CIVILISED | CSS Typhon Speaker Review 

Good to have you back and I look forward to your 224 reviews. I understand the owner of CSS is a former Nuclear submarine officer. The Navy doesn't put fools in control of a nuke subs. I have owned three pairs of CSS speakers, one small five inch two way they no longer make a 1TD and 1TD-x. I built them from their kits and learned how to apply real wood veneer along the way. You have indeed described the house sound of the CSS speakers. Civilized and agreeable. I believe the smaller stand mount 1TDX uses the same drivers and with the crossover upgrade, the jansen caps are included. The top end is very livable and the seven inch woofer in the stand mount has the most prodigious bass of any stand mount that I've experienced. the kits with upgraded crossovers cost about 1k. For someone who is willing to put in a little work, they will be rewarded with an excellent stand mount speaker. I've since sold mine on and the new owners love them. I wonder how a pair of Criton 1TDX stand mount with a subwoofer or a pair of them would compare for half the price. Fun with audio.

Tarun, great and fair review. As an owner of both the 2TD-X and now the Typhon, I concur. I've since ditched my sub and find these forgiving in my room for bass and placement. Dig low w/ control but not boomy. They don't make you hate your favorite bad recordings and they're never shrill. I can listen for hours and low or mid-vol. Nemo P. also commented on the need for power w/ CSS but I've had plenty w/ hybrid Rogue or SS Parasound. I'm tailoring the highs w/ different IC's. At least I feel I'm not off on my own impression. Many thanks.

Thanks for the excellent review. Somewhat puzzling that they didn't offer some sort of user accessible control to allow adjustment of the tweeter level between 0 and 3db as such controls have been common on speakers for decades (e.g., Dynaco A25). I wonder how the CSS speakers compare to the similarly priced Philharmonic Audio BMR Towers - the latter use a transmission line design to achieve fairly low bass extension and the RAAL tweeter can provide a level of detail that silk dome tweeters can only dream of.

Great to see you back Tarun! I wish you and your family all the best in the New Yeah🤗

I own a pair of older but very good speakers (price at that time was about 12-14k). The midrange and treble can be adjusted by 1-2 db using jumpers. I would definitely implement this feature in my own speaker design. Very convenient.

I like your detail and light criticism I trust your advice

Happy New Year. A very objective review, I believe. And certainly not one Jay can complain about - you’ve identified the audience these speakers would appeal to, and your recommendation does carry weight.

Good review as usual. Appreciate your observations with these loudspeakers.

Hi Tarun - I apologize for this off-topic post. I just wanted to share this news with you. I have just made speaker cable risers from oak wood and i can definitely hear a difference. More fine low-level detail, freer very high frequencies and more dynamic, faster transients and perceived louder peaks. My hardwood floor has underfloor water heating and I believe I have reduced the capacitance of the cables by raising them 6 inches off the floor.. My system is very good at resolving detail. My older Exposure amplifier is -3dB I believe at 100 kHz so it has a very extended frequency response. I do my best to have very clean AC, as little RF as possible and negligible susceptibility to non-audio signals so the amplifier can spend its energy on audio-band signals. Speaker cables are Kimber Crystal 24, length of each side is 4.5 metres or about 14 feet. Another huge improvement was gained by isolating the KEF Reference Three Two loudspeakers from the floor with compliant anti-vibration feet for washing machines. Here again huge amounts of treble energy liberated after isolation, better detail resolution. A very good New Year to you with best health, satisfaction and success in 2024. All the best, Rob in Switzerland

Heard these at Axpona ‘23 in Chicago! They are a fun lively speaker. They are a wallet friendly Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy homage. I’m very much considering these in the future.

Thank you, and Happy New Year to you as well.

Good solid British Audiophile review, thanks. Desired speaker feature: Port on the side instead of on the back, so that I can put them up close to a wall.

As usual a great review with excellent insights. Thank you.

Happy New Year Tarun! These have been billed as bass monsters and I certainly thought it would overload your room. Very interesting Review.

Sounds like the goal of having a Wilson/SF like sound, warm side of neutral, was achieved. I prefer the ATC approach sound wise personally.

Thanks for the review, I’ve very curious about this product. I missed you over the holidays, I trust you were able to spend time with family and friends. Happy New Year and may you prosper in it.

What a virtuoso review! Great comparisons as well

This design seems highly logical. Acoustic suspension top. All drivers angled toward listener should provide better coherence.. That is a weekness of towers. I like the B&W 703S3 decoupled mid and tweeter on pods, listen on mid axis.. Likely need a sub. I like the mid on axis, tweeter below sound like Canton as well. A Tannoy from Scotland wouldn’t mind.

I’m currently looking around for speakers with some eye candy appeal as well as performance. If I’m gonna look at them constantly, I’d like them to look the part as well as perform soooo….. NICE FINISH is what I’d include in a speaker.

Thanks for this review. I didnt expect a highly recommend based on the narration. Happy new year and thanks for your great work!

Dear T, " Got my Sound artist LS35A's, the fit and finish is beautiful. No extra charges at all($570)wow, about two weeks! to arrive. Again thank you for your "motivational" video. My very best, D from STL, USA.

Slightly dark seems to be the CSS Audio house sound. I own their Criton 1TDx speakers and absolutely love them. But yes, slightly dark. Anyone interested in the Typhons might also be interested in the new line SVS is about to drop, which also have time-aligned drivers. They seem to be targeting Wilson audio with similar designs at much lower prices. I'll be interested in reviews of those once they are available.

This was the first ABA review to have surprised me. After watching, I didn't expect to see 'Highly Recommended' given the number of caveats and challenges mentioned. I also think they look utilitarian and a bit ugly. Horses for courses. However, it wasn't clear how they compare to other price appropriate speakers in the category. Had I got as far as the 'award value' and paused, my interpretation of the review would have led me to a lower accolade. I didn't get the feeling of any 'real enjoyment' from the listening tests, unlike most other reviews where at least one or two features stand out among the best in (price-appropriate) class. Enjoying the channel and enjoyed the video. Just surprised at the outcome. 😁

Interesting review I felt your diplomatic respect for these speakers rather than instant love. That the Exposure 2510 was a better match for the speaker in comparison to the Hegel H190 was a surprise; made me consider what is it that Exposure does different to the Hegel as it has less damping factor and less power output in comparison to the Hegel....?

Hi Tarun, great review. Leema Acoustics Tucana II would be my choice of amp for these. Cabinets requirements and driver configuration vary according to the room so my principle would focus on quality of the parts. With great drivers, crossover parts, wiring and connectors you can make average cabinets sound very good indeed. Of course this means they’ll be expensive overall, but worth it.

So many variables to building a speaker system, for one mid range to voice vocals and instruments clarity. Top end to be transparent with being over extended, bass to have texture and tone... OB's come to mind !

Thank you for the review of Jay's speakers. A happy 2024 to you too sir.

Hi Tarun, Another excellent review, and I am very intrigued by the design of the CSS speakers. I have to admit, however, that they are a bit outside of my budgetary range. I would like to ask, as speakers are not a good match for every type of music: What styles of music would you say are most appropriate for these? Personally I would really love if you could review a pair of Polk Audio Reserve R700s. They are about half the price of the CSS Typhon, but the engineering behind them is very innovative. I am thinking about purchasing a pair of those myself, although I am concerned they would be somewhat large and overpowering for my listening room. Please do keep up the excellent work and keep the videos coming. They are very much appreciated and valued. 😊❤

This sounds like the kind of speaker I’d like to hear with my Odyssey Kismets. They are good with low sensitivity speakers and have really good high frequency extension.

Happy New Year Tarun, nice that Jay reached out to you to review his speakers, perhaps he can get his old nemesis Danny at GR research to fine tune them 😹 (sorry Jay, just kidding)! Do you think you could get your paws on some Magnepans like the LRS+ this year Tarun?

Happy New Year Tarun! I do not like a lot of prominent branding on my speakers (looking at you REL) and I think CSS/Jay could have dialed it down a bit on these. Thanks for the review.

CSS sent an Email today (8/7) as to Typhon Closeout. Why...We are shifting our focus this year back to kits, custom speakers, and sharing knowledge with the DIY and audiophile community.

I guess I would go all out on making the cabinets as good as possible when designing my own speakers. I found that turning speakers on their sides can actually improve their sound. I think it has to do with phase linearity. On their sides the tweeters are just a bit further away than the midrange/woofer (like 3 Square Audio Ayal where the woofer is extended forward a bit). I had turned them on their sides to put some other speakers on top and not make a tall tower. The sound was immediately more solid than is was before. I wonder if you could tune this setup by separating the top sections on separate stands and move the bottom section to where it is most effective. You'd need longer or separate speaker cables of course. Bi-amping would also be an option. Why they didn't get on with the Hegel is interesting. Because it is a more analytical amp and exactly what you would be recommending for there speakers if you hadn't tried it out. Go figure. Are you considering reviewing the Arendal 1723 (or s variant given your room size). I think it would be an interesting comparison with these.

It’s easy to make bad decisions when auditioning speakers. You want to be impressed or you won’t buy them but living with a speaker is different to just auditioning them. I’ve ended up with bright sounding speakers that I end up selling on, only to restart the auditioning process. I’m pretty happy with my KEF Q5’s & REL sub but easily the best music I ever heard through a HiFi was using QUAD ESL 57’s. No bass so not for me but the sound was unforgettable. 🎵❤❤❤

I'm hoping to see a version of these speakers with an AMT or Ribbon tweeter.

Happy New Year Tarun and thank for another interesting review. I certainly remember Jay from his time at AEC. My dream speaker would sound like your Proacs, yet would present an easy load to the amp. High sensitivity, allowing the to be used with lower power 'Clas A' amps, tube or solid state. And while we're violating the laws of physics, let's have them go down to an honest 20hz. Cheers.

Happy New Year Tarun and welcome back for another year of reviews which I will look forward to . What features or design details would I appreciate in a loudspeaker ? Transmission Line would be my answer for the most impressive bass reproduction and imaging. Thanks .

The speaker market is such a challenge for me. At the Typhon price point a long demo is mandatory for me. At the Typhon price point the speaker options are considerable. Like say the ATC SCM19 + REL S/510 is in that price range. The Tekton Moab is in that price range, Volti Audio Razz is in the same price range. I'm tempted by this market segment but I can't afford to make the wrong choice because the boss is going say too bad live with it. I'm saying at this price point I'm making a commitment, LTR no margin for error.

I have to admit to liking a "Sansui" type sound signature (not their speakers but their amps) i.e. powerful bass with a bit of sparkle on the top end treble notes. I'm also a Totem Hawk and Staff fanboy so imaging and soundstage is a priority for me. I just recently acquired a properly sized (for my open concept home) NHT passive sub with its accompanying separate outboard amp. I like this for its presence. It is also really good for movies but that is not what I really intended its primary function to be. The sub's job is to make music sound more accurate, realistic and like the band is playing in my living room. Anyways - those are my main requirements sound wise from any speaker setup going forward.😅😊

Great review once again. Definitely love your content. With living spaces getting smaller for a good majority of us, I was curious why there haven't been more high end speakers with bass drivers mounted on the side to make the front narrower and reducing speaker footprint. Are there any good examples that you have heard? I understand that larger woofers can be compromised by adding a sub, but subs = floor space as well.

Excellent Tarun👍👍

Hi Tarun, great review and you had some very interesting findings. To be honest, the disappointing result with the Hegel amp would worry me if I where in the market for these speakers. "What if there is no synergy with my amplifier?" Comes to mind. As for the question, I would use a high sensitivity full range driver, no cross over components. Perhaps in a Voigt Pipe or a base reflex enclosure. I would use tone wood, certainly no MDF.

Excellent review. I don't think they would be to my taste. I tend to want to hear what's on the recording.

Happy New Year! I would design a 3 way tower speaker lol. Beryllium tweeter. 3 woofers with passive radiators in the side or rear instead of ports. Plenty of bass. A choice of solid wood veneers. Magnetic grills. 4 binding posts. Outrigger feet with a choice of spikes or hard rubber pods. Lifetime warranty.

Love the Ganesh on subwoofer!

Ah, posted this yesterday on another - hoping you may have some (quick) advice! Copy/paste: Tarun, long time no speak... I'm hoping you'll still be reading these comments and can help me out. I'm soon to be upgrading my power amp, currently used with a pair of LS50, though soon a pair of Dynaudio Special 25 will be coming to me via inheritance... I'll be needing a nice new power amp to get whichever pair I end up preferring to sing. I'm hoping, through sale of an old set of Quad II monoblocks and associated boxes, that i may have approx £1k to spend on this endeavour. Can you think of any good suggestions for me? I generally tend to love a fairly energetic sound with detailed soundstage... Analytical can be fun but so can warm tonality, I've yet to listen to a well put together system I didn't enjoy in one way or another, so I haven't got any huge preferences beyond a well presented stereo image. I do wonder if perhaps these days you can get plenty out of an integrated, but can't help but assume there'd be more sound for the pound with a power amp, and I rather like the rest of my setup so feel no need for the dacs/pre/phono/streaming etc et features that come with one. Do let me know if you have any thoughts to the contrary though. It wouldn't be useless as I could use that functionality and keep the rest of my current setup for a second system, but i'd have to actively find a place for it rather than it having one waiting. Just wouldn't want to rule out an integrated if they offer suitably excellent performance in the one area that really matters, pure sound quality. Any ideas would be vastly appreciated. Picard out:)

A bit of constructive criticism to css, I’m sure they are proud of these speakers, but that bright white logo is a no for me.

I am a fiend for soundstage and imaging, so my speaker design would emphasize time- and phase-coherence. Since, at my age, my hearing is pretty nonexistent above about 12k, a single-driver design might work well, though I've never heard any. My current set are Tannoy Stirlings, which I'm enjoying more than any speakers I've owned in the past, which, after all these years, is quite a few. They don't have the wallop and precision of my early Focals (when they were still branded as "JMLab"), but they don't have the sharpness, either, and they soundstage better.

Can you recommend hifi speakers that works with electronic and hard rock/metal music?

Hi Tarun, I want you to review Revival Audio Atalante 5 Loudspeakers if you could get hold of them. I will decide upon your review to get them or not. Take care

Tekton speakers like the Lore Reference would make for an interesting review as well.

HNY Tarun!! I think it would be nice to reviewing new gear from an excelent and classic british company QUAD,Revela speakers with true ribbon tweeter and Platina amp

They’re having a closeout sale on these $3000 a pair unreal

I have much respect for your opinions. But, in this instance I think your “outstanding” award was maybe a little generous. I’ve listened to these speakers in 2 vastly different systems. In both cases, they sounded, dull, leaning toward being a tad woolly. Mid-range clarity was also somewhat lacking. The design, as you pointed out did copy the example of other manufacturers. So with that in mind, would it not have made sense for Jay and CSS to have followed the example of Q Acoustics and P S Audio’s Aspin range and doubtless many others and enable the high frequency DV attenuation to be executed by way of a switch on the back of the top section. What happens if you pay to return them to the manufacturer to have them make the adjustment and find you’re still not happy. They also strike me as not representative of a high performance to cost ratio. There is a lot of stiff competition in that price band, with many manufacturers offering far greater bang for your buck!

Thanks for reviewing this speaker. I find them similar in philosophy with a few Elac speakers like fs 189 or 249. What would you choose between the css and the ATC smc40?

Its an odd one this because like you say the warm sound should work with a more dry analytical amp yet the amp which is probably the nearest to that which you tested, the hagal h190 didn't sound good and your warm rich exposures sounded the best. Thought that might have been too rich. Proves you can't always guess these things

Thank you for the review. What is the off-axis response of the CSSs? Would they image well without much toe-in?

Still hoping to see Tarun review open-baffle speakers and give us audio-wankers the pluses and minuses vs. box speakers.

seems a more refined tweeter would have made this a much better speaker. css is at heart a great diy brand so making finished speakers is more costly than a large outfit with the facility already up and running... just my opinion. thats a lot of money with a lot of competition

Surprised the H190 didn't synergize with them.

For me a quality electronic crossover is of great importance. Ofcourse with budget designs especially anything under a grand in todays money this simply is no longer possible.

This is just the house sound of CSS which is on the warm side of neutral.

Title got my attention

May I ask what size room these were tested in?

Thanks Tarun. Personally, I can't get past the badge. It's quite distracting and not pretty. How strange that the Hegel doesnt work so well, considering Jay's appreciation for their hardware.

My question is, Why the aesthetics of speakers are not more modern? More bold. I guess is a matter of budget and I get that. But 9/10 speaker designs are very very old or basic. We are in 2024! We have more than capable printing options for designs, we have more than ever new materials options, we have top notch graphic and product designers (in some areas except audio)… so why? Why still nobody get out of the comfort zone?

Odd to me that the Typhons sounded off with the Hegel. Jay is a real Hegel fanboy!

a rather lukewarm recommendation for $5000 speakers

HNY