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Focal Kanta No.2: A New Age Continued...

My previous thread was removed for a bad word I suppose?  Anyway, as I was saying, the Kanta’s deserve a listen in the “I can afford anything” category.  They are uniquely musical and can get the entire gestalt of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in my listening room, which speaks volumes.  All my Krell front ends had bad drives which lead me to the Yamaha CD S2100 SACD player which is astoundingly natural sounding...shockingly so in fact.  Very un-digital sounding.  I use a Krell Digital Vanguard Integrated with custom Transparent Ultra Gen 5 speaker cables.  My PC’s are Pangea’s best, which were also a shock for me, as they have replaced my MIT Oracle PC’s!!  Interconnect is up for grabs, but trying the Pangea Premier XL Balanced Interconnects currently and like I said, if the Symphony sounds like the real thing to me then I should sit and listen and be happy I don’t need to spend thousands more.  I also use a Bluesound Vault 2 for ripping and streaming.  My coax of choice was the MIT Magnum Digital but I am also trying a Pangea coax now so...go figure!
128x128dave_b
prof
3,473 posts
 
Interesting dave, I heard them on Naim gear as well.  (Front end, and I think it might have been with a big Anthem amp too).

The room was well treated and the speakers seemed placed well...but who knows?  Things usually sound better at home.

I tried several models of Focal but never fully warmed up to them.  (Though strangely I've liked the tone of their really big models, at shows).

They were generally excellent speakers, though.  Really present with acoustic guitar, which is one of my go-to audition sounds.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b OP
3,159 posts
 
Funny, I wasn’t looking for new speakers but my local audio guy wanted me to see what I thought and that’s when I heard something special about them.  Weird, but different setups, different cables etc...!  Enjoy
jonmc138
28 posts
 
You had Totem Fotest before? Can you compare the 2? I had Forest in the past but know have Dynaudio Contour C20. I think the Dyns do what the Totem did but better without the harshness of the Forest on occasion. The Kanta certainly look great and I like the Focal speakers I have in my car. Interested in them. 
dave_b's avatar
dave_b OP
3,159 posts
 
Forest Signatures are excellent speakers but couldn’t quite fill the room with large scale orchestral music.  The Kanta 2’s can play on a far bigger level with tremendous authority and dynamic swing.  Strings sound more realistic as do voices.  Overall the Focal’s are warmer yet just as detailed.
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