Canton Karat 100 speakers and other pleasant surprises


I have a secondary system in my garage that I listen to more than my main setup. It consists most recently of an Apple MacBook Pro or Shanling CD 100 as sources; N.E.W. P3 preamp; Large integrated Russian tube amplifier (Moonrower) of unknown class or power rating and; pair of B&W CDM1 speakers which I listen to in near field. My main listening room, like so many of our systems, is my living room which is a shared space that I can only really enjoy when I'm home alone. 

That's the background for this post but its real purpose is to express my pleasant surprise at having, once again,  accidentally discovered relatively unknown and little discussed components that end up being quite pleasing additions. The Russian amp was one but, more recently, the P3 preamp and the Canton speakers fit firmly into this category. I can't say enough about the preamp and its ability to deliver detail and resolution especially in the upper registers with no harshness in any part of the frequency range.  Although there don't seem to be many available for sale, I recommend picking one up to at least play with; they don't cost much so you wouldn't have much to lose. 

The other is the pair of Cantons. I got these as a gift from someone that I purchased another piece of equipment from and really had no intention of using them but, even though they may not become a permanent part of my system, I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss how good they sound.  Maybe it's because of age related hearing issues but I've become very appreciative of upper frequency detail and this is an area of their ability that is pretty exceptional and noticeably superior to the B&W's, not that I consider the CDMs the best speakers for this comparison. 

Anyway, I don't consider this post of importance to anyone but I've been in this hobby for almost 60 years having concluded years ago that because everything about It is so personal and subjective that, although advice and research is certainly important to find starting points, experimentation will finally be the way to find your best setup. I found many of my best setups to have been by chance and not by design. 
128x128broadstone
if you're referring to the late 80s iteration of the canton 100, i had a pair i regrettably ended up giving away--they were a real sleeper which were suprisingly full range and musical.