KUDOS AUDIO FLAGSHIP TITAN RANGE COMPLETED BY 505 STANDMOUNTS

Posted on 3rd October, 2018
KUDOS AUDIO FLAGSHIP TITAN RANGE COMPLETED BY 505 STANDMOUNTS

County Durham-based Kudos Audio has now completed their flagship Titan loudspeaker range with the official introduction of their new Titan 505 standmount speakers.

Previewed at the 2018 Bristol Sound & Vision Show, the Titan 505 has been "designed to deliver stunning, top-of-range performance to a broader reach of spaces and budgets".

At the top end of the Titan series is the mighty 808. Launched in 2015, it is the undisputed king of the Kudos range and the result of significant investments in research, design and engineering. Since completing his top flight speakers, Designer Derek Gilligan was then keen to share the wealth of knowledge and experience gained through the 808's creation with a broader spectrum of music lovers. The results of this were two further floorstanding Titans in 2017: the 707 and 606. Both models feature trickle-down technology from the 808, adapted for these smaller and more affordable editions. Finally, the new Titan 505 standmount model takes that philosophy even further.

Kudos Titan 505

Interestingly, Gilligan started his career as a live sound engineer and so knows the importance of pleasing a crowd. He told StereoNET:

"You have to know how to make the whole crowd go wild, not just the guys in the front row."

However, these days he now translates that maxim into bringing the ‘go wild' feeling to a wider range of music lovers at home. He adds:

"Because having a smaller space and/or budget shouldn't mean you have to compromise on the sheer joy of your music."

All four members of the Titan family feature world-class drive units crafted exclusively for Kudos by renowned Norwegian specialists SEAS. In fact, all four share the same superb quality K3 tweeter - a unique SEAS-Kudos design. Based on SEAS' legendary 29mm Crescendo K2 fabric dome tweeter, the K3 has undergone significant further development to precisely tailor its capabilities for the Kudos Titans. Those enhanced features include an improved magnet system with copper shorting rings, an entirely new resonance chamber and a new face-plate profile. All of the tweaks are engineered to deliver an even sharper, more dynamic and musically detailed performance. The new speakers have a quoted frequency range of 40Hz – 30kHz AIRR (average in-room response) and 87 dB / @ 1 W / 1 m sensitivity.

Like the 707 and 606 floorstanders, the 505 is a two-way design. Its twin mid-bass drivers are brand new and entirely unique, featuring high quality double-coated hard paper cones to ensure superior stiffness while at the same time preserving the natural damping properties of paper.

kudos titan 505 isobaric

Furthermore, the 505 sports an isobaric arrangement in which the second mid-bass driver is carefully positioned internally back-to-back with the first. The result is significantly improved midrange clarity and bass response, as well as a reduction of bass distortion.

Kudos' trademark minimalist, low order crossover is, of course, a key feature, made possible by perfect matching of all drive units.

The Titan 505's cabinet may be more compact than that of its floorstanding stablemates, but its bodywork remains impressively involved. Here you'll find complex constrained layer damping in the side panels. The cabinet also incorporates the reflex port into the base panel in an adaptation of the Kudos fixed boundary design.

All four models in the Kudos' Titan series can be run either passively or actively. The crossovers are engineered such that they can be by-passed to enable active operation with selected systems including Linn Exakt and Devialet Expert, turning the loudspeaker into an intelligent, connected component and allowing a range of performance-enhancing and personalisation capabilities.

An optional, dedicated, seven pillar stand has been specially designed for use with the Titan 505. This high-performance stand allows six of the seven pillars to be filled with the listener's choice of material to dampen resonance and tune the speaker's performance to their individual taste and situation. The top plate incorporates constrained layer damping to reduce vibration, and the stand is bolted directly to the base of the Titan 505 for optimum results.

The Kudos team will be demonstrating the new Titan 505 at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October, and at Audio Show East and The Hi-Fi Show Live in November.

The Titan 505 standmount loudspeaker is available from Kudos specialist retailers from 17th September 2018, priced as follows (inc. VAT):

  • In Tineo / Red Tineo / Walnut / Satin White / Black Oak finish - £7,000
  • With dedicated stand - £7,750
  • Special order edition in White or Black Gloss Lacquer finish - £7,700
  • With dedicated stand - £8,450

For more information visit Kudos Audio.

Jay Garrett's avatar
Jay Garrett

StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.

Posted in: Hi-Fi

JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION

Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP

applause awards

Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.

Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.

The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.

We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.

Licensing Information

00006657