Skip to main content

Focal adds a splash of color to its latest Kanta speaker offerings

Image used with permission by copyright holder

French speaker manufacturer Focal has long been at the forefront of gorgeous and incredible-sounding audio design, and is stepping even further in that mission today with the announcement of three new hi-fi speakers.

The new speakers are part of the company’s Kanta line, and include a new bookshelf, tower, and center speakers. As with most of Focal’s high-end models, they are available in a series of absolutely stunning colors, including glossy blue, black, yellow, white, and walnut wood grain, among others.

Recommended Videos

The Kanta No1 speakers are the smallest of the new additions, bookshelf models that are designed for rooms that are under 269 square feet. They come with foam pieces that can be slid into bass ports if they are to be placed near walls or in very small spaces, depending on how much bass response listeners desire.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The new floor-standing speakers are called the Kanta No3, and are designed for spaces up to 861 square feet. They are designed to offer an extremely neutral midrange and clinical high-end, reproducing even the tiniest nuances of your favorite music.

The Kanta Center fills out the additions to the lineup, offering listeners with home theater systems the perfect speaker to hear dialogue and other center-image sounds. They are designed to reproduce the human vocal range with perfect clarity at both low and high volumes, making them a compelling addition to any home theater listening system.

All three new Kanta speakers feature special technology developed by the accomplished speaker manufacturer. Each Kanta model has the company’s exclusive woven Flax speaker cones, which provide excellent mid- and low-range performance. On the high end, they also feature the company’s inverted beryllium dome tweeter, a rigid material that provides astonishing high-end clarity when reproducing upper-range frequencies like those from strings, acoustic guitar, and other instruments.

It’s worth noting that the previously available Kanta speakers (the Kanta No2 floor-standers that came out in 2017) are also still worth consideration, as is the Flax-coned Sub 1000 F subwoofer that the company recommends pairing with any Kanta speakers.

The new Kanta models will be available for purchase this month. Interested in purchasing a set? We recommend you check out Focal’s website for more information.

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
House of Marley is back with its loudest, sustainably-designed Bluetooth speaker
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL Bluetooth speaker.

You've got endless options when it comes to choosing a powerful Bluetooth speaker, but if you want one with a kinder approach to the earth, it's hard to beat House of Marley's (HoM) new Get Together 2 XL, a big, $450 speaker that the company says is its loudest model to date.

In typical fashion for House of Marley, you'll find lots of sustainable materials like the bamboo front face plate, the company's signature Rewind fabric, its Regrind silicone, and easily recycled aluminum. Inside the 12.6-pound body, HoM has packed 60 watts of power split between two one-inch tweeters and two four-inch woofers, and a large, rear-mounted passive radiator. Want even more coverage for your parties? You can extend the sound to other HoM Get Together 2 speakers via party mode or create a stereo pair between two Get Together 2 XL for much better stereo separation.

Read more
Amazon adds spatial audio to the Echo Studio smart speaker
Amazon Echo Studio.

Along with all of the new devices and services that Amazon announced at its September 28 event, the company said that its Echo Studio smart speaker will be getting an update with new spatial audio processing technology and frequency range extension. The update will initially hit the Echo Studio and Echo Show 15, but it will roll out to other compatible Echo devices in the future.

If you're scratching your head because the Echo Studio already supports Dolby Atmos and Sony's 360 Reality Audio (360RA) formats  -- which are both technically under the spatial audio umbrella term -- here's what Amazon says is new with the update:
Our custom-built spatial audio processing technology is designed to enhance stereo sound, making music and movie soundtracks feel closer to the listener with greater width, clarity, and presence. It mirrors the performance of a hi-fi stereo system, so vocal performances are more present in the center, while the stereo-panned instruments are better defined on the side, creating a more immersive sound experience that reproduces the artist's intent. Additionally, frequency range extension technology delivers better performance, improved midrange clarity, and deeper bass.
Amazon has a full explainer for the new technology on its dedicated Amazon Science site, which provides more insight into what's going on, but be warned, it's very scientific and heavy on jargon. Not exactly light reading.

Read more
Sony’s SRS-XV900 pumps its party speaker lineup to the next level
Sony SRS-XV900 top panel.

If you're looking to dazzle your next gathering with huge sound, a light show, and perhaps some karaoke, Sony's new SRS-XV900 might be just the party speaker you're looking for. Sony says it's the most powerful and loudest party speaker in its X-Series range of Bluetooth speakers. It goes up for pre-order on September 20 on electronics.sony.com for $900, but will also be available at Amazon and BestBuy.

The tower-like SRS-XV900 mirrors the design of the company's existing SRS-XP500 and XP700, but on a much bigger scale. You get many of the same features, but where the XP700 measures just over 27 inches in height and tips the scales at about 37 pounds, the XV900 stands 34 inches tall and weighs a bicep-shattering 58 pounds. All of that extra size and weight explains why Sony has given the XV900 a set of built-in wheels at its base -- you will want to do as little carrying of this beast as possible.

Read more