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How to make the Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers sing?

Hi!

My first post here and I would like to hear your thoughts and tips for "warming up" my Focal Kanta 2 speakers.

 

TLDR

The sound from my Focal Kanta 2 speakers in my room is a bit shouty, bright and thin sounding, clearly lacking level and emotion in the lower mid range. Bass is good, quick and quite deep though.

Any tips for getting more "vocal warmth" into the system? Tube preamp, Dirac, ...? I see that many use old school power hungry amps that can heat your house during winter to drive Focal speakers. Is that really needed or can I get away with a modern amp that doesn’t cost a fortune.

 

More in depth information

In my living room (5.3 x 4.1 x 2.4m) I have a setup with both 2 channel and a multi channel setup. They share the same front speakers and front speaker amp.

2 channel setup:

 

5.2 channel setup:

 

I focus mainly on the two channel setup here. Multichannel is used quite much also for streaming movies, but is ok.

So the main issue for me is that the sound in in the two channel setup is thin sounding with mids clearly lacking in the lower end. It can be fatiguing to listen for a few hours. Bass though is enjoyable, fast and fairly deep.

Earlier I had the Focal Aria 936 speakers as front speakers in the same room (connected to the Yamaha AVR at that time). I liked them but wanted to upgrade to the next level after a few years 😄 The Arias were more forgiving than the Kantas, had more enjoyable warmth in the mids and were a bit rolled off in the top compared to the Kantas. Not fatiguing at all. But everything else the Kantas do better.

I have also had some other speakers, up to half Kanta price range, in the same room where all have had fuller mids and a more forgiving sound: Dynaudio, Totem and Triangle floor standers as well as Buchardt and my really old B&W 602s3 (super full mids but super rolled off in the top) stand speakers. The Kantas are different animals to all these and seem to require the a more delicate and correct chain of components to perform.

I have messed around with speaker positioning quite a lot. It’s mainly the bass region that is affected. Mids not very much.

Options I’m considering:

  • Upgrading the Yamaha AVR to a Marantz Cinema 50 for example to get Dirac room tuning, and run the 2 channel system through this also. The quality of the Marantz might not be the best here to use as a 2 channel pre amp/processor.
  • Use a dedicated pre amp for the 2 channel system. Budget up to 2000€. Not sure what to look for? Used equipment is fine.
  • Tubes? Never really listened to tubes but from what I understand you generally get a more warm sound from them. Tube preamp? Not very modern but might do the trick. Schiit Freya + seems to be within the budget range for example.
  • Other 2 channel amplifier. As mentioned I have tried to avoid the nuclear power plants of amps. I see people recommending amps from manufacturers like Musical Fidelity, Sim Audio, McIntosh, Accuphase etc. But these are really costly and I feel they generally belong in an older age that we are moving away from. But it might be what is needed, I don’t know, haven’t really heard them play.
  • Treat the room more. I have a big sofa, a really big carpet and a few acoustic panels in the room (no real science behind them now). The room in itself is a bit "bright" so here I can make a better effort of course, regardless of other taken measures.
  • Get other speakers. I can also just face it that the Kantas are what they are, sounding thin in the midrange and lacking emotion in voices. Getting other speakers might be the easiest upgrade. But it’s not that easy to find and test speakers in your room either...

 

Long story. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

donald_dac
panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
538 posts
 

Amplifiers, preamplifiers, DACs make very expensive tone controls. And especially when you're trying to address the fundamental voicing of your speakers. Getting your room treatments right is never a bad idea, do I'd start there. And if that doesn't address your issues, then it's speaker shopping time.

aquint's avatar
aquint
29 posts
 

I agree with soix that the amplifier may be the reason for what the OP is hearing. It's not that there aren't great-sounding Class D amps out there—I just wrote up the TIDAL Intra, and Bruno Putzeys certainly knows what he's doing—but these products aren't inexpensive. I reviewed the Kanta No 2s myself about eight years ago and got excellent results with Pass 60.8s and a T+A DAC/preamp, two products appropriately priced for the kind of system you'd expect to see the Kantas in.

Definitely do not give up on the Focals and  go looking for speakers that will sound good with your amplifiers. That's the tail wagging the dog.

BTW, soix can be a bruising combatant—I've been on the receiving end—but he is an experienced listener with informed viewpoints. It's usually beneficial when he rings in.

Andy Quint

TAS

hybrid81
32 posts
 

I have a pair of 1028BE II and the way some people in here speak is as if Focal dropped in quality big time when making the Kanta. 
 

I don’t believe that for a second, but I also know that my speakers don’t have a thin midrange. They do have crystal clear highs though. That can be an issue for some people for sure. 
 

Ive paired mine with a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum and a Macintosh MA6500. Preferred the MA6500. Wish I’d never let it go, but the CM more then gets the job done when I’m listening to vinyl. They’re usually hooked up to a Powernode and that makes them sound just fine. Plus, I don’t know if people are still weird about tone controls around here, but the Powernode has them if so desired. I’ve found them helpful in certain situations. They’re basically poor man’s sound correction but I find they get the job done just fine. 
 

Good luck with your journey. A lot of the fun is getting to the destination. 

riie
219 posts
 

It’s the tweeter. Sure, treatment can help. I had the sopras for 3.5 years and they heavily bled my ears. I tried everything and at the end I sold them.

kennyc
1,539 posts
 

This is a good tread. Reminds us to address the weak links in our audio chain and to address the room.

Agree that the OP needs to deal with both room and electronics (pre and amp).

@deep_333 I admired  your detail effort to help to OP use what he already has to save $, but I agree with @soix that the OPs pre-amp are significantly sub par to the level of his Focal speakers.

Sorry @donald_dac , no free lunch. You’re going to have to spend some time and resources to get your Focals to sing.  If you give us a budget, we’d be able to narrow your choices.

+1 Hegel - would likely solve the OPs electronics problem. A used H360 or H390 with a DAC (rated very good) is a great option. 

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