Cardea C30

The C30 has been developed to produce an altogether higher level of performance than even our C20 design is capable of.  It combines over twenty years of our loudspeaker design experience, all of our drive unit manufacturer SEAS’ experience, and the highest quality materials to deliver a musical experience which is superlative.  It has already been awarded a number of accolades including Hi-Fi Choice Loudspeaker of the Year.

The cabinet is constructed from 18mm high density MDF with specific damping for each internal surface and finished with a range of real wood veneers to provide an elegant appearance.  However there is much more to the design than is at first apparent; the enclosure is divided into two separate chambers to optimise the performance of the bass and main drive units.  The upper chamber is reflex ported to the rear of the loudspeaker and is tuned to suit the response from this unit.  The lower chamber reflex port is situated on the bottom of the cabinet and it uses the tri-laminate plinth to provide a fixed boundary gap, improving port response.  The plinth itself is a complex mixture of a very high density MDF specially selected for the purpose, an inert damping compound, and a steel base section.  This construction has proven to deliver an improvement in sound quality as well as giving excellent stability. 

The main driver is an 18cm unit manufactured with a cast chassis and a unique Tri-laminate Nextel coated paper cone.  This driver is of a specification exclusive to Kudos incorporating our own design phase plug and “eddy current” shorting ring to provide superb midrange clarity and harmonics. Its excellent integration with the stunning SEAS Crescendo tweeter ensures exquisite coherence and a well balanced mid to upper frequency response.

In addition to these drivers the C30 also employs a specifically designed 18cm bass only unit housed in the lower chamber of the cabinet.  This unit provides the C30 with a significantly enhanced bass response when compared to our C2, or C20 designs and results in improved bass texture, slam and detail. 

The well matched drive units once again allow a low order crossover to be used and we use close tolerance, bespoke components from Clarity Caps and Volt, together with internal wiring from The Chord Company.  The crossover itself is of the two and a half way type.  In this arrangement the bass only unit is rolled off before it is asked to reproduce a mid range signal, the mid bass driver works from the bass right though to its crossover point with the tweeter and the tweeter is brought in to cover the treble response.  This arrangement allows us to ensure the C30 produces a seamless response from bass, through the midrange and on into the treble.

Hi-Fi Choice described the C30 as “the perfect floorstander” during their review, a description we could not disagree with!  This loudspeaker combines all of the attributes of superb imaging, soundstage reproduction and dynamics with the one we respect most of all – the ability to allow the listener to connect with and enjoy the music.