After being impressed by the pair of the Kudos Titan 707 that he had in his system for a review some time ago, Steve Dickinson from hi-fi+ had his listening room enriched with the masterpiece from Kudos Audio top of the range model Titan 808!
"The Titan 808 is a four-box, two-and-a-half-way design,
differing from all the other models. A substantial upper cabinet houses the bespoke Crescendo tweeter and a 220mm mid-bass unit, while the lower, bass-only, cabinet features a pair of 220mm units configured isobarically - back-to-back with a sealed chamber between them; one front-facing driver and an identical unit mounted internally, connected out of phase so as one 'pushes' the other 'pulls' and the volume of air between them remains constant. "
"The 'mid hall' acoustic presentation I noted in the 707s is not there; fi your favourite seats are front row centre, the Titan 808s can oblige. But what is still very much present is that rich tonal palette which impressed me in the 707s. The 808s make every instrument sound like a better version of itself."
"Plucked double bass has depth, but also body and a woody sonority that some loudspeakers can only hint at; an acoustic piano is another: solid, fully fleshed- out bass notes give a real sense of the size and scale of the instrument. "
"The piano has absolute power, the bass playing natural body and depth, and both exhibit a tunefulness that speaks to an accurate rendition of the complete note envelope, from fundamental to the higher harmonics."
"This makes acoustic and orchestral recordings a real treat, and vocals a joy and is, I think, where the
Titan 808 excels; the class of the Titan's bespoke Kudos/ SEAS drivers is very evident, and the work in minimising cabinet coloration has paid dividends.
"... getting a loudspeaker like the Kudos Titan 808 to work in a small room like mine is a sign of sophisticated engineering and design skills at work."
"The RPO playing Sibelius, Karelia Suite (Tring) had a gloriously rich and suitably raucous brass tone with just enough 'edge' but never straying into sourness; propulsive, pacey, and persuasive, the contrast between brass and strings creating layers of tonal colour you feel you can wade through."
Read the full review from hi-fi+ Issue 220 September 2023
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