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- Verified Buyer
In my opinion, the Kanto SYD offers performance beyond expectations while its interface covers all my basis.The Kanto sits now where a Naim Muso (1st Gen) used to (briefly) double as a TV soundbar/Stereo in a small bedroom. Since the Naim died on me, I decided to go for the 2nd Gen but I wanted a low-cost, temporary replacement for it. The Kanto being on sale @ $200.00, was a no brainer even though I had had no experience at all with this brand.But now I am so satisfied with the Kanto for both music and movies (connected to an unassuming Fostex Mini Sub) that I want to keep it exactly where it is.This speaker makes me want to go on and on, it sounds so musical and warm (compared to my Devialet Reactor, more powerful but with fatiguing and shallow upper mids) that listening to music feels that is never enough. It is now sounding its best after some 30 hours of breaking-in.Other reviews mentioned that the treble is a bit recessed…that is not my perception at all, though I am sure it relates to the acoustics of each room. In my case, I find the treble to be transparent and detailed. I can sometimes hear cymbals clearly echoing high above, like in a distant corner. Pure delight. There might be a little bump in the lower mids which renders the sound “warmer”, but mids/voices are very clear and with presence without becoming shouty. The lower end will not shake the walls but it sounds decently clean and taut. There is surely a lower reach than the specified 60Hz, at least it feels like it, which is enough for a small room. Anyway, a budget sub is a quick and effective fix if you crave more bass.For movies, I have a pair of great-sounding Dynaudio Xeo 2 connected via optical to my TV. In a one-to-one comparison, I always wind up choosing the Kanto. Crazy, right? Well, of course the detailed Dynaudios are capable of a wider soundstage, the Kanto cannot compete with their kind of stereo separation. But its rendition of voices is superb, with a clarity, depth and presence that are staggering to me. The imaging is solid, tall and detailed, and wide enough - I’d say at least three times the Kanto’s width- to allow for a decent distinction between the right/left channels at + or – 8 feet. There is something else very positive about the Kanto but it is specifically related to the acoustic characteristics of my bedroom…during movies, I can hear sound effects above and behind my ears that I thought only possible with dedicated surround speakers. The Sonos Beam I had before could do something similar to that to the point that I removed the two Play 1s I had as surrounds because I felt that the Beam did a fantastic job with virtual surround, it sounded more natural by itself. Well, the Kanto is even better at doing this.As connectivity goes, since I have my main Apps (Spotify and Tidal among others) on my smart TV, I do not miss a Wi-Fi connection at all. This has caused other reviewers to give the Kanto a lower score… personally, I much prefer to have the artists/albums/songs on my TV screen, not my phone screen, while playing music fed to the Kanto via an optical connector. Others have argued that this is not a smart speaker. I for one, don’t need another smart speaker in my house but if I ever feel the need to control the device with my voice, I can use what I already have connected to the Kanto’s aux in. With 2 other analog inputs, there’s room for my turntable (No pre amp needed!) and a DAC/tube preamp to be connected. There’s also Bluetooth on board. I wouldn’t ask for anything else!The remote was one of the nice surprises the Kanto revealed, with bass, treble and…balance control! And a clever reset button since the speaker does not have a screen to let you know what’s going on. Genius.If it had an ARC/HDMI connector, it would be PERFECTION but at this price point it sounds like a crime to demand more from this budget speaker ($200.00, remember?).Maybe the reason why I am enjoying the Kanto this much is that my bedroom is on the small side and the Kanto’s wattage is a better fit for the space. I do not miss other more expensive audio gear. Granted, it does not have the Muso’s finesse nor its bass extension, or the Reactor’s ability to play at low volumes with admirable balance, or the Xeo’s expansive, big sound but it more than makes up for all of the above with sound that brings me sheer delight. Again, $200.True audiophiles/audio enthusiasts will have me crucified over the comparisons to audio devices with a price tag three or four times higher than the Kanto, but beyond all technical specifications, sounds and music are tied to subjective perceptions and this speaker hits the spot for me. And it hits it hard.I spent about 3 hours listening to this sonthat I can give a proper review.This speaker is near audiophile quality at a fraction of the price. The speaker has a built in phono preamp, USB, Bluetooth connectivity, RCA and 3.5mm headphone jack.The box is superior quality, the wood box is polished and has no seams.Sound quality: this speaker has great mids and lows. I was very impressed with the mids and actually think they are better than my bookshelf speakers. The level of bass this speaker can put out is also impressive. The highs are a lttle lacking. I suggest playing with the treble and bass controls from the remote.Above is the good and now for the bad. This speaker is about 130 watts RMS. The two 4" drivers have a 1" port in the rear. Due to the size of the box and the small ports, if the volume exceeds 85% the ports are too small causing the air to reverb in the box causing some distortion. This issue only seems to happen with music containing a lot of bass and can likely be corrected by lowering the bass using the bass control on the remote.Best use for this speaker: this makes an excellent stand alone speaker howver I think it would shine as a sound bar replacement due to its ability to produce mids and lows.I received a Vizio soundbar and sub-woofer package years ago as a gift. I was never in love with the system, but since it was a gift, I kept it and used it on my main TV for several years. When it finally died, I was anxious to replace it. I wanted to get away from the long soundbars and bulky sub-woofer and go with something a little bit smaller and less obtrusive. I started off with the Bose Solo 5, but ended up returning it because the sound seemed flat and empty to me. I was then talked into buying a Polk MagniFi Mini by a store clerk at a big box chain electronics store. I ended up returning that too because the sound was weak and empty, despite the unwanted subwoofer. I then bought lower priced, unknown brand soundbar (Instabox) that showed good reviews on Amazon. I ended up returning that one too because the sound was weak and seemed as though it was coming out of a tin can. I then bought a Samsung HW-R650/ZA soundbar with sub-woofer, which was better, but still lacked that rich full sound that I was looking for. I then came to realize that soundbars are joke…an industry scam. The problem is that soundbars are so small and thin that its impossible to fit decent speakers inside them. In fact, in many cases, the speakers are the same size or smaller than the ones inside your TV. And with the speakers all placed together inside the soundbar, you get a sound quality that is no better than your TV speakers. So what is really being gained? I think the best sound quality you can get is still the way of a home 5.1+ theatre surround sound system. Most soundbars cannot match the sound quality of a surround sound system. But like I said, I was trying to go smaller and didn’t want to fuss with multiple speakers and a bulky subwoofer, so I started investigating powered portable speakers systems instead. Very similar technology with a slightly different purpose. My search brought me to this speaker. After returning 4 soundbars before, what would be one more, so I took a risk and bought this one and I am so happy that I did. I connected this speaker to my TV via optical cable and the sound is very distinct and full sounding. Music, voices, and actions sounds all do very well on this speaker and like others have posted, you don’t really need a subwoofer for this system. There is plenty of bass without it. This speaker very easily fills my entire great room which consists of a large TV room, kitchen, and office. I have watched actions movies with lots of explosions and gunfire, live college football, and estrogen inducing drama TV with lots of talking and all three sounded great on this speaker. Please note that if you are going to use this speaker as your main TV speaker (center speaker), be aware that its taller and heavier than a typical soundbar. It may not fit underneath or in front of your TV. It really needs to be inside an entertainment center or TV stand of some kind. Happy listening!Bought this for my corner turntable setup. These are incredibly loud and extremely bass heavy. I have to put the bass down 3 clicks on the remote and treble up 1 to have a more neutral sound. The sound can fill my entire house with slightly less than half volume. They are loud.. It has enough punch that more than 1/4 volume has the ability to make my needles skip, and I run a straight tone arm with a scratch cartridge at 2.25oz over float. So yeah they're loud.-Looks- 5/5. Very slick looking piece for any room.-Music- 4/5. Ample bass, lots of options for optical audio, subwoofer output.-Functions- 3/5. No indicator for volume level etc, no pre-set configs you'd want to set up for different listening settings for music, movies, video games, news, tv, etc.!Dialog 2/5. Very poor performance when watching movies with more quiet dialog, Very muffled sound.Unboxing 1/5. Batteries for remote were completely corroded and leaking. Glad they were in their own pouch.Really nice when near you such as at a desk. I can now hear sounds that used to be muffled into the background when I was using high quality logitech. A bit big but well worth it.I choose the SYD model with both speaker sides in one unit. I like that it is compact and has a nice appearance. The sound has a good range and it is pleasant for media including movie soundtracks and music.