Can anyone tell me about the Canton 9 k reference

[Scottso]

Hi first I'm new here and to current audio, though decades ago my system was Adcom and Snell c2 mk 2 . I want to move to a bookshelf and heard about the canton 9k reference as being very good in my price range $2000. I was wondering how it matches up to the Revel m106 that is so highly thought of .
Thank you
Scottso

 

[MZKM]

A 6.8” driver crossed at 3kHz, it no doubt will have a large directivity mismatch.

25Hz extension is a pipe dream.

Nominal impedance states: “4...8 ohms”, what does that mean?

 

[ttimer]

Hard to say. While i like to listen to Canton speakers, their data sheets are totally worthless. As MZKM stated, directivity probably won't be as good as the Revel, despite the waveguide. There are other large differences. The current crop of Cantons has relatively narrow dispersion, while Revels are designed for very wide dispersion.
What i can say is that quality of Canton cabinets is excellent. I don't know of anything in this price class which could match them in terms of fit and finish, certainly not Revel. It is even more impressive in the price class of their lower tier models (Vento, Chrono SL, A-series).

 

[Jimbob54]

A 6.8” driver crossed at 3kHz, it no doubt will have a large directivity mismatch.

25Hz extension is a pipe dream.

Nominal impedance states: “4...8 ohms”, what does that mean?

Depends on what mood its in ....

 

[MZKM]

Hard to say. While i like to listen to Canton speakers, their data sheets are totally worthless. As MZKM stated, directivity probably won't be as good as the Revel, despite the waveguide. There are other large differences. The current crop of Cantons has relatively narrow dispersion, while Revels are designed for very wide dispersion.
What i can say is that quality of Canton cabinets is excellent. I don't know of anything in this price class which could match them in terms of fit and finish, certainly not Revel. It is even more impressive in the price class of their lower tier models (Vento, Chrono SL, A-series).

Hmm, I may actually be wrong, Stereophile measured the Reference 3.2 DC in 2010 and it uses a 7“ woofer crossed at 2.8kHz and the directivity is very well matched:

 

[Erik]

Stereoplay magazine

Stereo.de

 

[Scottso]

Wow thank you all for the fast responses but as a novice green behind the ears at 73 yrs. what does all this mean I'm lostso can you explain in practical terms. What I gather is they are not good for off axis listening but good to listen to. Can anyone answer questions I read about in the narratives of Stereophile like do they have a good sound stage? place instruments well in space?detailed ie can hear the decay of instruments cymbals, strings etc., decent dynamic range for a small box? sound like music? play well at low medium and high volumes?. Are they worth $1600 at that price what else should I be listening to? I want to stay with the bookshelf design. As the wife has tolerated( more or less) the big snells for 30 years and said once is enough the room is 12 x16 vaulted ceiling. not the best lots of glass but lots of plants in corners both on the floor and hanging Wall to wall carpet space limited to about max 8 ft between speakers can move out two ft from back wall listening position can be between 6 to 8 ft from speakers. My gear is old Adcom gfa 555 200 watts into 8ohms 325 into 4 ohms. An Emotiva XDA-1 differential preamp DAC, 24 bit/192 khz, Marantz CD6006 cd player. and Snell c2 mk 2 speakers. thick monster cable( lol) and Audioquest interconnect nothing fancy.Thank you for your kind knowledgeable insights.

 

[thewas]

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Both measurements as well as others of current Canton models show a directivity loss around 2-3 kHz probably due to the too small waveguide, other than that most Canton are quite fine loudspeakers.

 

[DP80]

I've used my 9K Ref (with matching stands) for 3yr this Jan and have only found a synergistic match for them last year. I started off from new with the 9Ks and an Accuphase E-270 integrated amp. After ~90 days of continuous play to insure both were broken-in, one of them had to go and the Accuphase (as one could imagine) sold first. Since then I've tried various other solid-state amps from Bryston and M-L and better cables from WireWorld in a biwire configuration. After never feeling they reached their potential, I decided to trade them towards a pair of Devore 0/93 last Jan. I picked up a Cary Rocket 88 20wpc Class-A KT-88 based amp for the future Devores and, since I had the amp, decided to give tubes a try with the 9Ks. Amazing. They were simply waiting for an amp they liked to sound as I had hoped they would sound from the start. Another upgrade to the speaker cables and they are now the best sounding stand mounted speakers I've owned (Krell, Joseph Audio, PMC, Paradigm, Focal, etc.). So much so that I'm still listening to them to this day and rather than the 0/93s I'm thinking the Canton 7K Reference are the way to go larger. The only thing holding me back is just how good they sound every day. I'm talking to Iso-Acoustics about how to configure a set of their Gaia isolation pads (under the stands? under the speakers? both?) as a tweak for the best results. If the 9Ks are happy with your amp & cables they really sing (I'm primarily classic jazz, classical & opera with some classic rock thrown in) and listen at moderate to low levels. As stated above, the fit & finish is superlative. Mine are piano black and are stunning. Especially as they now sound as good as they look.

Just noticed that the OP & I are the the same age. Luckily, my ears (and hopefully, his) are still good enough to allow for enjoyable listening.

And, I do not find them to be any more directional than the other stand mounted speakers I've used in the past. I listen in a fairly large room (12x24x7) and the speakers are about 6' from the front wall, 2' from the side walls and I sit about 10' away. No toe-in/out, which is pretty much how I've listened with all my stand mount speakers.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Wow thank you all for the fast responses but as a novice green behind the ears at 73 yrs. what does all this mean I'm lostso can you explain in practical terms. What I gather is they are not good for off axis listening but good to listen to. Can anyone answer questions I read about in the narratives of Stereophile like do they have a good sound stage? place instruments well in space?detailed ie can hear the decay of instruments cymbals, strings etc., decent dynamic range for a small box? sound like music? play well at low medium and high volumes?. Are they worth $1600 at that price what else should I be listening to? I want to stay with the bookshelf design. As the wife has tolerated( more or less) the big snells for 30 years and said once is enough the room is 12 x16 vaulted ceiling. not the best lots of glass but lots of plants in corners both on the floor and hanging Wall to wall carpet space limited to about max 8 ft between speakers can move out two ft from back wall listening position can be between 6 to 8 ft from speakers. My gear is old Adcom gfa 555 200 watts into 8ohms 325 into 4 ohms. An Emotiva XDA-1 differential preamp DAC, 24 bit/192 khz, Marantz CD6006 cd player. and Snell c2 mk 2 speakers. thick monster cable( lol) and Audioquest interconnect nothing fancy.Thank you for your kind knowledgeable insights.

I think @thewas_ summed it up. Decent speakers that are fairly neutral (which is generally good), but that are not as smooth off-axis. Off-axis performance doesn't just mean that the speakers can be listened to off-axis, it also tends to mean better "imaging", "soundstage" and tonal balance when listened to on-axis. It's hard to say whether they will play well at louder volumes, we don't have enough data. Generally, bookshelf speakers struggle at higher SPLs. This one has quite a large midwoofer, which suggests it will probably do ok compared to smaller-woofer designs.

Your other electronics are suitable for these speakers, for sure.

 

[pozz]

Off-axis performance doesn't just mean that the speakers can be listened to off-axis, it also tends to mean better "imaging", "soundstage" and tonal balance when listened to on-axis.

Worth repeating.

 

[q3cpma]

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This is $2000? What a joke.

 

[Scottso]

Clever way of responding to answer your $2000 question. I ended up purchasing the 9Ks and a technics integrated amp sug700.Not much info on either but what there was was good. 6ft. Maker speaker cables, Jamo c80 sub and the cantons and stands, Woo nice

 

[DP80]

Congrats. Hope you find them as good as I do.
I added about 10# of sand to each stand, which provided a bit more solidity to the bass. And bi-wiring was also a nice upgrade in the SQ.

 

[Scottso]

I am happy to report that the Canton 9k Technic integrated sug700 sounds great not at all fatiguing as one might expect. The sound stage was to the speaker boundary and to the back wall the vocals are front and center the inner detail and imaging placement of instruments in jazz and rock CDs is to my limited experience I consider excellent, far superior to my old Adcom and Snell c2 mk2. However scale and soundstage size I'll give the nod to the old system. At first, I though the amp underpowered at 70watts aside and I believe it is but it plays plenty loud in my room. The Adcom at 200watts played the Snells in this room to wall/floor shaking levels. By the way, Both the Snell c2mk2 and Canton are 86 db at one meter 1watt. I would also say the older system was a bit laid back aka mellower sounding than the Canton Technic combo.
At first, I was concerned about this new system as so many of my CDs sounded bad however As I logged in hours I realized it was not the system but the quality of the CDs being played this system does not hide the warts in recordings.

 

[Crosstalk]

This is $2000? What a joke.

what is wrong here?

 

[DP80]

Finally picked up a pair of Devore 0/93 and traded my 9K. After about 4 months they simply were no longer "exciting" to listen to. Tried a pair of Triangle Duetto and a pair of Magnepan 1.7i. But, none offered the satisfaction of the 9K. So, today I ordered a pair of the new Ref 9, liking what I've I read about them. Delivery is ~May 1.

 

[Tassin]

Very nice of you to give an update after 2+ years.

The Reference 2023 line sure looks very nice. I wish I could could find measurements somewhere ...

 

[DP80]

I'll measure them with my ears over the summer and report back.

 

[Grotti]

I'll measure them with my ears over the summer and report back.

Pointless. What about using a microphone (Umik) with REW instead and post the results?