In this article, we will examine the Focal Kanta speaker lineup. These speakers feature much of the great technology that has trickled down from their flagship speakers, giving them incredible sound and quality in a more affordable package.

Company History

Focal began its journey in 1979 in France, making speaker drivers using time-tested manufacturing methods and the newest materials. Making drivers out of Polyglass or Polykevlar was new at the time and caught the eye of many speaker companies for use in their designs. In 1982, the DB13 bookshelf loudspeakers revolutionized the world of bookshelf speakers and showed Focal’s dedication to using high-tech materials and knowledge to build great speakers.

Having become a leader in the French speaker market, Focal decided to go international in 1990, and by 1995, Focal unveiled the Grande Utopia. The Grande Utopia combined extravagant aesthetics with high-tech design, asserting themselves as leaders in the high-end speaker world. Today, Focal designs some of the best speakers, headphones, and car audio speaker drivers in the world.

Features & Technology

The Focal Kanta line is one of the company's top lines, with only the Sopra and Utopia series above it. Kanta is the result of Focal’s continued research and development in driver and cabinet design. Taking technology and engineering from the reference Grand Utopia and Sopra speakers, the Kanta is designed to give a large percentage of this reference-level performance at a more attainable price and in a smaller package.

Beryllium Tweeter

For the first time in Focal’s history, they have combined their Flax cone technology with their newest IAL3 Beryllium tweeter. Combining these two driver materials into one speaker gives you the natural bass and midrange performance of a pulp cone driver with the detail and airiness that beryllium tweeters are known for. The Beryllium tweeters in the Kanta series have a frequency response out to 40kHz. While we surely can’t hear all the way up to that frequency, having a driver that can cleanly produce these higher frequencies means that there is no break-up in the driver at the crucial music frequencies. This ultimately means these tweeters will perform better in the frequencies we can hear.

Infinite Horn Loading is a system that allows the tweeter to work in its own separate airspace and allows the bass drivers more cabinet volume for bass production.

The rear of the Beryllium tweeter is loaded via a small cavity connected to the enclosure's exterior by a horn filled with damping material. Thus, sound waves from the rear of the tweeter are delicately and gradually absorbed. Its acoustic impedance approaches zero so that no resistance alters the movement of the dome. This pushes definition to its maximum and allows this tweeter to work without the detail-limiting back pressure and compression of the rear chamber of the driver. Beryllium is well known as one of the best materials for tweeter domes, and this technology ensures this great material can work at its best.

FLAX Sandwich Cone Technology

In 2013, Focal presented a new material for use in their speaker cones called FLAX cones or F-cones. Made from the flax plant, it has many uses in textiles and even goes into Linseed oils. This material is much like paper because it is a natural material with excellent sound properties.

Focal used its years of research in cone materials to develop the FLAX Sandwich cones used in the Kanta series. While flax on its own has excellent dampening properties and is a very light material, it alone is not very rigid. Focal’s engineers took this opportunity to use sandwich cone technology from their Utopia and K2 ranges to incorporate glass fiber into the flax cones. The resulting sandwich material is rigid and light, with excellent internal dampening properties. The midrange driver incorporates a TMD (Tune Mass Damping) suspension designed to improve midrange performance. TMD Applied to the speaker driver, the solution consists of two tubular rings on the suspension whose dimensions and position have been judiciously determined. They form the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD), and they stabilize the dynamic behavior of the surround according to resonance, thus avoiding the deformation of the cone without affecting the dynamics. This innovation is patented. Every Kanta speaker incorporates a NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) motor stabilizing the magnetic field for perfectly defined sound and better-controlled bass. Another aspect of these high-tech cones is that they are much more affordable to produce than the handmade W and K2 cones in the reference Focal Utopia and Sopra speaker systems. Focal gets most of the performance of the W or K2 cones while keeping production costs lower, thus making the final product more affordable.

High-Density Polymer

A speaker will only be as good as its enclosure allows, and Focal knows this. Incorporating an HDP (high-density polymer), front baffle has the benefit of being 70% denser than MDF, 15% stiffer, and provides 25% more dampening. Using a material for the front baffle that is different than the cabinet has the benefit of having different resonance characteristics. With these characteristics being different, there is less chance of resonance transfer, keeping overall performance higher.

This one-piece molded front baffle has soft contoured edges and is made to suppress sound diffraction, which can alter the frequency response and cause distortion. With what Focal calls ‘Focus Time,’ Focal engineers took engineering from their flagship Sopra and Utopia lines to shape the front baffle so that each driver's output reaches your ears simultaneously. This time alignment gives the speaker better coherency and makes the music sound more like it comes from a single-point source. Kanta is the most affordable speaker in Focal’s lineup that includes this technology.

The baffle mounts to a well-braced molded multi-ply cabinet to keep vibration minimal. This molded one-piece cabinet also features front and rear-mounted ports on the Kanta No 2 and 3 speakers. This dual port keeps dynamic compression in check and, with the included foam plugs, allows multiple placement options and bass tunings. Kanta No 1 and the center channel speaker have a rear-mounted port only.

Zamac Base

Focal Kanta No 2 and 3 speakers feature the Zamac base, an all-metal base offering some great options. Zomac is an alloy made from zinc and aluminum that can keep resonances from reaching the floor while also being lighter than steel. The outriggers on the speakers work to balance the load of the speaker, adding stability, which improves midrange detail and bass clarity and tightness.

Due to its design, the Zamac base offers very high stability while still compact. Both spikes and cups are provided for different floor situations and top-mounted height adjustments, making adjustment simple and effective.

For Kanta No 1 users, Focal offers the Stand No 1, a specifically made stand for the speaker that provides an adjustable height from 24” to 25” and has the same footing setup as its larger siblings in the line. This gives the speakers some continuity in the look so that if you run the No 2 or 3 as your main channel speakers and choose the No 1 as your rear channels, the speakers look the same all the way down to the footing.

Finish Options

Focal Kanta speakers are offered in different finishes, from high gloss black and high gloss white, as well as matte and high gloss walnut, with different color front baffles that will allow you to choose the combination you prefer. The ability to select the cabinet finish and the front panel color gives multiple options to choose what fits your room the best.

Focal Kanta Lineup

The Focal Kanta lineup has three stereo models and a center channel speaker.

The Kanta No 1 is a bookshelf-sized speaker with a stand available that is an excellent option for people with rooms under 270 square feet. It has a 6 1/2” midbass with a beryllium tweeter with a frequency response of 46Hz—40kHz. The sensitivity is 88dB at 8 ohms, and the power rating is between 25 and 150 watts. This means these speakers will perform great with good solid-state or tube power. With a rear-ported enclosure, these speakers will be better placed away from the front wall in most cases(Focal includes a set of port plugs for placement close to the wall). These also make great companions to the No 2 and 3 speakers in a multi-channel home theater setup where the No 1 would be a great surround channel speaker.

The Kanta No 2 and No 3 are floor-standing models that feature the Flax cone midrange and beryllium tweeter with two specially made Flax woofers in either 6 1/2” or 8”, respectively, and will take what the No 1 provides and amps it up in the bass for larger rooms. The No 2 has a frequency response of 35Hz - 40kHz. The sensitivity of No 2 is 91dB and has an 8-ohm rating(with a dip to 3.1 ohms, these speakers need an amplifier that is 4-ohm capable). The No 3’s response is 33Hz - 40kHz with a sensitivity of 91dB and an 8-ohm rating(just like the No 2, the impedance dip to 3 ohms, so a 4-ohm stable amplifier is recommended). The extra cone area and bass ability will be helpful in larger rooms where extra bass power and depth are needed. Both models offer plugs for both ports, offering more placement options.

Focal Kanta Center offers the same 6 1/2” Flax midbass units and the IAL3 beryllium tweeter as the stereo speakers in the line, offering the same tonal balance, which is essential in home theater. Having a frequency response of 55Hz - 40kHz, dialogue and on-screen action will match that of the stereo pair, giving movies a more realistic and believable presentation. Focal also offers a stand for its center channel specially designed to allow this speaker to perform at its best.

Performance

When we unboxed the Kanta No 2 for our testing, we found that the speakers were packaged very well for shipping, which allowed us to unpack the speakers quickly and get them in their place in our room. Hooking them up was easy, with the high-quality binding posts enabling cables with spades, banana plugs, or bare wire. We wish they had offered dual binding posts, as some users would like to see what bi-wiring or bi-amping these speakers could bring to the performance. We enjoyed the separate removable grills as they looked great on, but we took them off for our listening as we liked the look with them off even more. Getting the No 2 in the best position for sound quality proved straightforward as we followed an equilateral triangle setup method.

This method allowed us to set the speakers up in a triangle, having equal distance from the listening position to each speaker and between the speakers themselves. This produced the best results for us, but we recommended you still test and experiment with the position in your room, along with experimenting with toeing them in and adjusting the distance from the back wall. If you need more help getting the best results for your room, our team of experts are only a call away and can give you more ideas of how to set these up that is best for your environment.

Joshua Redman’s 2023 album Where Are We is his first album with Blue Note Records and his first vocal album with vocalist Gabriel Cavassa. This album exemplifies modern jazz with both incredible musicianship and great recording techniques. Joshua’s saxophone comes alive on the Focal Kanta No 2, showing Focal's excellent work with their driver technology, marrying the Flax cone with the IAL3 beryllium dome tweeter. The midrange had great body and tone, especially with the heart-felt vocals. Instruments all had their own space, letting us hear each instrument in its full glory. Brushed cymbals had great detail while remaining smooth, giving the music the smooth vibe this album deserves. We were incredibly impressed with the ability of the speakers to disappear, giving us the placement of the musicians as they were during the recording. Imaging was true to life, and the soundstage was wide and deep. We just loved the Flax bass and midrange cones as they brought a level of natural warmness to the bass and midrange that let this music shine.

Led Zeppelin's 1970 album Led Zeppelin III, remastered in 2014, is a must-have recording for any rock fan. The song “Celebration Day” is a crank-worthy jam that will test a speaker's ability to keep composure when the volume is pushed. We played this song and knew immediately that the Kanta No 2 was a rocker, giving us true-to-life dynamics. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is a classic Zeppelin tune that sounded right with the Kanta No 2, giving us cymbal crashes and splashes with all the dynamics and none of the edge that earlier metal dome tweeters could present. This allowed us to listen well into the high 80db range while still keeping composure. In our opinion, speakers at this level should allow you to hear all the details in the music without any cabinet resonance or driver peaks that can destroy the response. The Kanta No 3 did precisely that, allowing us to listen at higher levels than usual.

Here at Audio Advice, we get a lot of questions asking, “why should I spend more for the Kanta?” when the great Theva speakers are much less expensive. Well, it starts with the drivers. The Kanta uses an IAL3 beryllium dome tweeter. In fact, it is the least expensive speaker in Focal’s lineup to use a beryllium tweeter. Theva uses an aluminum/magnesium tweeter that is very good in its own right but will not give you the effortless detail and naturalness found in Kanta. The midrange and woofers sections of Kanta are FlAX which, compared to the slatefiber cones on Theva, will sound more natural with a better sense of realism. And finally, the cabinet. The Cabinet of Kanta uses a high-density polymer front baffle, which is much denser than MDF, providing more damping. The Kanta utilizes Focal’s “Focus Time” front baffle that actually has a curved profile to the top of the cabinet to better time align the drivers, giving a much more coherent sound compared to Theva. As good as Theva is, Kanta costs more because it takes you even closer to a real performance.

Overall Recommendation

The Focal Kanta line impressed us with its ability to provide musical realism in any music we played. While very detailed, they also offer warmth and smoothness when the music calls for it. They had excellent dynamics and micro detail, only being beaten in this regard by much larger and more expensive speaker systems. Build quality was top-notch for the class. In some scenarios, we found the reflective glass top panel distracting in some light situations, taking our attention off the sound. We could see this presenting a reflection issue with some projector setups. The color and finish options are excellent, allowing owners to match their rooms. We truly enjoyed our time with the Focal Kanta No 3, and if you are in the market for a speaker system in this price class, we highly recommend you look at the Kanta line. If you have any questions on how the Focal Kanta can take your music and home theater to new levels, please give us a call or chat on our website, and our group of product experts can help you choose the

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