What is this exactly?
Naim pulled the plug on the Snaxo active crossover for Kudos speakers. So Kudos decided to design their own. The interesting design aspect is unlike the Snaxo it has no power supply, just sits between pre and power amps.
Judging by some of the design aspects mentioned in the Kudos blog, its well thought out and unlikely to be cheap.
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A passive crossover with a very clever design. The result of this is that it doesnât need mains power.
If it sounds great itâs a no brainier for me Gazza as my Superline needs my Supercap back which is currently loaned to the Snaxo 3/6. Price to be revealed tomorrow but itâs thought to be @ ÂŁ6k 
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It in some ways should not sound as goodâŚâŚ.but i have a funny feeling it may sound better for some systems/people letting more detail through. Hope it works out for youâŚâŚ6k sounds about right.
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âŚby using an ex-Naim engineer. Makes sense.
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Agreed. All reports have been extremely positive. What might be interesting for 552 owners is how will say active 500âs/350âs and Kudos speakers with the new crossover compare to S1/500 or 350âs passive. I know that it breaks the rules of the upgrading hierarchy but the active upgrade I did recently compared well to the pre upgrade. Maybe without the S1 it wouldnât have been so profound 
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I think my dealer still has a 362 lurking in a cupboard, so i hope we have an interesting demo doing a comparison. Derek would also have a 362 for testing, so Sigao unlikely to be worseâŚâŚmaybe different?
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Iâve heard from a reliable semi neutral source that itâs a lot better. The cables needed are a pain as for almost everyone it will mean re terminations or new cables. I asked kudos if DIN connections were an option. No was the answer. I will post a pic of its back panel.
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I just glanced at when i saw itâŚâŚ.see what you mean, an odd choice.
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Derek G said that itâs a crossover aimed at Linn amplifier users etc also hence the phonoâs to keep it universal 
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Thatâs a passive crossover then. Just happens to be sitting before the power amps instead of after them attached to speakers. Would be interesting to see if it was any different from the one actually in the passive Kudos speakers just put in a box.
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We canât use three/six power amps to drive 808âs passive using the speakerâs internal crossover.
Itâs rather different to a regular passive crossover. Derek tried to explain it a bit to me but I confess Iâm still not sure I understand exactly how it works. However, the fact that Roy was involved in the design is very encouraging, and it did sound like a rather novel and clever solution.
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Iâm not saying itâs not good. Iâm saying itâs a passive crossover. Thatâs all. Unless it runs on batteries.
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Agreed, I was also wondering where the power cord needs to plug in ⌠I cannot conclude anything else than that this unit getting its power from the music signal ⌠a passive crossover
Kudos were showing and demonstrating this in prototype form at the 2024 Bristol show and I included it in part 2 of my show report on Soundstage Global. The intriguing bit for me (apart from the unusual lack of mains power) is the fact that they are offering plug in DIN modules to enable the crossover to be matched to almost any amplifier. This unusually wide applicability is a real strength I think.
JonathanG
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It doesnât need the power handling of the crossover in the speakers does it? So it certainly wouldnât need large (expensive) components. Do you mean the same circuit design? Or literally the same x-over?
I recently when to a Kudos demo of this at Cultured Audio in Witney.
They played some tracks into the T808s without it connected. Then played the same tracks with it connected.
Big noticeable improvement; more control and clarity, bigger soundstage, better decay, bass was tidied up.
Some of the things I like about it;
- Adjustable for any Kudos loudspeaker
- As its passive and doesnât need a power supply could make it easier to fit into some systems
Wish them al the best with it.
DGâŚ
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