Kudos Heaven

Yep, but still a few SNAXO242s available if you know where to look :slight_smile: Given there are no more 362s now, we have been using the Exposure crossovers with 3 X 250s to great effect here. Cheaper than a 500 and one can upgrade the power amps over time if one wishes. The new crossover is eagerly anticipated in these parts for sure :pray: :muscle:. Such a shame there is nothing due from HQ on this :frowning:
KR

Peter

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There great regardless of implementation. Thats what got me into trouble reading all these posts! Perfectly happy with them, then had a chance to hear them active and it was a slippery slope from there! :grinning:

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Thatā€™s never going to happen as they specialise in one area only.

Keep up the good work Peter.

DGā€¦

Thatā€™s what happened to me.

Kudos active open day at Cymbiosis.

Cue, one additional NAP 250, SNAXO 242 and NAC A5.

DGā€¦

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And then you saw the light, DG :wink:

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I went to an Acoustica / Kudos open day and heard a very impressive improvement from the second 300dr on a pair of 707s. So much more bass. But I havenā€™t heard 808s active - always had them passive. Havenā€™t got the space or inclination to go active with mine - too many boxes and wires (though my Statement is hardly minimalistic itā€™s a sort of fewer boxes approach :joy:)

[I did also hear 808s active with 3x250nc and the room meant it didnā€™t sound as good as my single 500 at home. And then I got a very tempting offer on S1 power amps]

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Tempting S1 should always be the priority.

Hi Tim!
What active crossover was used in that demo? My dealer told me that he participated a demo with 3x250NC plus an Exposer active crossover. He found that the SQ didnā€™t reach the quality a setup with an SNAXO reaches. The ongoing discussion between passive versus active will never end, because most of us do not have the chance to get a comparison in an equal setup. Until now Kudos do not gain any additional margin by promoting the active mode. I trust Kudos that in an equal setup room, system components, cabling, etc. active outperforms the passive. So letā€™s hope they launch an active crossover which is on SNAXO level or even better.
My experience shows that a big impact on the total SQ are the cables you use for interconnection of the equipment. Iā€™m convinced that changing the standard Naim cables to Chord Music will bring more return of investment than going from a NAP250 to NAP300 or a NAP500.
Replacing the NAC552 with an S1 add a clear improvement in SQ but it requires a lot of fund.

It was a snaxo powered by supercap dr. This was I think probably in 2019, before the exposure crossover was in play. Acoustica seem confident that the new Kudos crossover will be much better than the exposure, although I think it may be twice the price (I think someone quoted Ā£6k - which is still cheaper than a supercap dr and snaxo would have been I think? But more than the exposure which is Ā£2-3k I think)

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Kudos are very much committed to active operation with Titans. They cooperated with Naim in developing a suitable SNAXO until someone put the kibosh on the project. They cooperated with Exposure in their development of their crossover, although it remains strictly an Exposue product.
The forthcoming Kudos branded crossovers will, I suspect, be along the lines of what they had from Naim. Iā€™m told that Doug Graham, long term Naim employee now working for Chord Electronics, was involved in their development, and that Kudos are now using Chord amplification for their in house listening and development.

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Roy George designed the soon to be released Kudos crossover. So I wasnā€™t surprised when I heard that the prototype sounded better than SNAXO/ Supercap.

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Most interesting! But having a Chord music full loom, apart from the box count, thinking about all the cabling needed with Titans 808ā€¦thatĀ“s too rich for my blood. Would like to know in which context system-wise (amps/cables) the crossover was developed.
Besides active is not automatically better as both implementations (active and passive) have their merits and disadvantages.

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I also run a full loom of Music and understand your points of view Jodl.

A relatively new 500DR can be bought for around Ā£13k now so thatā€™s Ā£26k for two more S/H to activate my 808ā€™s. If I went for Lavender ICā€™s (I prefer them in many ways to SL) and maybe Kudos speaker cables with crossover and extra FRAIMā€™s I could keep overall costs down to below Ā£40k. I found that the combo of Chord Music and Naim Lavender creates a nice blend of characteristics and maybe the Kudos would work well feeding mids and highs keeping my Music speaker cables for the bass. The S1 power amps costs beyond what I am prepared to pay for a pair of power amps (unless I could source a looked after pair S/H) and Derek at Kudos is adamant that 3 x 500DR is a better than the S1 monos into 808ā€™s. Not sure about that but his views obviously have merit and if itā€™s a close run thing the disparity in price makes the active option tempting.

Still Iā€™m very happy with what I own. Other than a change of turntable brought on by issues other than sound quality I havenā€™t changed anything much in the last two years. I try to resist the mind set of constantly needing to upgrade. Dealers fuel it of course, fair play itā€™s how they make a living, but at our level of systems the law of diminishing returns when upgrading definitely applies whatever anyone selling the gear might state.

Happy listening.

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One of the reasons I went for the S1s instead of active with 500s or 350s is that I would need to have a third fraim rack to avoid going very tall, and thereā€™s a piano in the way. Which my wife wonā€™t contemplate disposal of (I did ask!). Havenā€™t worked out how tall I would have to go with two racks but I would never be able to reach the mains switches.

And I am quite happy with two boxes rather than seven. Full statement - the new downsizing*!

  • well box number reduction, sort of anyway :grimacing:
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I suggest that taking advantage of the Naim temporary offer of 25% off the retail price of the amps was influential Tim and can now be viewed as a very shrewd purchase. My compliments :beers:. Same amps bought now ( putting any Acoustica discount aside) would be around Ā£50k more than you paid. :see_no_evil:

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Thank you :wink:

Although I was very fortunate with timing, having had a couple of good business years. It will be a while before I can contemplate adding any Chord cables (or anything else) to maximise what I have

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Ditto Tim!

I had the 552/500 etc. Went for the S1 Pre when funds allowed. I could have been very happy with the 500 driving my 808ā€™s. I have heard the 808ā€™s active albeit on a Linn system. The dem I went to was to demonstrate the 808ā€™s in passive and then in active mode. Active was sublime, which just goes to show the ability of this speaker.
My wife has never stopped me and only ever been very supportive & encouraging in my pursuit of my audio passion. I didnā€™t want our lounge looking like a recording studio with racks and black boxes in abundance. We have a family and itā€™s still our homeā€¦nowā€¦if I was single that might be a different journey :wink::joy:.

The 808ā€™s on the ā€œbackā€ of the S1 amps sound sublime. My wife and I had one of ā€œthoseā€ music nights last night! Volume levels that I have never been to before. I thought the S1 amps were going to bring the house down! I have no frame of reference, suffice to say obviously I am happy as ā€œpig in pooā€!!
I am not into cars, artā€¦expensive jewellery etc etcā€¦I am into music I always have been and it soothes my soul and brings my blood pressure down to healthy levels after a week at work!

Kudos to ehā€¦ā€¦Kudos & Naim!

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Very nice written posting :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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@Cohen1263
Yes we have wonderfull systems and we can be happy with what we have.

Thinking about upgrades: LetĀ“s not forget the source/frontend signal at our level of gear!
Having heard a non Naim Phonostage (not available commercially, something even better based on what I heard will probably be available in a few months at about ā‚¬ 35.000,-) I was astonished how big the difference to the SCed and Chorded Superline was. This ultra quiet and powerful Phonostage overwhelmed me and showed what the Chorded S1/500dr is capable of and how important the signal reaching our Preamps obviously is.
@Charlie from this forum (running 500dr activated DBLs) heard it too, and maybe he will fancy a comment from his point of view.
And as you said: Happy listening!

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