Klångedang T1 - sensational loudspeakers!

We use the Tune Method to evaluate performance

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Klångedang T1 - sensational loudspeakers!

Post by lejonklou »

To my surprise, a really big parcel arrived today.

Strange, I thought, scratching the back of my head. I haven't ordered anything, have I? Not recently, anyway.

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Last edited by lejonklou on 2013-04-21 00:37, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Erik »

Lucky you!
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Post by Music Lover »

Terminator 1 arrived, finally!!
It's all about musical understanding!
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Post by Rufus McDufus »

Fredrik - how are they sounding?
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Post by lejonklou »

The stands feel like an upgraded version of Linn's old "duck feet" for Index II/Helix/Nexus. Four rods instead of two and metalwork is much more sturdy. Felt strips damp the rods and 5.5 kg of sand is poured in. Foot at the bottom is solid black ash, like the speakers.

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Post by lejonklou »

The passive filters come in two boxes that should be positioned close to the power amplifiers. They are of the quite unusual serial type, where the drive units are not separated, as in a standard parallel filter. Instead they are affecting one another.

A peek inside:

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Post by Efraim roots »

They seem to look very nice all black! Congratulations! But you still have that gold tweeter dome, maybe it looks really cool, 80's deluxe :-)
the players of instruments shall be there..
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Post by matthias »

lejonklou wrote:They are of the quite unusual serial type, where the drive units are not separated, as in a standard parallel filter. Instead they are affecting one another.
A serial filter has both a flat amplitude response and a flat phase response. It will pass a square wave without distorting the shape of the waveform. I would like to listen to LINN speakers with a serial filter type.

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Post by lejonklou »

matthias wrote:A serial filter has both a flat amplitude response and a flat phase response. It will pass a square wave without distorting the shape of the waveform. I would like to listen to LINN speakers with a serial filter type.
I am not a speaker designer, but what you're saying is incorrect. Serial filters have their pro's and con's, like all filter types.

I will soon post a review of the Klångedang T1's. I just want to let them play a little more - there is significant burn in on these speakers!
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Post by lejonklou »

Review part one. My Klångedang T1's have been playing for five days.

Background: During the last 20 years, I've listened to many different loudspeakers and seriously evaluated quite a few. The only ones that have stayed for long in living room, however, have been models from Linn. The reason for sticking with Linn has been that they've been the best at making me enjoy music. Not just listening to favourite albums, but also discovering new genres. I've been impressed by some aspects of other brands (such as the microdynamics of Quad electrostatic's), but as a whole, I've always felt Linn have had the edge and been the most enjoyable.

The last two speakers in my living room have been Majik 109 (magnificent allround speakers with an incredible value for money) and Akurate 212. The 212's are very detailed and accurate reproducers, clearly superior to the 109's. They are also more demanding of the system and installation. To really shine and delight, they need a great signal and very careful positioning. The 212's have been great for my work with electronics. When I needed five comparisons with 109 - for example make sure that component A is better than B - it's been enough with one comparison using 212. They are simply more accurate and less forgiving.

Enter Klångedang T1. It's a small two way speaker with a cabinet made of solid wood (mine is black ash). Not veneered fibreboards - solid wood. This is very unusual. Stands are of metal, filled with sand and with a foot of solid wood. Heavy and damped - this type of construction has never worked for me with any Linn speaker. Passive filters are of a serial type, housed in their own plastic enclosures. Again, very unusual.

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An album I just rediscovered is The Magic Numbers 'Those the Brokes'. This was one of the first albums I played after connecting the T1's in my living room. I thought "What a gem! How playful and emotional, how could I have forgotten it?". I just heard it again, from start to finish, on Akurate 212 and on Klångedang T1. Both driven by Tundra Mono's.

Akurate 212 have an impressive clarity and precision. They sound dry and exact, I can hear every click and every ting and every rattle of a string. They're also a bit harsh in the mids (something I find that all 3K arrays are, on the 242 and 350 models as well), on some very specific frequencies. The first song on 'Those the Brokes' is 'This is a Song', and it starts with some rather annoying bell-like sounds that hit just that harsh spot in the mid of the 3K arrays. These sounds are probably meant to be nasty - and they sound nasty on all speakers and on all headphones that I've tried - but they do hit exactly in that weak spot of the 3K array. As the song continues, the 212 are impressive. Tight, controlled and fun. They sound very polished and precise. It's easy to get lost in listening to all the sounds.

Klångedang T1 sound very different from 212. Less damped, less dry and not as many details. Also less bright. But more importantly, they have a very different way of presenting the music. It's not straight, tone-by-tone separated and analytical, like the 212. It's somehow soft and organic, as if all sounds were fused into one stream of music, filling the room. First I think 'This sounds odd', but soon I realise: Everything fits together! The album makes a new kind of sense and I repeatedly go 'Aha!'. And this happens again and again, with every song. First: Hm, odd... Then: What a great song!

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For instance: In the refrain of the first song I mentioned above, the band is singing This is a song. And these are the words. When they do this, the bass guitar is playing a melody. And then a hihat is added, and then they sing in harmony. On the 212, I can hear all of that. But there's no Wow, no interplay that builds up a momentum. It's not bad, but it doesn't excite me either. With T1, there is better interplay, there is tension, a momentum building up and the song ends in a climax. I realise these guys are much better than I thought!

So, in summary: Klångedang T1 are not as polished and detailed in a HiFi sense as the best loudspeakers out there. Musically, they are among the best I have ever heard. They just pull me in and I can't stop listening. Incredible!
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Post by Charlie1 »

Nice report Fredrik. Glad you're enjoying your purchase. Would love to hear them myself, especially against some Linn speakers. They look about the size of Kan's next to your 212s.
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Post by Rufus McDufus »

Interesting comments on 212s - pretty much exactly how think of them! I never felt an emotional contact with mine despite them being, well, accurate.
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Post by lejonklou »

Charlie1 wrote:Nice report Fredrik. Glad you're enjoying your purchase. Would love to hear them myself, especially against some Linn speakers. They look about the size of Kan's next to your 212s.
Thanks Charlie!

They are not as small as Kan, they're certainly deeper. And one can't place them as close to the wall, I reckon the T1's need about the same distance as 109's (between 10 and 25 cm).

I haven't figured out the best position for them yet and I haven't used a torque tool on the drive units. Still I don't hesitate to say that they're better than Akurate 212 and Akurate 242. In my mind, that's a remarkable feat!
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Post by lejonklou »

Rufus McDufus wrote:Interesting comments on 212s - pretty much exactly how think of them! I never felt an emotional contact with mine despite them being, well, accurate.
You must have missed all the praise I gave them! I think the 212's are fantastic speakers, very communicative and emotional.

But it should also be noted that whenever one of my kids (I presume!) have altered their position (presumably by lying on the floor and kicking the stands, which slide quite easily on the Skeets), I've instantly felt "Something is Wrong!" when I later put on some music. And when I check the distance, they're a half cm off. This messes up the performance of 212's much more than it does with the 109's.

This kind of sensitivity to positioning is something I find that all really good speakers have. I'm curious to find out if it applies to Klångedang T1 as well.
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Post by Rufus McDufus »

I didn't phrase that very well ...

"Interesting comments on 212s - pretty much exactly how think of them!"

should be quite seperate from "I never felt an emotional contact with mine despite them being, well, accurate." and not leading on from it.

From your comments this is what I was agreeing with:

"Akurate 212 have an impressive clarity and precision. They sound dry and exact, I can hear every click and every ting and every rattle of a string. They're also a bit harsh in the mids (something I find that all 3K arrays are, on the 242 and 350 models as well), on some very specific frequencies. "

That slight harshness did irritate me a little personally.

I've got to add a big caveat here - when I had my 212s I had to have them on shelves (well they are 'bookshelf' speakers aren't they ?!). I did quickly realise they were fairly hopeless positioned like this and with very little scope for adjustment. I did play a bit with torques and this made a large difference, much greater than I would have expected.
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Post by Ozzzy189 »

Do the t1's use hiquophon tweeters? how are much are those things?
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Post by fredrik »

I promised myself never to use a loudspeker which requires speker cables and filters again. But the praise for T1 makes me want to listen to a pair.
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Post by lejonklou »

Ozzzy189 wrote:Do the t1's use hiquophon tweeters? how are much are those things?
Yes, Hiquphon.

Don't know how much they cost, but a pair of T1's are around £2000. Complete with stands and filters around £3000.
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Post by lejonklou »

fredrik wrote:I promised myself never to use a loudspeker which requires speker cables and filters again. But the praise for T1 makes me want to listen to a pair.
Ha! That's a daring promise! What did you have last time that made you feel "enough!"?

The T1's are so different I feel perplexed. They bring out melodies and emotions from recordings in a way I have never heard before! I will soon write a review part 2.
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Post by Ozzzy189 »

I thought so, seeing as your tundra sounds so fantastic with my Ninkas, maybe the ow1 hiquphon should find its way into my Ninks!
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Post by Ozzzy189 »

I look forward to your further report.
I myself am currently putting something together regarding some swedish power amplifier with an intriguing name ;-)
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Post by mrco99 »

Hi Fredrik,

Nice to read your enthousiastic report.
Could you post some picures of T1 incl. stands?
And what is the height of the stand itself, and/or what is the listening height?

I like your description about the T1's ability to present music in a less analytical but more musical way. Very curious what that may sound like.
Also that they seem to be less fiddly in microscopic setup and positioning.

Are they also able to fill the room with music, as that is my reservation with most bookstand loudspeakers, many times they are great for listening music but only when you sit exactly in between them on a couch.

Looking forward to report no.2

Cheers,

Marco
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Klångedang T1

Post by magnuska »

Hi Fredrik! Congrats to having received your pair.

Mine has now been running almost 5 month and they are still the early version. ( For people don`t know about them , yes they are upgradeable)

They are very addictive, its hard to stop listening. Suits every style of music you throw in to them. My 9 -year old daughter won`t listen to her own stereo, no it must be on my, wonder why .. smile.

Just received a new pre and power amp from Teddy Pardo. Seems to be a very good match. http://teddypardo.com/Products/Amplifie ... fiers.html

Fredrik- the external filter takes quite a while to "burn in" properly. Give it 3-4 weeks to settle in.

Regards Magnus
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Post by mrco99 »

Hi Fredrik,

Did you already get to giving us an updated impression of the T1 speakers?
Or are they still progressing and need more hours to fully run in.

Can also be you´re so drawn into the music you simply forget to do anything else...

;-)

Cheers,

Marco
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Post by lejonklou »

Hi Marco!

Review part two coming soon!

I haven't had time to switch back to the 212's yet. I need that as a reality check.
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