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The Kudos i use are the C10's which are standmounters priced at £2200 plus stands, they are rear ported and are about twice the size of Kans but a bit smaller than Sara's.

In terms of performance relative to Kans/Sara's they do seem to allow substantially more musical detail to come through, in fact last month i tried them against a freind's SBL's and the Kudos again seemed to resolve an enormous amount of detail simply not present in the SBL's, something neither of us were expecting, in fact the SBL 's sounded tired all-round, so much so that he sold them shortly after and is ordering a pair of Kudos C10 or C20.

Kans offer less bass albeit just as tuneful, Sara's offer more bass and just as tuneful, however both are slightly coloured compared to the Kudos. Both Kans and Saras are designed to work against a wall whereas the Kudos really need to be a minimum of 2ft, preferably more, from a rear wall but seem far less affected by side walls. Soundstaging is far more real than either of the Linn speakers and the Kudos offers near holographic front to back imaging which is something i have never really cared about but this is not at the expense of PRAT which is first rate. They are just loads of fun to listen to and grab your attention from the off without any harshness, the more i listen to them the more i realise how much detail i was missing with other speakers which is i am sure down to the very expensive SEAS tweeter. In terms of efficiency they are easier to drive than Sara's which is no surprise, and probably on a par with Kans, in other words OK with a Nait but really show what they can do with the something like 202/200 or better.

Coming from years of Kan use i have always found it difficult to move on as many speakers offered more but in a far less interesting way. The Kudos somehow remind me of a real grown up Kan, stunning clarity, vivid soundstage, bigger sound, fast dynamic and beguiling at the same time, and real PRAT. If i had one criticism it could be a lack of deep bass, at least compared to the SBL's we tried, however in all other areas they are quite special.

Incidently the C20 Kudos floorstanders offer a more extended bass but to my ears at the expense of timing, however since first hearing them they are said to be tweaked in this area and as such i am about to re-visit them for a final conclusion.

Regards, Gary

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Originally posted by J.N.:
Can I be there for the unveiling?

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Originally posted by gary yeowell:
Hello Tony,

I would second James's recommendation to try the Kudos C10 or C20 especially looking at that lovely free space you have and considering they work really well away from rear walls.

My admiration for these speakers has as of yesterday taken a huge leap upwards (i already thought they were superb) since powering them with what i can only describe as the best bit of Naim kit i have ever bought, the 552 wow the C10's have doubled in size and speed, are even more engaging and detailed yet at the same time sound so much more relaxed. Combined with the 300 it makes one heck of a combo!

To make one more point, the 552 has just replaced a 252 and at the same time i downgraded my 555 head unit to a CDX2 whilst retaining the 555PS, and to top it off i got some FRAIM. This may seem strange however i can categorically say that the CDX2 based system simply blows away the one based on the 555/252. Not that the 555 is anything other than sublime, just that its full potential is obviously masked with the 252.

The reason i mention this is that you say how lacking in size and scale the SL2's were, and all i can say is that my diminutive Kudos Cardea's have doubled in size overnight just by adding a pre-amp and FRAIM, so money saved on the speakers (Kudos) could possibly be better spent elsewhere.

Regards, Gary.