advertisement


Mark I Kans + Uniti Nova = I fried my woofers and/or xover?

J

jsw4195

pfm Member
Hi All

Bit of a rough home audition last night here in the states...

I've got a low serial # pair of mk 1 kans (039xx) that I've had for 25+ years, almost all of which have been in the same spot on Kan II stands hooked up to an olive Nait 2. No issues.

Last night I hooked up a naim uniti nova on home demo, got things playing, enjoyed a few hours of music and went to bed. I hit the off button on the nova but it stayed plugged in.

A few hours later about 1am I get woken by a horrible noise in the living room, source of noise being speakers... pulled the plug on the nova. Put the Nait 2 back in - now getting sound from tweeters only.

Thoughts on what happened/how to proceed?

I do in fact have a second pair of low serial # Kans, working but in worse cosmetic shape than this pair. Will use the backups for time being (with Nait!), but have mulled having someone take the good bits and put them in the prettier boxes. I think it's likely beyond my skill set. Not sure the cost/hassle is warranted.

I have another system with Klipsch La Scalas (new spec AL-5 model). Would love to try the Nova with them but under circumstances I think perhaps best leave well enough alone, or just use pre outs to try the streamer/dac.

fwiw I've owned a lot of naim gear over the years, used bigger naim amps with this set of kans, never an issue, nova seems brilliant tbh.

thanks in advance for any help, glad as always to be able to turn here!

j
 
Ouch - I feel your pain! I lost a Kan bass driver due to an amp malfunction years ago, but fortunately in those days new drivers were readily available.

Kans do loud bass at 50Hz, just not for very long!

Kans in any condition are worth something to somebody, and if you like them they're worth fixing. Being earlier actually helps you if the drivers precede any of the Linn "treatments".

Bass drives usually fail before XO's but you'll need to get them apart to find out. When you do it's well worth servicing the XO's with new Caps and possibly resistors (+any inductor that's let go).

Your biggest problem is going to be sourcing the bass drivers cost effectively.
 
Really sorry about the damage to your Kans, it's such a shame.

No idea what has gone wrong but I hope you find out. And if it turns out to be a fault in the Naim unit I hope they look after you. Naim have always had a great reputation for service and back up.

Rather than cannibalize your other Kans, I'd buy new drivers for the damaged ones. Changing them shouldn't be that difficult and if you're handy it'll be a DIY job. We can keep you right.

Hope you get this sorted out.
 
Very useful thus far, much appreciated re advice.

Going to investigate options for repair/refresh of the damaged Kans, hold off the cannibalization of my ugly duckling pair for now:) I MIGHT attempt myself, but I suspect I'll pass this off to others.

thank you thank you
 
SUPER helpful thank you all!

Currently listening to my backup pair - serial #s 3,911 and 3,912 , so ever so slightly younger than the damaged pair (3,933 and 3,934).

Would love to not have to sacrifice a pair, if that kef replacement set is a-ok I think that's my path. And have the XO's looked at. I've pretty much decided I don't want to attempt myself.

Is grill coth easily sourced? My backup pair has a teeny tiny hole in one speaker, inclined to tackle that myself - someone pried the grilles off and they could use a little cosmetic work (whereas the pair w blown woofers look fantastic).

Going to do some asking around re speaker repair options in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Speaker Exchange in Florida has come up, given how small these guys are I'm not too bothered with shipping if it's the right place...

I'm realizing I really don't want to be without a pair of Kans...
 
It's been a while since I replaced some tweeters in Kans II.... But getting the grill off was a nightmare... I nearly destroyed them. If the front baffle has to come off then I'm cringing with fear from accross the pond... It's not something I want to see done.

Falcon acoustics are good to call about replacement drivers... You should do both.

Good luck.
 
Charlie_1 said:
Based on that serial, you'll need the KEF B110B (SP1057) as found in later Kan 1s and the Kan 2 but as alluded to earlier Linn made a few modifications. Ideally, you need to find a damaged donor pair cheap.

According to the service manual Linn changed to the newer drive units at serial 33,005:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/524289/Linn-Loudspeakers.html?page=52#manual
Click to expand...

From the OP, the serial number is 039xx not 39xxx so he will need a B110A (SP1003) rather than B110B
 
Thank you for catching that re serial # confusion! Yes these Kans are very low serial #.

I'm going to reach out to Falcon. I'm also going to reach out to one of the longtime USA Linn dealers whom I hold in the highest regard (Rick @ Audio Alternative in Colorado if anyone's in need!).

And meantime - I think the semi-knackered pair actually sounds better than my prettier damaged ones! So if this takes a while I'm ok...
 
I'd buy new drivers, even if they were the wrong code, rather than fit really old used ones. I don't think the drivers in the Kan changed that much and I'm not convinced the later ones were better.
 
I don't believe Kans were ever made in USA - I could be wrong on that. There was a US distributor in the 80s whose name is on label - Audiophile Systems Ltd - but as far as I know all Linn products of this era were Scotland made.

I'm thinking along Mr Pig's lines - get new drivers, even if not totally kosher - and nice thing is I have the backup pair for reasonable comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top