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Are Linn Kans and LS3/5As similar?

Martyn Miles said:
So what kind of system ?
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Not surprisingly, they work well on the end of Naim amps and as Tony said, the room is important. Downstairs, my active Kans are set up in a through lounge, with the equipment in what would have been the dining room, with the speakers either side of the archway on MK II stands. The amp set up is an Avondale driven 102/Avondale driven Naxo/Nap 250/Zap 250, Sources are CDS/CDPS/Nakamichi /Aries Mini + Linear PSU, with the choice of Michell Hydraulic Reference/Aro/ Troika or Lenco 88/Zeta/ DV20XL or Garrard 401/Aro/XX2MkII/Avondale powered Naim prefix.

Upstairs, the passive MkIs are mounted on Sound Organisation wall brackets and are driven by a Nac42/Avondale modified Hi-Cap and a homemade amp based around an old Nap 120 with 250 boards and an Avondale Nap110 power supply module. Sources are Nakamichi and an LP12/Kore/Lingo/Audiomods Classic/metal bodied Denon 103 with digital stuff handled by Toshiba laptop/HiFace Two/linear powered Maplin DAC.

Of course, most of the above will be hated too, but never mind ! The point is though, these are sympathetic systems in well matched rooms in near field conditions.I used to hate Kans when they were driven by whatever flavour of the month integrated amp and mid-price turntable/Linn K9
 
So Kans are much more system dependant than most speakers.
I recall Martin Colloms saying they sounded best on a record playing system.
Presumably a Linn LP12 and a Naim amplifier...

In my experience LS3/5as are the complete opposite and work well in a variety of systems.
In my opinion that re-inforces the original question.
Linn Kans and LS3/5as are NOT similar.
 
Martyn Miles said:
So Kans are much more system dependant than most speakers. Linn Kans and LS3/5as are NOT similar.
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Yes Martyn, you've got it on the nail and of course, it's fine for different folks to like different things too, oh and an LP12 isn't a prerequisite either.
 
Martyn Miles said:
So Kans are much more system dependant than most speakers.
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Yes, very system and location dependent. They have a totally different EQ to LS3/5As with no attempt to tame the B110’s spikes and resonances, plus they have no bass lift and absolutely rely on wall-proximity placement. If they are not hard up against a solid brick wall they have no bass at all. They have none of the upper bass ‘bump’ of the LS3/5A nor the clean extension of the JR149, both of which have rather more complex crossovers (substantially so in the case of the 3/5A).

They were very much marketed as a small speaker for the then very warm pre-Cirkus LP12 and also quite warm early chrome bumper Naim amps. Move too far from this original context and they start to sound decidedly odd IMHO.
 
Tony L said:
Yes, but “stunning” compared to what? I notice that you have, like me, entirely abandoned the ‘flat earth’ loudspeaker presentation for something far more neutral and accurate.
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I’d likely still have my Kans had I not sold them to purchase old Quads back in 1986. I did listen to Diamonds, Kans, Saras and Isobariks for a few years on a daily basis while having the Quads at home. All did fine with a wide variety of music. The Tukans, ATC’s and studio Tannoy’s later purchased do as well.

I now have Quad ESL-57’s, ATC SCM-7 and Tannoy DMT-15’s playing in different rooms from the same source and they all sound stunning. Probably something to do with the source.
 
Craig B said:
Hang on a minute; another thread on here concerning a Goodmans PA/instrument speaker pair got me to thinking that the Kan, mk1 especially, sounds very much like a small instrument speaker but with a tweeter bolted on.

And now that I think about that more, the Sara used to remind me of same. Back in the mid to late 60s, my best mate and I often ran his parents all-in-one stereo system through his 1962 Fender Twin via headphone out. Those memories came flooding back to me the first time I heard Saras on the end of Naim, except that the old Fender sounded far more natural.

IIRC, there used to be a fellow on here (and/or on the Naim forum) from Detroit MI, named Ron, who used a Kan as bass guitar practice speaker and loved it.
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Enjoyed his music related posts. Playing some David Lindley in memory of his recommendation.

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I've never heard Kans so it would be helpful to see a Kan and LS3/5A frequency response graph to compare the two.

Tony L's description of Kans actually reminds me of an extremely rare pair of prototype mini monitors I own that were assembled by John Hayes (founder of IMF) not long before the company dissolved. It uses a SP1032 T27 and SP1003 'white-belly' B110 in an IMF MCR2A cabinet and what I believe is the most simplest of first order crossovers with an ALCAP and inductor. All logic suggests it shouldn't work but those little monitors are amongst the most ruthlessly revealing loudspeakers I have ever heard. They of course have VERY little low end as the crossover makes no correction for this, but the articulation of the mids and highs is quite something. It's been a few years since I've listened to them so I'll need to dig them out of the cupboard and see if they're as remarkable as I remember.
 
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Ugly Tuco said:
The good one Linn Kan Mk II
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Well, there's this, gleaned from another forum...

"The best way to get the grill off is a paint scraper or other big flat blade. Push a piece of thick card in the gap, to protect the wood, then the paint scraper. Just gently prize the grill up. The trick is to do it very slowly. It should lift without damaging the cabinet at all. "

...though there are those who would advocate a large hammer and a chisel. :p
 
The official Linn method is to grab the grill frame right through the cloth and pull it off. You'll likely need to re-upholster them if using this method though.

Do note that the grills are glued on via blobs of what appears to be what we used to call packaging adhesive. This was also dolloped onto the back of the tweeter housings where the leads connect to the terminals. Nasty stuff that will have the black paint off the front baffles, no matter what method is used.
 
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