Kudos Titan 505 Standmount Speaker Review

I love the look of the satin white ones.

The timber versions, as usual, look like old lady furniture.

If £7000 was not out of my league, I’d love to own a pair.

I‘d say active, with the Lyngdorf 2170 and a couple of 2400 power amps.
 
Darn it Ed, I now need to find seven grand to replace their little brothers the X2's. I actually love my X2's but these do look very tempting! Thanks for the review, I'm not sure I dare go listen to a pair just yet.

It would be interesting to get some reviews for the cheaper speakers in the Kudos range too.
 
Being a designer the thing that really catches my eye is the protruding heads with the three cap heads on the main driver. To me that is unforgivable at £7000.

By the very nature of cap heads they are designed to fit in a counterbore hole so the head is flush or sub flush.

So even if I spent the 7K and loved the sound I would spend my days hating those cap head screws every time I saw them.
 
I might have to buy a pair of these one day. I have heard super twenty a against my totems and in my room they weren't blowing the Totems away, even active with a pair devialet expert 220 Pro CI, (440), but I have always like the speed of standmount bass, if these also slam then they're definitely going on my list of future upgrades.
 
There is six of them not three and such an ugly hex head bolt looks totally wrong.
 
Should have gone to specsavers, nontheless still damned ugly. At £7K how much should one be spending on stands another money factor to consider. At this price bracket I would only be considering floorstanders.
 
Always loved the Kudos speaker range. The sort of sound that just seems to give you a big hug while listening to them.
 
Being a designer the thing that really catches my eye is the protruding heads with the three cap heads on the main driver. To me that is unforgivable at £7000.
It must be intentional design choice though, maybe they are supposed to look industrial?

I agree with you however, it just looks a bit naff.
 
It must be intentional design choice though, maybe they are supposed to look industrial?

I agree with you however, it just looks a bit naff.

You can buy them here (OK no big deal) the funny bit is though..................

The review pictures on the link by David b a DIY bloke shows them counterbored so the head is flush on his speakers.


Perhaps they should have got david b to make the speakers.
 
I heard these last year at the Bristol Hifi show and again this year.... and I have to agree these ..well they just get everything right. You immediately know when something just sounds right .. a balance that just lets the music flow. Before you realise any analysis , you engage with the music. A perfect sign of a great speaker.
 
Good review Ed. I agree with the comments in the podcast as well. Heard the 505 a few times now, both (in active and in passive guise) on the end of Naim amplification and they are quite simply excellent. Their bass response simply beggars belief!
 
Loving these speakers, I listened to them 2 years ago at the Bristol show, on quite a modest Naim system IIRC. Theywere one of the highlights of the show to me, much more musical than the Naim Statement system in the Lounge, or any of the other Naim/ Focal systems there that year (or this year in fact). This year Kudos had the larger 606s or 707s with an active Naim setup which also sounded fantastic.
 
Heard them at a HiFi show and the demonstrators were kind enough to rip one of my CDs on to their system. Loved the way they looked and Iv'e never heard a more detailed sound. However! Like all speakers on the end of a Naim system, I found the sound hard and 15 minutes was more than enough. Still that's the longest time Iv'e spent being able to listen to a Naim based system. Sorry Salisbury!
 
So what's with the 8 connections for active operation? Surely it would only need to be 4 for a 2-way wouldn't it?
 
So what's with the 8 connections for active operation? Surely it would only need to be 4 for a 2-way wouldn't it?

My thoughts too.

Though possibly 6 for the extra bass driver hidden inside.

I’ve tried the website but there’s no info other than ’ask your dealer’.
 
So what's with the 8 connections for active operation? Surely it would only need to be 4 for a 2-way wouldn't it?

It's a looped set of connections in and out. Quite why you can loop out again is unspecified although it would make high level connection to a sub from the amp tasked to the bass driver a little easier.
 
I was contemplating the 606 but after Kudos’ recent price increase I am looking elsewhere.
10-20% price increase is unjustifiable in my view. Looking at the Focal Sopra no2 in white instead
 
I was contemplating the 606 but after Kudos’ recent price increase I am looking elsewhere.
10-20% price increase is unjustifiable in my view. Looking at the Focal Sopra no2 in white instead
Excellent choice, i love the sopra 1
 
Recently read your review of the active Titan / Exposure in the current HFC.
Now that custom active crossover is an interesting product. I see that Exposure may be doing the same for other brands.
I'd like to see active crossovers made by many more companies at competitive prices, with user definable crossover frequencies (don't ask for much do I? - there would, surely, be considerable demand though).
 
Just added another £1500 to the price.

A 20% increase?

Now that’s just greed.
 
Just added another £1500 to the price.

A 20% increase?

Now that’s just greed.

The price has gone up by £1,000. Given the situation at the moment, it’s not desperately surprising. The additional £500 is because the listings now include the stands which were that price when I reviewed them.
 
Cheers Ed, I’d forgotten about the stands.

Still, despite the recent grimness, I can’t see anything but opportunism here.

I think the entire range had an impressive price increase not long before March.

Still, I can’t afford them at either price, and for those that Can Idoubt the extra thousand will make much difference.
 

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