For Whom
Contents
We’re guessing that anyone who chooses a Kudos Cardea Super A speaker would like to go the active route after a while in order to get the most out of these speakers. There is no rush to upgrade but we can imagine that this will eventually be the goal. The Cardea Super 10A is also a speaker for those who want to hear everything. For better or for worse. We think this speaker will do best in a somewhat smaller room and with a refined, mild (tube?) amplifier.
Compare
Our Revel Performa M126BE monitors are particularly neutral reproducers and that is also necessary to review gear in a decent way. Neutral is of course at the same time a comprehensive and meaningless concept but still the reader knows what is meant.
Very briefly, on one side (left) you have fresh, analytical speakers and on the other side (right) rather warm, rounder sounding speakers. So for testing we are looking for something in the middle. The Revels sound homogeneous, coherent and balanced. In other words, they don’t emphasize anything. Some visitors even find them somewhat distant but we ourselves do not experience this. We are purists at Alpha Audio and want the music to shine. Not the equipment So we position the Kudos Super 10A very slightly to the left.
It’s a bit more detailed than the M126BE and therefore a bit more insightful. But on lesser recordings and in our lively room, the highs can sometimes be a bit too ‘present’ or emphasized.
At this level, of course, the quality of the recordings becomes increasingly important and especially with classical music, jazz and vocals it is enjoyable with this speaker.
The stereo image of the Super 10A is wider than the M126BE, an absolute asset of this speaker as well as the wide sweet spot. The low end is slightly better defined on the M126BE and also goes a bit deeper. Both speakers are very dynamic and rhythmic with an even slightly more nimble Kudos. Both speakers are very much matched and choosing between them is mostly a matter of taste