Kudos Klub

[Coyote Jim]

With recent reference to the Kudos open day at Cymbiosis the details are as follows.
This will be held on Saturday 8th June 2024 between 10.00am and 4.00pm.

We will be using our Naim system with Kudos Titan 808s in one dem room and we will also be doing an active versus passive dem in our other room using a Linn system with Kudos Titan 606s.

We will be doing the active/passive dem at 12.00pm and 2.00pm and these must be prebooked on a first come, first served basis, so please contact us as soon as possible if you would like to book for this.

We are delighted that Derek and Mark from Kudos will be here to explain how the SIGAO DRIVE works and to answer any questions that you may have.

Re: Cymbiosis News and Events

mailto:enquiries@cymbiosis.com

I’m planning to go. I just need to let Wayne know my ETA. I’m not sure if I need to attend a passive/active demo on 606s though, but after a three hour drive I might as well.

I think it would be very interesting “ are you thinking about it “ I wish it was only a three hour drive for me for everything.

[JensA]

Now had the chance for a - slightly - more serious listening session with the Kudos Titan 808’s:

- NG KSH (Utopik) —> AEB-I (Katalyst) —> 808s using the July ‘22 Exakt Filters
- 808’s placed close to the wall (about 10cm), no toe-in (as recommended in the Kudos manual)
- listening room about 23qm

The verdict sofar:

I would not regard myself as being an “Audiophile” and do not even pretend that I am able to distinguish small nuances in changes to the setup during auditions, especially if there is a time lap of more than a couple of minutes between listening to the different setups, BUT

these 6 year old 808s in my listening room straight “out of the box” are truly amazing and they are - from my totally subjective point of view and of course I am ‘biased’ - simply the best I have ever heard (including the 360s with a fully blown Klimax setup at my Linn dealer)

Without going into details now: It just sounds “right”

I intend to try them in passive mode as well (with my MDSM/2 and Lejonklou 2.5 stereo)

[timster]

[Zee9]

@JensA - I’m curious to hear your thoughts about the passive setup with the tundra.

[evil_C]

are you thinking about it

Well, I’ve been impressed by the 808s driven actively since hearing them with a SNAXO 362 at Cymbiosis. If I am impressed by the Kudos active/passive crossover, I would need a side by side demo with a SNAXO, which might be difficult given that it’s no longer manufactured. I know, however, that Peter did buy all remaining stock from Naim. Whether he has any left is another question.

[Coyote Jim]

are you thinking about it

Well, I’ve been impressed by the 808s driven actively since hearing them with a SNAXO 362 at Cymbiosis. If I am impressed by the Kudos active/passive crossover, I would need a side by side demo with a SNAXO, which might be difficult given that it’s no longer manufactured. I know, however, that Peter did buy all remaining stock from Naim. Whether he has any left is another question.

He has.
Quite honestly at the level of your main system I wouldn’t mix it up I would be synergy with Naim all the way.
I’m not sure about the Kudos job it doesn’t ring true to me just now but that’s me.
Using the musics own power to power the system seems like a power share dilution.
Peter has invested heavily to try and support the core users to keep the Naim brand and systems consistent.

[evil_C]

are you thinking about it

Well, I’ve been impressed by the 808s driven actively since hearing them with a SNAXO 362 at Cymbiosis. If I am impressed by the Kudos active/passive crossover, I would need a side by side demo with a SNAXO, which might be difficult given that it’s no longer manufactured. I know, however, that Peter did buy all remaining stock from Naim. Whether he has any left is another question.

He has.
Quite honestly at the level of your main system I wouldn’t mix it up I would be synergy with Naim all the way.
I’m not sure about the Kudos job it doesn’t ring true to me just now but that’s me.
Using the musics own power to power the system seems like a power share dilution.
Peter has invested heavily to try and support the core users to keep the Naim brand and systems consistent.

That’s encouraging news, Jim. I will discuss with Peter on the day if I get the opportunity. I am certainly aligned with your thinking regarding an ‘active’ crossover which is really passive. I shall see what it sounds like and how the Kudos guys explain it. Either way, it would mean an amplifier downgrade as I certainly couldn’t afford another two NAP500s! I would need to trade that for 3 x NAP250DR, which would have to be s/h, again owing to Naim having axed those in favour of the new Classic series.

[DiggyGun]

@JensA

Glad you like the 808s. I have the 606s and must admit that Kudos loudspeakers are the best I’ve had.

[arm]

After setting them up until the wee hours of the morning ( incuding a new SO config) , and testing at low levels, I have had a chance to seriously listen to the 606's this morning. Purchased as demo's from the last of the dealers ( only?) in Canada, their last pair.

I got lucky, price was great, and turns out the upgrade was even better. i always suspected that the M140 where holding back on me. Bass, for sure, we know the M140 dont go that low. The tweeter assembly has also had limits. But the sound stage? Wow! What a revelation. I suspect that the lower bass octaves have alot to do with this over all improvement, but still. These fill my room beautifully. I love listening loud ( rock, pop, jazz) and I can go even louder now with the Titan 606's thanks to all the improvements these speakers bring.

Resolution has improved enormously. As an extreme example: what I thought was a nasty "pop" on a Kasey Muscraves track on her Starcross album was just an aggressive cord change on the acoustic guitar! The K2 tweeter just couldnt figure it out. Also, i thought a track on the Lana Del Ray debut Album , Born to die, had a re-occuring flaw in one track ( off to the races ?) but the Kudos resolved this into a purposefully added tick.

One of my all time favorite albums is POST by Bijork. The bass lines and industrial layers are at their finest with the 606's , they separate and image every track on this album at full (95) volume. The one outlier track on this industrial pop album, Its oh so quiet, a 50's love song original sung by Betty Hutton, shows off Bijorks vocals at their peak, incuding a few schreeks of joy that the 606's finally tamed.

Normally a black finish speaker is my last choice, but with no choice at all I'm happy i didnt let this bias get in the way of buying these. These are the only Kudo's I have listen too, as I mentioned before, distribution was spotty in NA. As a M140 owner for 9 years, and all Linn front end that steadily improved, i was stuck as there were no passive Exaktable speaker moves left for me in the Linn line up ( I have an Akurate Hub and Exaktbox 10, akurate 4200 amps). My future plans also included a Klimax NGHub so going to a 4 channel set up with Kudos ( versus 8 channel with the M140's) also get me into a future organik upgrade vis-a-vis a Kilmax exakt box.

To all my fellow M140 owners who have an exakt set up, all the reviews and posts about Kudos are right. These speakers are a natural progression. Don't fight it.

[Tendaberry]

Congratulations on the upgrade, enjoy

[timster]

After setting them up until the wee hours of the morning ( incuding a new SO config) , and testing at low levels, I have had a chance to seriously listen to the 606's this morning. Purchased as demo's from the last of the dealers ( only?) in Canada, their last pair.

I got lucky, price was great, and turns out the upgrade was even better. i always suspected that the M140 where holding back on me. Bass, for sure, we know the M140 dont go that low. The tweeter assembly has also had limits. But the sound stage? Wow! What a revelation. I suspect that the lower bass octaves have alot to do with this over all improvement, but still. These fill my room beautifully. I love listening loud ( rock, pop, jazz) and I can go even louder now with the Titan 606's thanks to all the improvements these speakers bring.

Resolution has improved enormously. As an extreme example: what I thought was a nasty "pop" on a Kasey Muscraves track on her Starcross album was just an aggressive cord change on the acoustic guitar! The K2 tweeter just couldnt figure it out. Also, i thought a track on the Lana Del Ray debut Album , Born to die, had a re-occuring flaw in one track ( off to the races ?) but the Kudos resolved this into a purposefully added tick.

One of my all time favorite albums is POST by Bijork. The bass lines and industrial layers are at their finest with the 606's , they separate and image every track on this album at full (95) volume. The one outlier track on this industrial pop album, Its oh so quiet, a 50's love song original sung by Betty Hutton, shows off Bijorks vocals at their peak, incuding a few schreeks of joy that the 606's finally tamed.

Normally a black finish speaker is my last choice, but with no choice at all I'm happy i didnt let this bias get in the way of buying these. These are the only Kudo's I have listen too, as I mentioned before, distribution was spotty in NA. As a M140 owner for 9 years, and all Linn front end that steadily improved, i was stuck as there were no passive Exaktable speaker moves left for me in the Linn line up ( I have an Akurate Hub and Exaktbox 10, akurate 4200 amps). My future plans also included a Klimax NGHub so going to a 4 channel set up with Kudos ( versus 8 channel with the M140's) also get me into a future organik upgrade vis-a-vis a Kilmax exakt box.

To all my fellow M140 owners who have an exakt set up, all the reviews and posts about Kudos are right. These speakers are a natural progression. Don't fight it.

I am hoping for something similar with the Super20s (only 5 or 6 weeks away now!). I appreciate the Titans are yet another step up though. Maybe one day... gotta get amp upgrade and Organik first though!

[arm]

After setting them up until the wee hours of the morning ( incuding a new SO config) , and testing at low levels, I have had a chance to seriously listen to the 606's this morning. Purchased as demo's from the last of the dealers ( only?) in Canada, their last pair.

I got lucky, price was great, and turns out the upgrade was even better. i always suspected that the M140 where holding back on me. Bass, for sure, we know the M140 dont go that low. The tweeter assembly has also had limits. But the sound stage? Wow! What a revelation. I suspect that the lower bass octaves have alot to do with this over all improvement, but still. These fill my room beautifully. I love listening loud ( rock, pop, jazz) and I can go even louder now with the Titan 606's thanks to all the improvements these speakers bring.

Resolution has improved enormously. As an extreme example: what I thought was a nasty "pop" on a Kasey Muscraves track on her Starcross album was just an aggressive cord change on the acoustic guitar! The K2 tweeter just couldnt figure it out. Also, i thought a track on the Lana Del Ray debut Album , Born to die, had a re-occuring flaw in one track ( off to the races ?) but the Kudos resolved this into a purposefully added tick.

One of my all time favorite albums is POST by Bijork. The bass lines and industrial layers are at their finest with the 606's , they separate and image every track on this album at full (95) volume. The one outlier track on this industrial pop album, Its oh so quiet, a 50's love song original sung by Betty Hutton, shows off Bijorks vocals at their peak, incuding a few schreeks of joy that the 606's finally tamed.

Normally a black finish speaker is my last choice, but with no choice at all I'm happy i didnt let this bias get in the way of buying these. These are the only Kudo's I have listen too, as I mentioned before, distribution was spotty in NA. As a M140 owner for 9 years, and all Linn front end that steadily improved, i was stuck as there were no passive Exaktable speaker moves left for me in the Linn line up ( I have an Akurate Hub and Exaktbox 10, akurate 4200 amps). My future plans also included a Klimax NGHub so going to a 4 channel set up with Kudos ( versus 8 channel with the M140's) also get me into a future organik upgrade vis-a-vis a Kilmax exakt box.

To all my fellow M140 owners who have an exakt set up, all the reviews and posts about Kudos are right. These speakers are a natural progression. Don't fight it.

I am hoping for something similar with the Super20s (only 5 or 6 weeks away now!). I appreciate the Titans are yet another step up though. Maybe one day... gotta get amp upgrade and Organik first though!

Im sure the Super 20A's will be a significate improvement. I would focus on the upgrade to Akurate amps over organiK DAC's, especially because Utopik will mostly like become available on these amps and improve them. I had Majik amps with my M140's originally , with Aktiv cards, and when i switched to Akurate A4200's the improvement was huge. Besides, the Majik Amps will serve as a bottle neck to Organic and while you wil get improvement, you wont get it all. I know, hierarch rules, but another way to look at is A4200's are well priced on the used market ATM. Good bang for the buck, err, or Quid.

[timster]

After setting them up until the wee hours of the morning ( incuding a new SO config) , and testing at low levels, I have had a chance to seriously listen to the 606's this morning. Purchased as demo's from the last of the dealers ( only?) in Canada, their last pair.

I got lucky, price was great, and turns out the upgrade was even better. i always suspected that the M140 where holding back on me. Bass, for sure, we know the M140 dont go that low. The tweeter assembly has also had limits. But the sound stage? Wow! What a revelation. I suspect that the lower bass octaves have alot to do with this over all improvement, but still. These fill my room beautifully. I love listening loud ( rock, pop, jazz) and I can go even louder now with the Titan 606's thanks to all the improvements these speakers bring.

Resolution has improved enormously. As an extreme example: what I thought was a nasty "pop" on a Kasey Muscraves track on her Starcross album was just an aggressive cord change on the acoustic guitar! The K2 tweeter just couldnt figure it out. Also, i thought a track on the Lana Del Ray debut Album , Born to die, had a re-occuring flaw in one track ( off to the races ?) but the Kudos resolved this into a purposefully added tick.

One of my all time favorite albums is POST by Bijork. The bass lines and industrial layers are at their finest with the 606's , they separate and image every track on this album at full (95) volume. The one outlier track on this industrial pop album, Its oh so quiet, a 50's love song original sung by Betty Hutton, shows off Bijorks vocals at their peak, incuding a few schreeks of joy that the 606's finally tamed.

Normally a black finish speaker is my last choice, but with no choice at all I'm happy i didnt let this bias get in the way of buying these. These are the only Kudo's I have listen too, as I mentioned before, distribution was spotty in NA. As a M140 owner for 9 years, and all Linn front end that steadily improved, i was stuck as there were no passive Exaktable speaker moves left for me in the Linn line up ( I have an Akurate Hub and Exaktbox 10, akurate 4200 amps). My future plans also included a Klimax NGHub so going to a 4 channel set up with Kudos ( versus 8 channel with the M140's) also get me into a future organik upgrade vis-a-vis a Kilmax exakt box.

To all my fellow M140 owners who have an exakt set up, all the reviews and posts about Kudos are right. These speakers are a natural progression. Don't fight it.

I am hoping for something similar with the Super20s (only 5 or 6 weeks away now!). I appreciate the Titans are yet another step up though. Maybe one day... gotta get amp upgrade and Organik first though!

Im sure the Super 20A's will be a significate improvement. I would focus on the upgrade to Akurate amps over organiK DAC's, especially because Utopik will mostly like become available on these amps and improve them. I had Majik amps with my M140's originally , with Aktiv cards, and when i switched to Akurate A4200's the improvement was huge. Besides, the Majik Amps will serve as a bottle neck to Organic and while you wil get improvement, you wont get it all. I know, hierarch rules, but another way to look at is A4200's are well priced on the used market ATM. Good bang for the buck, err, or Quid.

From my audition 6 years ago I know they will be.
That is the plan. I may even be able to get a 4200 at the same time as the Kudos. There's one ex dem I'm watching. Need to offload the 140s and majik amps pretty sharpish though.
Organik is only if I get a decent price for my Exaktbox and/or Linn have a promotion.

Glad to hear you've reached nirvana. Kudos to you

[JensA]

My nice 8 x sommer cable for the M140 in Exakt mode unfortunately does not fit my Kudos 808 (too big distance between bass and mid/tweeter terminal) but I have now bought a configured Linn K600 at very decent price which will be delivered tomorrow.

I guess K600 is a no-brainer but curious to hear about alternatives.

Jens

[Coyote Jim]

too big distance between bass and mid/tweeter terminal)

I guess K600 is a no-brainer but curious to hear about alternatives.

Jens

Should have just trimmed the outer insulation to suit.
Anything said about K400 is exactly the same sound wise only it’s got another pair inside.

[JensA]

Should have just trimmed the outer insulation to suit.

Ofcourse, but it's a nicely assembled "Sommer Elephant SPM 840" for the dedicated use of driving Majik 140s active with a Linn Exaktbox.
So I decided not to cut/trim anything as I don't need 8 but only 6 cables to drive the 808s active.

I will put the Elephant SPM 840 for sale here shortly. So in case anyone here intends to drive 140s or any other 4-way speaker active this - in the absence of any "Linn K800" - would be the perfect cable....

[Coyote Jim]

Should have just trimmed the outer insulation to suit.

Ofcourse, but it's a nicely assembled "Sommer Elephant SPM 840" for the dedicated use of driving Majik 140s active with a Linn Exaktbox.
So I decided not to cut/trim anything as I don't need 8 but only 6 cables to drive the 808s active.

I will put the Elephant SPM 840 for sale here shortly. So in case anyone here intends to drive 140s or any other 4-way speaker active this - in the absence of any "Linn K800" - would be the perfect cable....

I certainly wouldn’t have used these and left loose plugs lying around.
K800 was never a thing.
Have fun wrestling the K600 hope you can solder.

[JensA]

I certainly wouldn’t have used these and left loose plugs lying around.

....which is the reason I did not cut or trim anything!
The K600 are coming with bananas...

[JensA]

The K600 are coming with bananas...

Frank Zappa once asked “What’s the ugliest part of your body” and I completely agree with his conclusion

If somone were to ask me about the ugliest part of my stereo system, the answer would be much simpler:

[Coyote Jim]

The K600 are coming with bananas...

Frank Zappa once asked “What’s the ugliest part of your body” and I completely agree with his conclusion

If somone were to ask me about the ugliest part of my stereo system, the answer would be much simpler:

Was that a surprise .

[timster]

Just one more month and my Super20s should be here. And the A4200 I'm watching is still there, and the seller is away until 22nd June. If it's still there on the 6th July I may be lucky.
Fingers crossed

[Coyote Jim]

Just read on the grapevine that Kudos Super 20s have been discontinued and any dealer ex dem stock is moving at discounted prices.
Online auction sites have many dealers offers.

[timster]

Just read on the grapevine that Kudos Super 20s have been discontinued and any dealer ex dem stock is moving at discounted prices.
Online auction sites have many dealers offers.

indeed.

Wonder if I can get more off mine... deposit paid at an agreed price but their usual ex-dem price is based on restocking a replacement demo pair.
Worth asking I suppose.

[Newton_John]

I was at the North West Audio Show with Martin Kelly yesterday. I felt the best sounding system was in the Kudos room. It consisted of:

Linn KDSM/3
Kudos Sigao Drive Crossover
x2 Chord stereo power amps
Kudos Titan 707s

[Ian_km]

Just read on the grapevine that Kudos Super 20s have been discontinued and any dealer ex dem stock is moving at discounted prices.
Online auction sites have many dealers offers.

Wonder if that means there’s a replacement imminent? Would leave a big gap £ wise to Titans.