I bought them 1 year ago ,and it was said they were serviced, but who really knows 
That furniture between the Kan speakers is pretty nice but TBH i doubt a serious performance is possible unless its moved away.
BTW Linn K20/Naim A4 loudspeaker cable would be a cheaper solution than A5, not that stiff either, make sure to have proper soldered bananas and a good lenght.
Which probably explains your mediocre results. The Kans belong very much in the analogue era. They need an LP12 ideally and that is what they were intended to be used with. Sorry but digital wonât cut it with the Kans and the Bluesound Node 2i is nowhere near good enough a source for them.
In any system with Kans on the end itâs very difficult to argue with the source first doctrine.
I wouldnât say that at all. They can work exceptionally well in larger rooms. I always thought they sounded far better in my dealerâs large dem room than I could ever get them to sound at home at the time in a small room.
They do respond extremely well as you go up the Naim amp range, with many of their shortcomings becoming far less troublesome as the bass fills out and they become better balanced and more controlled. But a Nait 1 is just fine if obviously far from optimal.
But if you donât optimise the source then in general terms youâll struggle very hard to get any kind of decent performance from them. They are a very misunderstood speaker in this regard. People who complain about them sounding horrible, thin, shouty etc. etc. mostly donât know how to use them properly. They are high-end speaker that just doeasnât have a high-end price. But they are extremely demanding of the drive system, source material, set-up details and listener - make no mistake.
Thanks, the furniture is not at all nice but kind of you to say. Its spare kit in a bedroom not my main system, so the compromises are acceptable to me. I donât disagree though that the sound is not optimised.
I donât agree with your thoughts on this, but we are all different and like what we like. I respect that.
I seem to recall you can ask Naim, giving serial no., but I suppose they would only know if done by them, so might confirm has been, but wouldnât be definitive if negative. Unless there might be dome visible internal difference by which they could tell, e.g different capacitors, of a date on something.
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That to me simply highlights how flawed they must be. A good speaker would work equally well regardless of the source, the sound subject only to the sound quality of that source. (Assuming amp has adequate grip on it.)
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I donât believe them to be flawed, or belonging to an analogue era only. They do need some thinking about in terms of amp and room matching though, now as they did when they were first available.
Others may find different.
You NEED to know.
They need servicing every 7-8 years.
I recommend that you do this before anything else.
If they turn out to be okay, Naim or Class A in Sheffield (who are Naim authorised, half the price, just as good and much quicker) will only replace what needs replacing.
Then, as others have suggested, a new cartridge (the stylus suspension rubbers harden after 5 years or so, regardless of use) and less demanding speakers than Linn Kans should sort you out nicely.
Hope this helps, BF
Iâm not familiar with the amplification however, I see you have a Linn Axis. My youngest sister has the same turntable but it developed a fault which meant it had massive wow and flutter. Iâve no idea if it started to go âoffâ before it became obvious. If youâre UK based thereâs a company in the North West who can service the circuit board and they will probably know if thereâs a slow degradation. They have a short video on their web page showing you how to remove the board to send it for repair. They replace the faulty components with better ones. Even if you think yours is OK itâs worth knowing that you can get it fixed in future. Hope you solve the problem soon.
I am not in agreement with the servicing on the 92/90. They are unfortunately not greatly loved ( wrongly in my view) and have little value on the pre owned market. The cost of servicing far outweighs their value. I would put any money available for servicing towards the next pre and amp combo up the chain. Good to have if they work, not worth the cost of servicing if they are faulty.
Thatâs OK no worries. But just to be clear, they arenât really my thoughts as such. Back in the day the things Iâve said were pretty much taken for granted by those who knew the Kans. That is by dealers who dealt with Linn and Naim systems and by magazine reviewers of the day. Iâm really just recounting that.
Even back then they were very misunderstood by people who werenât âin the knowâ so to speak. And I think now, after all these decades have passed, thatâs even more the case.
I wouldnât disagree. Yes they were very deeply flawed indeed. Thatâs why they needed so much care, attention and coaxing to get them to sing. But boy, when they didâŚ
I would agree on this, a fine example of total mismatch
I have run the Kans since I had them new with a Nait 2 and LP12. They have given good service in various configurations across the years. Originally bought, along with the hype, to run in my one bed flat complete with de rigeur Danish furniture when Habitat was cheap tat copied from Denmark. I found them lacking as I moved to larger properties through my and their life. I have run them recently with a scdr/252/250DR set up where they have performed the best they ever have. I am aware of their limitations and strengths in my use. The OP was asking about kans and 92/90. I stand by my thoughts on the matter.
Edit. I did forget to say thank you for the advice on my summer bedroom system. Much appreciated. 
The interrogation remains : why do they sound horrible ?
If underpowered, they should just sound underpowered, lacking bass, dynamics, and open soundstage. But horrible ?
Something is wrong with the amps or the Kans. I would borrow first a different amplifier to do a test.
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Contact the Naim Customer Service by email with the Serial Nos. asking when they were serviced last.
They will let you know and if they havenât or has been a while, you can get them done.
That will sound like a huge upgrade in itself.
DGâŚ
The only fly in the ointment is that if they have been serviced at Class A, Naim wonât be aware, and not will they be if they were done at another service place. Nonetheless, itâs the logical thing to do.
Thatâs very true. We can try to help people, but they must help themselves too, including giving the necessary information. And if they donât? Well, itâs their problem.