well, its different to both the Linn and the Kudos.  Its more precise and stable than the Linns, just as deep, but it projects only a little into the room, but further back behind the speakers.  I think the Kudos has the edge on image depth, but the 26 is a little more stable.  Its easy to place instruments in 3 dimensions, on a well recorded track.  Playing some Nitin Sawhney and some Ficci demonstrates the ability to throw sound as if its coming from behind or the side wall - there's some clever processing applied to these tracks.

And vocals?  Stunning.  Perhaps that mid range dome is doing something clever here (both the Kudos and Majik 140 use quite large drivers for the critical mid-range) - with less crossover involvement in the vocal range.  Hugh Masakela on Stimela (Train Song) live is full of subtleties, dynamic contrasts and nuances.  Snappy when needed, smooth and fluid in the quieter passages.  Giovanni Georgio's voice stands out in his Daft Punk opening monologue, but the chatter behind him is still clear, as is the tune of the underlying bass line.  There is still a hint of sibiliance that never turns out to be delivered - but this may be a facet of the Klimax Twin amp as much as anything else - as I noted when comparing this amp the the Lejonklou Tundra, in mid 2015. On The Weeknd's Can't Feel My Face, there is a breathiness to the chorus vocals that just doesn't exist on the Linns.  The voice remains distinct throughout the tracks too, rather than being partially obscured by the instruments. Funkerman's Speed Up (Alix Alvarex Remix) has strong, deep, solid bass lines, but they underpin the driving nature of this track, they don't overwhelm it.  There's quite some authority here.

These speakers also deliver exceptional detail in the treble.  But its subtle - the ability to hear the difference between strokes /  hits on a cymbal, clicks and pops in electronic music such as Yello or Trentemoller snap and crackle but don't grate.  A great example of this is demonstrated on Funkerman's Speed Up (ATFC Remix) there are some castanetish sounds that clatter in space around and in front of the speakers - clear as you like. There's a world of difference between a speaker that does exceptional treble information, and one that throws treble energy out there to make it seem like there's loads of detail.  The difference here is difficult to describe - but lots of treble content isn't the same as lots of treble information.  This aspect is one of the Majik 140's best attributes - detail not quantity, the PMCs doing something similar but with more subtlety, faster transients and extra finesse. And more details.

As with the Kudos Super 20s, Richard kindly loaned his Naim Super Lumina speaker cables, so they were put into the place of the van Damme 4sqmm blue cables and more listening was done.  These cables allow yet another level of detail through - they're not revolutionary, but they do work well. Those bass lines are given an extra level of solidity - on Deadmau5's Avaritia (from While 2>1) the main bass rhythm hits like its in the room.  Is there a downside to these speakers?  Yes. Its an intolerance for severely compressed music.  If you like that ultra compressed pop stuff, then these are not the speakers for you.  They show it up for what it is - a travesty.  Mild to moderate compression (most stuff, lets be honest) is fine, but there's no hiding rubbish production values here.

So there we have it.  I guess I could go on more about the various aspects, but it would be more of the same really, just different tracks.  These speakers have authority, control, articulation, detail, superb image stability, and a sense of effortless delivery, at least when fed by my electronics.  So, it looks like, after 25 years of Linn speakers (only Keilidhs and Majik 140s, but with different passive / active configs and a number of different amps), a choice has been made. How would I characterise them? Well - using the Linn line - imagine the subtlety, detail and finesse of the Akubarik, but with the joy and boogie factor of the Linn Keilidh.  So the Akubariks are no longer an aspiriation. The PMCs won't be going back to the shop.

Grilles on, position finalised, and they're not going back to the shop

For those interested, please visit http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=6 where the Linn speakers, amps and active cards are available for sale  :)

Is The Kudos Super 20 a Neat Solution?

Audiophile Musing's system has been "active" for about 18 years.  In Linn style, this means a set of active crossover cards - one per speaker drive unit and one power amp channel to deliver to that drive unit.  This was how the Keilidhs were when they retired and were replaced by an actively powered pair of Majik 140s.

About 8 months ago, I heard a comparison of active 140s using Majik power amps (Linn's lowest rung), just like my own set up, against the same pair of speakers returned to passive crossovers and a pair of Linn's top of the range Klimax Solo/Dynamik mono power amps.  There was no comparison. The passive Solos were not streets ahead, more of a complete city ahead.  They remain an ambition. However, about 4 months ago one of Linn's top of the range stereo power amps (the Klimax 500 Chakra Twin/Dynamik) came available ex-dem and at a very attractive price. And it was black. So the Majik 140 speakers were converted back to passive and in came the Twin.  Its not at Solo level, but it is a significant step up from active Majik.

So what has this got to do with the Kudos Super 20?  Well, its quite straightforward really.  Once the system is no longer active, then the range of speaker choices opens up to pretty much everything out there.  No longer "limited" to Linn.  Of course, Linn speakers are still of interest (particularly the Akubarik, my favourite of the current range), but why not listen around to see what else is possible? My local Naimist, Richard (you'll have read about him before in some of the comparison tests and for his help at Scalford etc), has a pair of Kudos Super 20s.  In an act of some considerable generosity, Richard offered up the loan of the Kudos speakers for a week (which turned into 2 weeks, due to schedules and an extremely long period of wet weather when it wouldn't have been good to be moving the speakers between houses).

Let the fun begin.

Well, it wasn't too much fun to begin with.  The Kudos's had to come down the narrow tight cornered stairs from the loft conversion and then into the car. To make sure the 140s went back in their correct place (and the Super 20s back in their home), positions were marked on the floors with masking tape. Then there was the lifting of the M140s out of the room - I'd forgotten how heavy they are with their solid metal bases.  The Kudos stands slightly shorter, is slightly more shallow and somewhat lighter. They're beautifully built and finished, a real credit to the team from the North East.  I had high expectations for these as they do work well for Richard and I've found Kudos's T-808s a thoroughly enjoyable (if rather expensive) pair of boxes.

Left speaker installed.  Masking tape showing position of the M140s

Starting with the 20s in the exact same position as the M140s, Linn SPACE was disabled (due to the need to start from scratch) and the messing about with speaker positions began.  Listened for about 30 mins in this position and then shuffled the speakers about, playing tracks for 10-15 mins between each position.  Ended up with the speakers about 15cms further out from the wall.  Toe-in was best at the same angle as the 140s.

Then the tuning using SPACE began, and that proved to be much more of a faff than I was expecting. SPACE comes with the Super 20 as one of the listed speakers, so that was easy enough. Measurements were taken of where the speakers are in the room and SPACE calculation run.  It was awful.  All life sucked out of everything, speakers sounding over bright.  I re-checked all the measures.  I then worked through the SPACE instructions on how to tweak the deep notches.  It took a long time before something came back to the system.  I left it like this for a few days, found the system difficult to listen to.  It was edge of the seat stuff all the time, even with music that's supposed to be chilled and relaxing.

I reported back to Richard and he suggested we swap out the speaker cables.  I'm using Linn K200 (which is split K400).  Richard is using Naim SuperLumina.  This had a marked effect on the system - it brings a level of refinement and "care" to the sound.  Its not over smooth, but it removes some rough edges and brings an extra level of tiny details.  Bass got a little tighter and much more subtley textured.  A quite remarkable bit of wire.  Tried it later with the M140s and it did similar things there too.  Impressive.  Enough of a change to necessitate switching SPACE off and to mess about with positioning again.  This resulted in the speakers being about 12-13cms further from the wall compared to the Linns.  A small change from the initial 15cms, but worthwhile.

And then all the messing with SPACE again.  This time I ended up taking nearly all of the SPACE notches out.  The lowest frequency notch went from -29dB to -6dB and the other 2 smaller notches dropped from around -9dB to -2dB.  I also let in -1dB of treble shelf to tame the top end.  This was another 2 or 3 days of messing about to get to this position.  So that was the set up done.  At last.

General view, but before the speakers were moved to their best position

So how did it sound with the SuperLumina and with SPACE dialled in to its best?  Well I'm going to write about this in reference back to the Linns I'm afraid - a comparative review rather than in absolute terms.  I think that's because that's what I'm looking for - something that's an improvement on the 140s.  Its worth saying, at this point, that they didn't work well with the Linn speaker cable and therefore something different would be a requirement.  SuperLumina might be the thing, but others might be as good or better (or worse of course).

Here's what the Kudos Super 20s do better than the Linns - instrument separation, speed (they sound like they respond to inputs from the amp a little quicker) and they image better too - not so much left to right, but certainly back behind the speakers.  So they're an exciting listen.  Attack is great, the music is pacey and the instruments are easily picked out.  The Linns are good at instrument differentiation, but the Kudos moves this on a notch.  They go reasonably deep too, when the content is there in the music.  Female vocals are a particular forte, just as they are in their home Naim system.

What do they not do so well?  There's a few things really.  I still never really relaxed into any music whilst they were in the house for 2 weeks (although it was so much better with the SuperLumina in place).  The speed I found a little distracting.  I notched the treble shelf down another 0.5dB and that helped a little, but I didn't really get settled with them.  This, and they sound a little out of breath in my room.  Back in their home system, they're in a 12ft x12ft (ish) area of an L shaped loft room, which has part sloping roofs.  The listening seat is closer to the speakers too.  In my room they're in a 19ft x 12ft full ceiling height room and that might be just a touch too big for them.

So its a mixed bag.  I really understand why they're a good seller and why their owners enjoy them so much - I get the appeal of the etched instruments, I get the speed, I get the way they do female vocals. If I was in the market for speakers at this price point, I would say that they could be on a short list. But I need to relax into my music.  I like chilled out music to wash into the room and give a warm feeling as I sit back after work and wind down. When a system doesn't let me do this, its not right for me.  Others will have a different view.

As such, these aren't the right speakers for me or my room.  They're different to the M140s, but they're not the right mix of abilities to justify a change to the Super 20s.  I'm looking for a bigger difference, but perhaps, more of what I have, rather than a different direction.

Must get around to trying the SuperLumina again and compare it with other options.  Its capabilities are impressive - far more of a change than a bit of wire has any right to deliver.

A huge thanks to Richard for trusting me with his expensive and highly valued speakers.  They're back in their home now, and the brand new Naim 250DR is probably warmed up enough now for him to get thoroughly back into enjoying his music.