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

Thanks for the welcoming tone and also your suggestions here! I will look them all up and see what they are about.

The room serves as a family living room and not a man cave, sadly. So the acoustic treatment can't be too obtrusive. I only have absorbing panels on the front wall behind the speakers ATM. But I will walk further down this path. I've thought about contacting GIK acoustics and hear what they recommend through their "free acoustic advice", with the risk of getting just generic tips. Perhaps there are other goto providers that aren't too fancy/pricey but do the job? I live in Sweden/Europe BTW.

I also believe as you point out, soix, that a middle priced AVR probably is not really the way to go for a 2 channel system.

The sound characteristics of the Kantas when using the Yamaha AVR as amp is quite the same compared to the Purifi Class D amp and also a cheaper XTZ Class D amp I borrowed from a friend for a period. When using the Yamaha AVR asm amp the differences were more lower base (too much), less mid range (too weak) and a bit harsher sound overall. So I mean something more drastic has to be done.

Roxy, I'll try to remember to write a shorter TLDR section for you next time.

Simple fact: Kanta's are bright sounding and thin as you hear. Don't waste your money on room improvements. If you want more drive and warmth in the system, it will be your amp. I would dump your speakers prior to spending that kind of cash, it will take a lot of money to make those speakers warm. 

First, thanks for all the good info — most helpful and appreciated as most people asking for advice here don’t provide nearly enough to go on (dig ur handle here BTW)! Agree with treating the room no matter what else you decide to do. IMHO you have a bit of a mismatch with the EverSolo as a pre and Audiophonics class D driving the Kantas and not surprised at all that you’re hearing what you do, so I’d either change the speakers or the electronics. The simplest solution might be a hybrid integrated amp from the likes of Unison Research Unico, Pathos, etc., which at your budget is what I’d do if you don’t want to change the speakers. That way you stop using the streamer as a pre and get the benefits of tubes in the preamp stage that don’t require much maintenance and give you the flexibility to “tune” your system by swapping tubes. Or, as you mention, you could just add a tube preamp and also get much better results. I’d also upgrade to a better standalone DAC when budget allows.  BTW, I forbid you from inserting an AVR into your 2-channel signal path so please just take that option off the table.

If you’re open to changing speakers Joseph Audio, ProAc, and Usher are a few I’d recommend hearing as they have great detail but they don’t deliver it as starkly as the Kantas and likely have some more warmth in the mids as well. Ok, just throwing’ some stuff out there FWIW and hope it’s somewhat useful. Best of luck in getting the sound more to your liking however you decide to get there.

TLDR indeed.

+1 @mijostyn 

I had speakers with the same problem. I treated the room a lot and also looked into warmer DAC's. The problem was, in the end, the tweeters. That was only be solved with other speakers. Hopefully you don't need such a drastic solution.

Hi Donald,

Very common problem. You have two choices, acoustic treatment of the room or a room control preamp like the Thrinnv Amethyst or DEQX Pre 4. Ideally you would do both. First you need absorption panels at the major first reflection points. You find them with a mirror since sound and light bounce the same way. Sit in your listening position and have a helper hold a mirror at your eye level. Have them move the mirror across the front wall from behind the left speaker to the right. When you see the speaker in the mirror put a masking tape marker on the wall behind the mirror. Now continue moving towards the right and when you see the right channel speaker in the mirror mark the wall there. Now do the same maneuver on both side walls. These are the four main first reflection points and you need to put sound absorption panels at these locations. There are also first reflection points on the floor and ceiling which may need to be treated. This will get rid of some or even all of that "shoutiness" which we call sibilance, the bane of residential HiFi systems. If this does not calm it a room control preamp will. They will also give you a programmable subwoofer crossover should you ever feel the need for more slam.