Some time ago, on a whim, I wanted to find a pair of classic studio monitor speakers - Yamaha's old white basin NS-10M, but everyone knows that this pair of speakers has been discontinued for many years, replaced by an active version. In fact, now most of the studio monitoring system is already active, and in the active speaker are using electronic crossover design, after the signal is sent into the speaker, that is, the electronic crossover line is divided into high frequency, low frequency two signals for processing, and the two signals are sent to their respective power amplifiers to promote the corresponding speakers, so the power amplifier output signal can be sent directly to the speaker unit, without the need for the attenuation of the divider like the traditional speaker (the traditional crossover consumes 30%-40% of the power), As a result, the efficiency is greatly improved.
The author suddenly thought, since electronic crossover has so many benefits, is there a way for traditional speakers to skip the included crossover to play electronic crossover? Of course, for enthusiasts with a certain technical foundation, this is completely difficult to do. But for the average user, this is very difficult. But the protagonist of this article has designed an extremely clever power strip that allows users to easily switch between traditional crossover and electronic crossover! This is the Kudos Audio Titan 808 flagship speaker from the UK.
Experienced and strive for excellence
Mr. Derek Gilligan, the head of Kudos Audio in the United Kingdom, was born into a family of audiophiles, sound box makers and professional musicians, and worked as a live sound engineer. Because Derek Gilligan has accumulated many years of experience in live tuning and recording, he has a unique set of insights on how to use various technologies to create excellent high-quality speaker products.
Recalling his years as a live sound engineer, Derek Gilligan found that the sensations that sound produces when it enters the brain through the ear can never accurately record these changes, even with the most sophisticated measuring instruments available. Under normal circumstances, the sound engineer will set it up in advance according to the requirements of the musician, and during the concert, it will also make corresponding adjustments according to the number of guests in the seat and the atmospheric response at different times, and to record these subtle changes, the measuring instrument is simply powerless, only the human ear is more trustworthy. Therefore, it also proves why sometimes the test data of those amazing audio products is not necessarily the best. However, in the view of Mr. Derek Gilligan, this is not a serious problem, after all, the specification figures announced by the factory are only the performance of 1 speaker in the non-residual chamber at a distance of 1 meter, which is difficult to show the real strength.
Speaking of speaker design, Mr. Derek Gilligan believes that if a pair of prototype speakers can create excellent replays in different rooms and meet the tastes of different listeners, then it has a chance to become a British Kudos Audio product.
Although in recent years more and more speaker designers have emphasized the use of parts produced by audiophile brands, Kudos Audio has chosen to cooperate with suppliers in the UNITED Kingdom and Europe to customize special high-quality parts according to their own specific specifications, and will make good use of the world's best and most complex measuring instruments: human hearing systems, carefully tuned and tested each product, of course, the detection of the instrument is still essential, if it does not meet the full score indicator, the product will never be launched on the market. Solid technology and materials
HDF high density panels
Kudos Audio Titan 808 flagship speaker, upgraded with the veteran Titan 88. Different from other speaker products that use HDF MDF, Kudos' full line of products use HDF high-density panel, which can effectively improve the stability of the box and reduce the resonance generation. The titan 808's baffles are available in three different thicknesses, 25mm, 36mm and 50mm, with special bonding components. The interior of the box has been optimized, adding an appropriate amount of reinforcing brackets and damping materials, combined with the cut-angle modeling wings and back panels, to further improve the stability of the box, which is of great help to the resonance elimination of the cabinet, making the sound cleaner and improving the cohesion of the sound field.
SEAS refining unit
Kudos Audio has always worked seamlessly with THE NORWEGIAN SEAS, and in the original Titan 88, Kudos Audio used SEAS's 29mm Crescendo K2 tweeter, whose hemispherical diapherical membrane is a special filament fiber. For the new Titan 808, Kudos Audio and SEAS have once again improved the high-energy magnet circuit and added a copper shorting ring on the basis of the original Crescendo K2 tweeter, which, together with the new shape of the panel, will help to enhance sound diffusion and provide users with cleaner and faster treble. The midwoofer features a 220mm unit also produced by SEAS for Kudos Audio, coated with Nextel damping coating, and a unique phase correction stopper to provide listeners with rich musical detail and a wider frequency response.
Back-to-back isobaric design
The lower half of the box is a woofer, although there is only one unit on the surface, but in fact there is a woofer inside, which is isobaric isobaric design. Different from the general isobaric design, the titan 808's two units are installed back-to-back, and the units in the box are reversed, which is very special. The two woofers are still 220mm woofers specially produced by SEAS for Kudos Audio, and the paper basin is a sandwich structure of high rigidity double-coated paper fibers to ensure excellent stiffness while maintaining the natural damping performance of the paper, equipped with a long-stroke voice coil and aluminum alloy mounting bracket to optimize the movement of the unit.
Unique coupling bracket
The top half of the Titan 808 is set at the bottom of the inverted phase hole, while the lower half of the phase hole is set at the top, and the two holes are just staggered. The upper and lower two boxes use CNC lathes to make curved aluminum brackets and stainless steel nail feet for coupling connection, curved aluminum alloy brackets can also manage the exhaust direction and speed of the two inverted phase holes of the box, so that the air flow is emitted in the rear half of the box, in order to reduce the harmonic shock and eliminate phase error, which is a very careful and clever design.
Hand-built crossover
All of Kudos Audio's loudspeakers use audiophile components such as Mundorf, Supreme, and Clarity Cap, and are paired with precision instrument measurements and welded in the form of a canopy to ensure the authenticity of the sound. The passive speaker installed in Titan 808, the parts used are mainly provided by the German Mundorf, the internal wiring is made of the special audiophile grade cable made by The Chord Company, and the horn terminal is also used locally from the German WBT Nextgen series of products, aiming to create the best signal transmission.
Traditional crossover and electronic crossover are not wrong
It is worth mentioning that the Titan 808 can skip its internal sound splitter through the jumper of the back panel, which is convenient for users to upgrade to play electronic parting in the future. The Kudos Audio website specifically mentioned that the British local amplifier brands such as Naim, Linn and Kudos have close cooperation, if the user needs to upgrade to the electronic sound separation system, the user can provide the speaker model to the amplifier manufacturer, the factory can be based on the data provided by Kudos, for the user to produce the appropriate electronic crossover system, so that the energy generated by the back stage is directly sent to the unit, further improving the replay sound effect.
Wonderful real-life experience
The site is equipped with naim CD555 CD machine and Naim Statement flagship front and rear system.
First of all, listen to the excerpt of the violin, play the Klaimer "1978 Paris Live" produced by the Japanese label Spectrum Sound, the violin is sweet and melodious, with a pine fragrance, very good, the harmony of the strings is beautiful and with a sweet taste, each bow turn is clearly explained, and the rustling of the strings is not endless. When replaying the excerpt of "Bundervoet Last Recital" produced by Spectrum Sound, whether it is a high or low range, the piano sound is also crystal clear, the steel wire struck by the hammer is obvious, the overtones are natural and clear, the shape and weight of the piano are very moderate, and the piano gloss makes the author shine.
Playing the excerpt of "Daizhou Big Drum" can fully exert the advantages of this combination, and the sense of weight, impact, instant texture of the contact instrument and the shape of the instrument are all expressed. Ordinary equipment can only show the sound of drumming, but lack of full body feeling and subtle vibrations hidden in the vibration of the drum skin, but in this set of combinations can be fully displayed, in the Chinese drum skin vibration elasticity, tension and shock wave to feel the shock and beauty of drumming.
Listen to the vocals and instrumental performances of Rebecca Pidgeon's classic song "Spanish Harlem", in this set of collocations, even if you sing in a low voice, you can feel the solidity, the climax of the song is bright and transparent, and the overall expressiveness of the music is enough. Rebecca's voice is clear in detail, but without overheating and without the slightest roughness. The low-frequency presentation of the prelude part is very good, the high-frequency transition in the interlude part is natural and smooth, and the transient response is fast enough, which is very enjoyable to listen to.
summary
Kudos Audio Titan 808 flagship speaker, using HDF high-density panels, and using Norwegian SEAS customized products, quality assurance; the sound splitter using Mundorf and other audiophile components, using precision instruments to measure and pair, and welding in the form of a tent to ensure the authenticity of the sound; the internal connection line is selected from The Chord Company specially produced for it; the most special is that the jumper on the back panel can skip its internal microphone, The design of electronic crossover systems is unprecedented in its ability to play with electronic crossover systems, and more importantly, Kudos' entire line of products is manufactured in the UK. For those of you who are demanding, the Kudos Audio Titan 808 flagship speaker may be able to meet your needs.