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

AND .., they’re your next door neighbors! because Peter Lyngdorf I believe is Danish. 

@tunefuldude Thanks for the Lyngdorf tip. I still have read up on what's unique with their approach. I heard a higher end Lyngdorf system at a HiFi show a few years back, with wall mounted speakers if I recall correctly, but wasn't blown away. Could have been the large room they had. I like the speaker wall mounting principle though to take down the room's effect . I will investigate further!

Yeah., the Danes are really productive and good audio equipment manufacturers. Can be tracked back to them having many audio universities/schools I've heard.

@snapoli2 

Its the speakers man. This is a common complaint with focal. Before you soend a ton of money on room treatment etc etc - TRY a tube pre. I would purchase a freya + (with the TUNGSTOL tubes) a great pre for the price (cheaper than installing a bunch of room treatment and you can return it if it doesnt do the trick). If it doesnt warm the system up then youll have a better idea that its the speakers. It try to borrow a tube integrated and try that. Best of luck!

The Freya + would be nice to try. I also like that it has three modes that you can cycle through for different sound characters.

@atanarjuat99 

My dealer has now ordered me a Pathos preamp, which I suspect will work well too.

A note on cables. They make a big difference. I upgraded my speaker cables to the DH labs Q 10. And also my amp power cable.

The Focals can sound amazing, but they need to be babied along on their journey to greatness.

My plan is to try a tube preamp and see where that puts me.

Cables matter, agree. Speaker cables mostly so I've noticed. That is for some reason really noticeable on my Yamaha receiver with the Kantas. I never experienced that when using the Aria 936 I had before. WIth the Purifi amp the speaker cable differences are smaller. I have a pair of QED Silver Anniversary XT that I used for a while to force a treble roll off. But it has other effects, rolled off and slower bass as well which makes the sound boring to listen to. So at the moment I use standard 12 AWG (4mm2) "pure" copper cable. I have to borrow a few cables when I'm ready and test what works for me.

@erik_squires 

Consider also combination absorbers / diffusors between the speakers, while focusing on absorbers on the sides as well as the ceiling between the listener and speaker. Not only does treating the ceiling add height to the images but they are a great, unseen space to add more absorption in the bands you care about.

I have been scratching my head about the low focus point of the Kantas. It seems that the sound emerges from my center speaker (while not in use) which is placed quite low, just below the TV (yes there is TV screen there which I sometimes use to cover up with a thicker blanket when nobody sees). I even tilted the Kantas a bit backwards in an effort to raise the focus point, but that didn't do much. Ceiling treatment might very well be the key to that problem. I will check if there is a more "hidden" treatment solution that can blend in.

@mjmcubfn 

I had these speakers for awhile and the Gaia II’s made a HUGE difference. If you can find them used, it’s a $500-$600 tweak and the difference for me was night and day. 

Yes agree, I have them installed. Quite noticeable difference for the better!

@soix @roxy54 

You’re fighting a losing and potentially expensive battle here for no good reason. Move on and be happy.  Sorry, but it’s now obvious and somebody’s just gotta just say it.  

I hear you! And you are probably right. 😀 I plan to better up the room acoustics a bit and borrow a pre and a power amp. If that doesn't do it, then I at least have a decently treated room prepared for a new set of speakers.

@aquint I dug up your old well written review of the Kanta No.2:s and your conclusion is what you state in this thread as well, basically to find the right pre and amp for them:

While the Kantas are not Sopras or Utopias, Focal has finessed the challenge of providing a significant slice of the performance of their top speakers at a more accessible cost. If you have a loudspeaker budget of $10k—and the right amplifier—the Kanta N°2 ought to be on your list of products to hear.

I noticed you even have your reviewer writing style when commenting in threads here. Entertaining to read 😀

I messed around briefly with Apple Music multichannel in my system but noticed quite quickly that my system is not up for a good experience given the weaker/cheaper center/surround speakers and Yamaha amp. 2 channel works much better for me. I have never managed to calibrate it fully to my liking for music. Movie watching works fine. Earlier this year I listened to an Atmos music demo session by Genelec using their "The Ones" for each channel (plus subs)which was quite cool.

BACCH /  Linn/DSM2 / XTC software. That's over my head at the moment. And probably price wise too. Thanks for bringing it up regardless.

I hear you! And you are probably right. 😀 I plan to better up the room acoustics a bit and borrow a pre and a power amp. If that doesn't do it, then I at least have a decently treated room prepared for a new set of speakers.

Sounds like a very good plan!  Hey man, I’m just here rooting for you to get there however you get there 🤞🤞🤞.  Keep us posted if you could. 

Really good Scotch. 

I only use Class D for a subwoofer.  They are energy efficient but not on par with a good Class A amp or tube amp.  I am 6 months into a 2 year wait for a Decware amp currently and I am sure it will be worth it.

I had a Yamaha AVR receiver at one point, currently I have an Arcam AVR 21 and the amp is better than the Yamaha and other home theater combos and I feel it sounds better than the Parasound Halo A51 that it replaced.