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

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.

@aquint Heh heh. Thanks, I think. FWIW I think you’re one of the best pure writers in the audio biz and am always impressed with (and, if I’m being honest, a bit jealous of) your writing talent. Really enjoyed your video review of the BACCH tech BTW — supremely interesting stuff that. I’m frankly afraid to try it for fear of being wrecked for life as an audiophile. It seems almost that big from what you and others have said. Not to sidetrack this, but what say you on that?

I had similar issues when I upgraded from Focal 1038BE to Sopra 2. The 1038's were pretty good, really musical, forgiving and likable. The Sopra 2 were anything but. They were etched, cold, analytical and not at all musical. I almost hated them and could never get them to sound remotely as good as the 1038- and I was running them on a Pass 250.8 amp and other unquestionably good, musical electronics. After a year I sold the Sopras thankfully and got into Harbeth which were great. Unfortunately I think the issue is the speaker in your case - and- your electronics are not an ideal match for an already etched, thin and analytical speaker. 

@soix It is off-topic, but such an important issue that I’ll comment here and now. Maybe the subject can get its own thread at some point.

It’s an important issue, I think, because some members of our audiophile tribe have gone a bit overboard about what’s called "immersive audio." This approach to spatiality is technologically innovative and certainly can be a great deal of fun with film. But with music, I think the jury is out. I’ve been interested in multichannel music for some time (I have more than 4000 surround sound recordings) and, based on what I’ve been able to hear on Apple Music, Dolby Atmos is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve noticed that some of the most vocal Atmos fans don’t seem to have that much previous experience with discreet MC playback and thus have a credible basis for their extreme advocacy. With most musical material, "object based" surround sound doesn’t represent some quantum leap forward. I may be one of the few audio guys who actually has Atmos playback up and running and isn’t ga-ga about it. I haven’t checked in with Kal R in a few months—he’s the authority, as far as I’m concerned—but I sense he’s taking a measured approach as well.

That’s part of it. The other part is that my consumption of multichannel music has fallen off since I discovered SOTA crosstalk cancellation - that is, BACCH. I’m not talking as much about the "dummy head" recordings that Dr. Choueiri plays at audio shows to pique interest in his products but the effect the filter has on most "regular" recordings, even synthetic studio concoctions. XTC doesn’t add anything, it recovers spatial information that was there all along. It wears well and doesn’t seem gimmicky. And if you’re capable with audio software you don’t have to buy an expensive component (like the BACCH-SP)—you can purchase the XTC filter to run on your iOS music computer, whatever that is.

So, yes. Traditional two-channel audiophiles, uninterested in either discreet multichannel or Dolby Atmos for all the usual reasons, should at least investigate XTC as a way to extract the greatest degree of spatiality possible from the system and recordings they already own.

Andy Quint

Building on my other response to you here. I wouldn't waste money on room treatment either. I did during my Sopra 2 "problem"- it made no difference- the speakers were always etched and non involving regardless - no amount of treatment will fix problems rooted in the tweeter and cone material of a particular speaker. The difference between the Sopra 2 and the Harbeth SH5 Super that I replaced them with was extraordinary btw- the Harbeth seemingly were an "old school" basic box speaker but wow- so musical and engaging- I LOVED them and had them for a few years before the inevitable "move on to something new" but I may buy another pair again - they were that good - and they are not overly picky about electronics- but really sing with better electronics if that makes sense. 

Would bi-amping (class D brute plus tube) help?