Just thinking, Kans
- Thread starter fay spook
- Start date
Hi Guys.
The good thing about KANS is that they are still a sensible price unlike the LS3/5as which are not really worth the typical second hand price they go for these days. It would be cheaper to get a pair of second hand KANs rather than try and reconstruct them from expensive LS3/5a reproduction componentry.
Like Gaius says KAN's are the ultimate marmite speaker. They will youll either blow you mind or make your ears bleed depending upon what you are looking for in a speaker. My KANs are keepers and I love them to bits but I couldnt use them as my only speaker. I have several pairs of speakers that I swap around and when I get sick of the KANs lively character I know I have an alternative speaker waiting in the wings.
LPSpinner.
The good thing about KANS is that they are still a sensible price unlike the LS3/5as which are not really worth the typical second hand price they go for these days. It would be cheaper to get a pair of second hand KANs rather than try and reconstruct them from expensive LS3/5a reproduction componentry.
Like Gaius says KAN's are the ultimate marmite speaker. They will youll either blow you mind or make your ears bleed depending upon what you are looking for in a speaker. My KANs are keepers and I love them to bits but I couldnt use them as my only speaker. I have several pairs of speakers that I swap around and when I get sick of the KANs lively character I know I have an alternative speaker waiting in the wings.
LPSpinner.
Hi ! I think it was Kef Sp1003 /8 ohm in early Kans.
The the Kef Sp1057 was introduced in 1985.
Bass Unit: Change to new long throw low frequency driver Kef B110B. May 1985
Connections: Changed from binding posts to the new style 4mm sockets. Feb 1985
Tweeters: Change to Hiquphone tweeters, which gave a flatter response. Having the Linn logo printed on the front plate, along with "LINN PRODUCTS" identifies these. The plate also has 2 concentric circles printed on it. May 1984 24077
Cabinets: Changed to Medite cabinet and began doping the B110 with some sticky black mastic for damping purposes. 1982
Introduction: Scanspeak tweeter. Original unmodified KEF B110 bass drivers. Cabinet essentially made of chipboard. The speaker used 4mm binding posts. Pre 1982
The the Kef Sp1057 was introduced in 1985.
Bass Unit: Change to new long throw low frequency driver Kef B110B. May 1985
Connections: Changed from binding posts to the new style 4mm sockets. Feb 1985
Tweeters: Change to Hiquphone tweeters, which gave a flatter response. Having the Linn logo printed on the front plate, along with "LINN PRODUCTS" identifies these. The plate also has 2 concentric circles printed on it. May 1984 24077
Cabinets: Changed to Medite cabinet and began doping the B110 with some sticky black mastic for damping purposes. 1982
Introduction: Scanspeak tweeter. Original unmodified KEF B110 bass drivers. Cabinet essentially made of chipboard. The speaker used 4mm binding posts. Pre 1982
Ls3/5 is still a world class small speaker with lot's of "magic" and lovely tone in the right context. It will always retain it's value . Kans? I don't know what they are useful for , maybe kitchen background music or some sort of bedroom system because they look so pretty but maybe not since they have irritating tilted up scratchy sound and nobody wants that in bedroom. waste of time IMHO. And before you all , Kan's lovers jump on me I did have pristine , very pretty pair of Kans 1 hooked up to Exposure XVII pre XVIII and super VIII amps and LP12 source in very small bedroom. Spendor LS3/5 15 Ohm and Proac 1S killed them instantly not to mention Snell K which obviously is quite a bit bigger so no fair comparison. My conclusion is that Kans are not even worth half of their going price but LS3/5 is worth every penny and more.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
As usual, Linn Kans divide opinion. Not my kind of speaker either, but as I have said many times before 'each to his own...'
Well , I agree. I might have been little too opinionated regarding Kans since so many people love them. Maybe because when I got mine, I thought they were the prettiest little buggers I had in home . I really wanted to like them and had pretty high expectation since I could not afford to keep either Spendor LS 3/5 nor Proac 1s and those Kans were so highly regarded. At the end the Kans went first followed by the others. After brief affair with Neat Motive 3 -not bad but not quite 3/5 or 1S . Very nice focal tweeter (maybe slightly too prominent and glossy ) but $8 Peerless woofer in $1.2k pair of small speakers? Admittedly very good build quality and attention to details. Anyway ,Snell K is whats left .
L
I was lucky, my almost mint condition MK1 KANS use the B110 SP1003, Scanspeak D2008 drivers and have the later in house MDF cabinets rather than the older particle board cabinets ...
LPSPinner
Dear All,
Out of all the Kef B 110 and T 27 variants I have always believed that the best by a very large margin was the KEF R 101. They were truly magnificent.
The KANS were most definitely Marmite. Love them or Hate them. I am definitely in the Hate with a passion camp.
But the R 101 is a wonderful loudspeaker, beautifully built with specially selected drivers and a very high quality x over.
Do try and listen to a pair before going down the KAN route
David
Out of all the Kef B 110 and T 27 variants I have always believed that the best by a very large margin was the KEF R 101. They were truly magnificent.
The KANS were most definitely Marmite. Love them or Hate them. I am definitely in the Hate with a passion camp.
But the R 101 is a wonderful loudspeaker, beautifully built with specially selected drivers and a very high quality x over.
Do try and listen to a pair before going down the KAN route
David
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
Yes, I am surprised the 101 doesn't have a bigger following. The LS3/5a has been put in a strange position, mainly by one Ken Kessler in HFN. I have never seen another audio product given almost mythical status.
The 'Obsessive Collectors' talk endlessly about subtle differences in the sound if it has a gold badge of a silver one. They appear to be totally taken in by the hype built up by Kessler and others, some trading on the status the '3/5a has achieved.
I don't suppose Falcon Acoustics would have gone to all the effort if it hadn't been for the way the little BBC speaker is seen by its admirers.
At least the Linn Kan isn't in a similar camp as it does appear to divide opinion.
Yes, I am surprised the 101 doesn't have a bigger following. The LS3/5a has been put in a strange position, mainly by one Ken Kessler in HFN. I have never seen another audio product given almost mythical status.
The 'Obsessive Collectors' talk endlessly about subtle differences in the sound if it has a gold badge of a silver one. They appear to be totally taken in by the hype built up by Kessler and others, some trading on the status the '3/5a has achieved.
I don't suppose Falcon Acoustics would have gone to all the effort if it hadn't been for the way the little BBC speaker is seen by its admirers.
At least the Linn Kan isn't in a similar camp as it does appear to divide opinion.
Potential of good classic products is well recognized. Thanks to a scarcity and general mediocrity of newer products caused by rather barbaric taste and expectation of modern customers, corrupted press and deprived manufacturers not to mention quality of music no wonder that prices goes up. If I had the money I wouldn't have a slightest problem keeping LS 3/5 .It's the best small monitor I heard to date -no Proac , No Sonus faber , No Neat ,no Harbeth, no Totem 1 ,or any other crapola in this size. I don't see the hype. LS 3/5 comfortably equals or betters competition in its selling price unlike Kan which is easily bettered by mostly anything and it only sells because people assume it must have some 3/5 virtues by the look of it , which has none - so where's the problem?
Anyway , since most LS 3/5 and Tannoys and Spendors and Garrards and other legends of UK Hi-fi must be still there what a nice situation you are in guys -get rich selling to those Asian collectors.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
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Yes, I am surprised the 101 doesn't have a bigger following. The LS3/5a has been put in a strange position, mainly by one Ken Kessler in HFN. I have never seen another audio product given almost mythical status.
The 'Obsessive Collectors' talk endlessly about subtle differences in the sound if it has a gold badge of a silver one. They appear to be totally taken in by the hype built up by Kessler and others, some trading on the status the '3/5a has achieved.
I don't suppose Falcon Acoustics would have gone to all the effort if it hadn't been for the way the little BBC speaker is seen by its admirers.
At least the Linn Kan isn't in a similar camp as it does appear to divide opinion.
Potential of good classic products is well recognized. Thanks to a scarcity and general mediocrity of newer products caused by rather barbaric taste and expectation of modern customers, corrupted press and deprived manufacturers not to mention quality of music no wonder that prices goes up. If I had the money I wouldn't have a slightest problem keeping LS 3/5 .It's the best small monitor I heard to date -no Proac , No Sonus faber , No Neat ,no Harbeth, no Totem 1 ,or any other crapola in this size. I don't see the hype. LS 3/5 comfortably equals or betters competition in its selling price unlike Kan which is easily bettered by mostly anything and it only sells because people assume it must have some 3/5 virtues by the look of it , which has none - so where's the problem?
Anyway , since most LS 3/5 and Tannoys and Spendors and Garrards and other legends of UK Hi-fi must be still there what a nice situation you are in guys -get rich selling to those Asian collectors.
You are correct re. some modern products, but not all. Harbeth's speakers follow BBC tradition and I feel the small P3 model is a better loudspeaker than the LS3/5a. You prefer the '3/5a. Each to his own.
The Collectors, who have multiple pairs, are the ones I think are odd. That may be a Far Eastern culture of collecting. We all collect things.
As you say, it's good for those owners of old Chartwell or Rogers LS3/5as who can almost name their price.
It has now come to re-manufacture, with the Chinese making LS3/5a copies to cash in on the market.
I find it all rather odd with overseas LS35a discussion groups endlessly discussing differences between makes of '3/5a, the badges, terminals, grille cloth, etc. I thought loudspeakers were about music. I don't discuss how Harbeth have put together their speakers, just use them.
As this thread is really about Linn Kans, perhaps we ought to stop there. Let the owners enjoy their music through them. After all, that is what it's all about...
You're absolutely right Sire!
I have to give it to Kans that the pair I had looked absolutely adorable and I should have kept it just for the looks alone. A yes , it was the MK1 version with Proac tweeter .
Back to origin of the thread -making clones is rarely a cost effective measure (don't ask how I know) If saving money is a main factor it's decisively better to look for a deal -they do happen. Usually clones are not as good as original speakers (but not always ) and one is married to them for life or accept very little reimbursement for all the work-most of the time it's hard to give it away for free. BUT if one looks past the savings it's all good fun and offers tons of non monetary rewards.
For the lovers of planar speakers with small room desktop Magnepans with dedicated subwoofer pannels are quite convincing . Whenever I visit my friendly dealer he turns on his mini-system on the desk with Arcam solo and Magnepans -not quite a British sound but not bad at all, and I'm not a planar speaker fan.
PS It's a mix of Far Eastern culture of collecting habits , horde behavior and traditional respect for OLD.