Kanto TUK for PC desktop

[KantoLiving]

TUK requires only 950 mV through RCA to hit rated output power, and the maximum voltage before the RCA input starts clipping is 2 V. I think we can chalk most of your issues up to the pre-outs being too hot for TUK. Firmware won't be able to fix the input sensitivity of TUK but we can hopefully improve the USB volume resolution.

As for YU6 being easier to integrate with your amps, I don't have a clear answer. YU6 only requires 650 mW to hit max power and clips after 1.85 V, so for all intents and purposes should fare worse in this scenario. Maybe it has something to do with YU6's analog signal path compared to TUK's digital signal path which requires an ADC on the RCA and phono input. That extra chip could be clipping harder or introduce an extra gain stage... not too sure as I am not an engineer.

 

[Windman]

Yikes! I always had that lingering feeling that my DACs were overkill for these speakers but not to this degree. Indeed, my DACs are a bad pairing for these speakers it would seem. Considering my wallet is still crying over the purchase of my audio gear, I am going to stick with what I have and my current configuration. No sense in getting a replacement DAC when it will mostly be a down grade to meet the voltage requirement. I will patiently wait for the USB Volume resolution firmware when/if it gets released. Thanks buddy, it was a long time but I finally got the answer I was looking for.

 

[carewser]

If either of you can explain how the channel swap feature on the Tuk works I would appreciate it because I can't understand it, all it seems to do is make the little blue LED light move around. How can you make the active speaker passive and vice versa?

 

[Windman]

If either of you can explain how the channel swap feature on the Tuk works I would appreciate it because I can't understand it. How can you make the active speaker passive and vice versa?

Taken directly from their blog

Automatic Power-Up (APU) / Automatic Power-Down (APD) – If you don’t want the speakers to go into standby, or don’t want them to wake up after they’ve gone into standby, you can easily deactivate either setting. Hold the “Treble Reset” button for five seconds to disable APU, or hold the “Bass Reset” button for five seconds to disable APD.

Channel Swap – You can swap the L / R stereo output on TUK. This allows you to ensure your speakers are set up to deliver the stereo experience that the recording engineers intended. The active speaker is set to the left channel by default. To make the right speaker be your active speaker, press and hold the Next Track button for 5 seconds. To switch back to default, and have the active speaker on the left, press and hold the Previous Track button for 5 seconds.

All done on the remote

 

[KantoLiving]

Default is powered speaker is left channel. Hold down the next track button on the TUK remote for 5 seconds and the powered speaker will be right channel. Hold down previous track button to swap back to default.

 

[carewser]

^That's how I have them set up, the active is on the left and the passive is on the right but when I hold down the right arrow button on the bottom of the remote, the little LED moves around and then the same thing happens when I press the left arrow button for 5 seconds, the problem is, I don't hear any difference and the active speaker is still the active speaker just as the passive speaker is still the passive speaker. It doesn't matter which button I press on the remote, that isn't going to magically make the amp, LED and plugins suddenly appear on the passive right speaker so I still don't get the point of this, it just seems like a pointless gimmick to me.

 

[Windman]

^That's how I have them set up, the active is on the left and the passive is on the right but when I hold down the right arrow button on the bottom of the remote, the little LED moves around and then the same thing happens when I press the left arrow button for 5 seconds, the problem is, I don't hear any difference and the active speaker is still the active speaker just as the passive speaker is still the passive speaker. It doesn't matter which button I press on the remote, that isn't going to magically make the amp, LED and plugins suddenly appear on the passive right speaker so I still don't get the point of this, it just seems like a pointless gimmick to me.

The idea is that the active speaker is now receiving sound strictly for the right channel, you just need to place the active speaker to the right side and vice versa. This feature is handy if your power outlet is near the right side of your wall, you would not need to buy extension cables, or maybe you would like to use the right side more than your left when pointing your remote.

 

[carewser]

ahhh now I get it. I still don't hear any difference but I get what they're trying to do

When you swap channels do you hear any difference?

 

[Windman]

ahhh now I get it. I still don't hear any difference but I get what they're trying to do

When you swap channels do you hear any difference?

None at all, as long as the audio has no channel imbalance , it should not matter. I seen other active powered speakers using the right cabinet as the active before, practically no difference in clarity

 

[carewser]

No, the clarity wouldn't be effected, channel swapping has nothing to do with clarity and everything to do with stereo separation/imaging but this feature seems about as sonically useful as the toggle switch labeled "phase" on my subwoofer which I doubt even has any wires leading from it inside the sub so I really think all this does is make a neat little light show with the LED's

 

[Windman]

No, the clarity wouldn't be effected, channel swapping has nothing to do with clarity and everything to do with stereo separation/imaging but this feature seems about as sonically useful as the toggle switch labeled "phase" on my subwoofer which I doubt even has any wires leading from it inside the sub so I really think all this does is make a neat little light show with the LED's

They can make whatever light show they want, as long as they do not add "GAMER RGB" bling bling.

 

[KantoLiving]

Some people like the volume knob on their right instead of the left. Some people have a power outlet closer to one speaker than the other.

 

[Chromatischism]

Onboard sound on Computer RealTek Audio
This was most surprising, when I connected the TUKs directly to my desktop using the optical cable, volume was significantly quieter than both my external DACs. There was still the sharp audio increase present but not as noticeable given the greatly reduced output, the gain increment was the smoothest of the 3 DACs tested; I much prefer the volume output of this method, minus the poor capabilities of RealTek audio of course.

What is the issue with Realtek audio via optical?

 

[Chromatischism]

No, the clarity wouldn't be effected, channel swapping has nothing to do with clarity and everything to do with stereo separation/imaging but this feature seems about as sonically useful as the toggle switch labeled "phase" on my subwoofer which I doubt even has any wires leading from it inside the sub so I really think all this does is make a neat little light show with the LED's

I thought you said you get what they're using that feature for, but then this post shows you don't. You're way overthinking things.

 

[carewser]

My point was, that the feature is supposed to maintain stereo image regardless of each speaker's location, in other words Left/Right, Right/Left, doesn't matter as you can switch channels with this feature but the only problem is, neither I nor windman hear any difference so for all I know, all Kanto has done is make a little light show with the LED's without actually swapping channels but I'd like to talk to other Tuk owners to see if anyone hears any difference because so far here, they're 0 for 2

 

[KantoLiving]

You are still not getting it. That feature just makes stuff that would normally come out of the right channel go to the left channel and vice versa. Listen to a song that has a cymbal panned to the right, then swap channels, and you'll hear it on the left. What "difference" are you expecting to hear?

 

[Chromatischism]

Maybe a more simple example would help.

My girlfriend said she would prefer to reach with her right hand for the volume knob.

So, we swapped the left and right speakers so that the volume knob is on the right.

Make sense now?

 

[carewser]

You are still not getting it. That feature just makes stuff that would normally come out of the right channel go to the left channel and vice versa. Listen to a song that has a cymbal panned to the right, then swap channels, and you'll hear it on the left. What "difference" are you expecting to hear?

I'm expecting to hear stereo sound reversed but I don't hear any difference although in fairness, most songs I listen to offer little in the way of channel separation and even those that do, the sound goes back and forth between channels so there wouldn't be any sonically perceptible difference. The problem may actually lie with the rock recordings I listen to that offer little in terms of imaging/stereo separation. I probably need a stereo sound effect recording to really experience this feature