Kanto ORA
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We offer free 2-day shipping on most products within the continental US.
Weekdays - Orders placed by 2pm EST ship same day. Orders placed after 2pm EST will ship the following business day.
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Orders requiring motor freight delivery may take more than two business days. Once your order has shipped, you'll receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number for easy tracking.
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At this time, we do not ship internationally and orders to Hawaii and Alaska may incur an additional shipping charge. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com to confirm.
Rerouting and Address Changes
We cannot make ANY address changes once an order is placed. If you are unable to accept delivery of your package as ordered, we will need to cancel your order, return the package to sender and have you replace your order through our website.
Keep the Box
We suggest you keep the shipping box or boxes for at least 30 days. It is actually a great idea to keep boxes for audio products for the life of the product. Having the box and all packing will increase the trade-in value should you decide to move up and they are handy to have should you ever need to send the unit in for repair.
How To Receive a Motor Freight Order
The trucking company will contact you to schedule a convenient time to deliver the order. Please note that you must be present for delivery.
Visually inspect the box to make sure you see no signs of damage. If you notice any damage at all, take some pictures with your phone and make a note of them on the delivery receipt the driver will ask you to sign. If it is obvious that the product is damaged, please refuse the order and contact us immediately at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com.
Open your box as soon as possible and inspect the product for damage and contact us if you find anything wrong.
uShip In-Home Delivery
Due to current concerns surrounding COVID-19, uShip is able to offer THRESHOLD SERVICE ONLY at this time. To ensure everyone’s safety, uShip is advising carriers to refrain from making room-of-choice deliveries. Threshold service consists of the shipment being brought into the first door of the address or the lobby of an apartment/condo, and does not include set-up, installation, assembly or debris removal.
What to Expect: Most oversized items will be delivered within 2-3 weeks. Your carrier will place your item inside the first door of the address or the lobby of an apartment/condo.
Appointment Scheduling: Your delivery partner will call 24-48 hours prior to delivery to arrange an appointment window.
How to prepare for in-home delivery:
- Determine the clearest path from the street to your home
- Measure entrances and hallways to ensure your item will fit
- Remove any wall hangings or clutter to ensure a clear path and to prevent damages
- Remove old furnishings to allow placement for your new piece
Check your furniture for damages: We rarely expect damaged furniture, but in the instance it does happen, we have you covered. Once your item’s packaging is removed, check for any damages that may have occurred in transit. Take pictures of any damages and notate appropriately on the delivery receipt. Keep possession of the damaged piece and contact us via phone or email and we’ll start the process to repair/replace your new piece of furniture. For uShip customer support, please call 800-698-7447.
At Audio Advice, we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction. We'll bend over backward to make sure you're 100% satisfied and we won't accept anything less. We offer 30-day hassle-free returns and personalized service from real, live people.
If an item doesn't meet your expectations, you may return or exchange it in its original condition and packaging within 30 days for a full refund, minus shipping fees. Items shipped back in like new condition through standard shipping carriers will only incur a flat fee of $15 to return. If the items were initially shipped through free scheduled delivery via motor freight (commonly referred to as LTL), returning them will result in return shipping fees starting at $150. These items include but are not limited to, oversized items such as TVs, certain subwoofers, floorstanding speakers, furniture, and most items weighing over 75 pounds. Return fees will also apply for exchanges. We want to treat your system as if it is our own and want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase.
Please see the instructions below. We only accept returns for any product purchased directly from our website. If merchandise is not returned in its original condition or is missing packaging, manuals, accessories or other parts, or the resale value of the product has been impaired, a partial refund will be given and calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Non-Returnable Items
The following items cannot be returned or cancelled:
- Special/Custom Order Items
- Open Box Products
- Gift Cards
- In-ear headphones cannot be returned once the packaging has been opened due to personal hygiene reasons. Please contact our customer care team if you'd like help choosing.
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Turntables With a Broken Stylus: All turntables ship out with the stylus intact. If you return a turntable or phono cartridge with a broken or missing stylus you will be subject to a return fee. Please be careful when setting up your turntable and contact us with any questions.
Is It Easy To Return An Item?
Yes, simply give us a call at 888.899.8776 or you can email our support team at support@audioadvice.com. Many times our team of experts can help figure out why the product might not be working like you expected and get things fixed over the phone, so don’t be surprised if we ask a few questions, we love troubleshooting!
If our tech help can not make you happy, we will email over a return shipping label with a Return Number.
Hopefully, you saved all of the original item’s box and packaging inserts. You will want to pack back up your return or exchange in the same way it came out of the original box. Once you have everything packaged correctly, tape the box on the top and bottom to assure it stays together. If Audio Advice shipped the item to you inside a second box, it's a good idea to use that same extra box to help prevent damage on its way back to us. To avoid it accidentally coming back to you, use a magic marker to cross out the old shipping label or just tear it off.
The return shipping label we send you will have our address on it, just make sure you take the box to the right shipper (UPS, FEDEX, or USPS) as per the label.
If you are close to one of our stores, please let us know if it is more convenient for you to return it to us directly. You will still need to get a return number by contacting us and shipping and/or restocking charges may apply.
When Will I See My Refund?
It usually takes around 7-14 days for the refund to show up on the payment method you used. We do inspect all returns for damage and accuracy of the item inside the box before issuing a refund. Some items may be subject to shipping and restocking fees.
Can I Exchange My Purchase For Something Different?
Sometimes those big speakers just don’t fit in the room or you might have bought a small subwoofer and later found out you’d love a bigger one. If you would like to make an exchange within 30 days of receiving your item, just give us a call at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com and we will help work out the details. Additional shipping charges and return costs may apply.
How Do I Cancel An Order?
If the item has already shipped out or is a special order item, it is not possible to cancel the order. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com to start the return process.
What If I Find Shipping Damage?
We need to know right away about any shipping damage. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com within 48 hours of your delivery so we can get the ball rolling on making things right. It’s very helpful to take some pictures and email them to us if possible.
Can I Refuse A Shipment?
You can, but unless the item is damaged, shipping and restocking fees will be deducted from your refund. If your item arrives damaged and you are lucky enough to be there, snap some quick pics and refuse the order. Then contact us so we can get a replacement on the way.
What Happens If My Order Is Defective?
This is actually pretty rare, most consumer electronics work fine out of the box 99.9% of the time. We’d like for you to contact us first by calling 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com so we can help get to the bottom of things. If your item is indeed defective during the first 30 days, we can usually exchange it for a new, replacement unit.
What About Service After 30 Days?
Audio Advice has a great relationship with all of our brands and can help you with warranty service by the brand after our 30-day guarantee period. Even after the warranty expires, we can arrange for service by the brand on products purchased from Audio Advice. Just call 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com.
How Do You Determine A Restocking Fee?
You may not believe it, but sometimes we receive items back that were put in the box with zero packaging and are completely destroyed or are missing many of the pieces that came with the item. We also track serial numbers and will get back different serial numbers. We’ve even seen different items than what we shipped out be returned. However, it’s very important to package your return properly so that nothing goes missing or gets damaged in shipping, which will result in a restocking fee or even no refund at all. If a product is opened and the market value of the product is reduced, then a restocking fee may be applied to the cost of restocking and the reduced market value of the product. The bottom line is if you treat us fairly, we will do the same.
Audio Advice strives to provide industry-leading support and service while also maintaining the lowest prices available on products for our customers. We work hard with our vendors to bring our customers the best products at each price point. As a part of that process, we work with our vendors to provide the lowest pricing in our stores and on our website.
Our prices should always be the same as any other authorized dealer, including big-box retailers and major online retailers.
If you believe that you have found a lower advertised price from a legitimate authorized seller, call us and let us know so we can make sure we can correct any inadvertent error on our side. As a matter of policy, we update our prices automatically if a vendor changes its authorized pricing policies, so we generally have the best prices all the time. Increasingly, there are knock-off copies of products online, usually sold by non-authorized dealers.
Please be sure that the item meets the following conditions:
- The item is brand new, in stock, and available for purchase
- The item has the identical model number, color, etc as the item on our site.
- The seller is an authorized dealer
As always, our goal is to provide a terrific customer experience, including industry low prices. We appreciate your support.
Overview
The High Notes
Reference Quality
Seamless Sub Integration
Compact Size
Kanto YU2 powered desktop speakers have been a go-to pick the last few years for many people who want improved sound quality from their computer without taking up much real estate on their desk. In fact, we have consistently awarded the YU2 as one of the best computer speakers year after year. Its bigger brothers, the YU4 and YU6, are great editions to the line for someone who wants a little more sound. But time and time again, we see people eyeing the YU2 due to how well it can produce sound for its exceptionally compact size.
Due to its popularity over the last eight years, Kanto has listened to its customers and created a brand new version that is similar to the YU2 with all the upgrades we’ve been asking for. Introducing the Kanto Ora. The perfect speaker for gamers, creators, and musicians looking for a speaker that bridges the gap between your built-in computer speakers and large studio-grade monitors yet still gives you that audiophile-approved sound without taking over your entire desktop.
First, while the YU2’s aren’t going anywhere, the new ORA’s will be a direct step up in features, technology, and sound quality. We’ll discuss the differences between ORA and the YU2 to help you decide if you should upgrade from the YU2’s or if you should spend a few extra bucks for the new ORA’s if you’re in the market for some desktop speakers.
Design & Build Quality
The new ORAs may be inexpensive, but they don’t feel or look like it! They come in a sleek matte black finish and compared to the YU2 speakers, they have a new and improved waveguide for the tweeter and an updated woofer below. The matte black finish is extremely appealing, and we love that it will fit in with just about any decor. However, one thing we love about Kanto speakers in general is their fun color options like white, black, walnut, bamboo, and more. We see how many creators will love the matte black, clean finish on the ORA’s but some people love to have their speakers stand out on their desks, so we would love to see Kanto add more options in the future.
Kanto has also added a small volume knob to the bottom right of the main speaker for quick access to volume control and input switching. This is a massively welcomed feature that we wished the YU2 had, so we were thrilled to see it on the new ORA speaker. No longer are the days of reaching around to the back of the speaker to adjust the volume control and fumbling around to fine-tune it. The new knob feels very nice and I love that when you are connected via Bluetooth and turn up the volume, it shows it on your phone as well. You can also enter pairing mode by just pressing in the knob. Having this knob at just an arms reach at your desk proved extremely convenient during our testing.
They’ve also created a new small LED indicator light as well. The YU2 has something like a miniature bulb that would emit light and, when in a dark setting, could be somewhat distracting. The new ORA has a small pinhole-sized opening where the light emits from so that it’s easy to see at a glance but not overly distracting. This light makes it easy to see what mode it’s in too. When you press the knob, it will blink blue and goes into Bluetooth pairing mode. When connected, it will be solid blue. Again, seeing this at a quick glance helps you determine the status of your speaker instead of playing a guessing game with pressing and holding multiple buttons like some Bluetooth speakers do.
As we mentioned, the tweeter now sits in a waveguide that is slightly recessed and allows a little more control over the directivity of the sound. We also think it elevates the overall look and design of the speaker, mirroring what more expensive studio monitors often look like. It is still a ¾” silk dome tweeter, but the woofer has been upgraded from a 3” composite material used in the YU2 to a 3” paper cone woofer which provides a more natural sound. They’ve also removed the center dome and thinned out the surround of the woofer for an overall cleaner and improved style. Little features like this upgrade the overall look of this speaker and make it look like a true luxury speaker in a miniature size.
The entire speaker unit is similar in size to the YU2 at 3.9” wide, 5.6” deep, and an inch taller at 6.9”. And what’s really incredible is they each only weigh 2.2 lbs. This makes them small and light enough that you could throw them in your backpack and bring them to a friend's for an impromptu recording session and use them as your studio monitors.
When you spin ORA around, you have a larger bass port compared to the YU2 at the top and all your connections on the main speaker. There is a simple Bluetooth 5.0 pair button, a USB-C input, subwoofer out, RCA inputs, your power connection, and speaker out connection to connect the other speaker. And speaking of connecting to the other speaker, they have now included a speaker wire interconnect cable to connect the speakers together instead of the speaker wire that you have to tighten onto the YU2 speaker terminals. This makes it extremely easy to connect up and even break them down to take them on the go and then get back up and running quickly. Compared to the YU2, you are missing the 3.5mm aux input on the ORA’s but to us, we don’t see many people needing one for most use cases these will be used in. In addition, they also have a ¼”-20 threaded insert on the back of each speaker for you to mount on a wall or ceiling with a compatible speaker mount.
Kanto also includes small, self-adhesive rubber feet that you can place on the bottom if you wish to sit these directly on your desk. But we highly recommend you add on their speaker stands, specifically made to fit ORA. They have some that are super low profile and slightly tip the speakers up towards your ears and have some foam padding that will add further isolation. Next, they have ones that raise the speaker up about 3 inches to be closer to the ear level for a better performance.
Features & Technology
With USB-C becoming so popular, we were really excited to see this on the back, making it much easier to connect to our computer or laptop. In addition, that subwoofer out lets you pair up with any subwoofer but matches perfectly with the Kanto SUB8V, a very powerful, compact sub. What’s really cool about this connection is that the ORA’s crossover network automatically kicks in and crosses the sound over at 100Hz to a sub when it is connected, letting the ORA focus on vocals and high frequencies while the sub handles the low-end duties. This allows the ORAs to play even louder without distortion since it can focus on those mid and high frequencies alone.
The ORAs provide 100 watts of peak power and 50 watts RMS of DSP-tuned, bi-amplified Class D power that gets shockingly loud and low for their very small size. Most entry-level powered speakers use just one amp that drives everything inside one speaker box and use passive crossovers to route the signal to each driver, which means they have to use devices to passively filter the sound out. When you have a separate amplifier for each speaker driver, as these Kanto-powered speakers do, you can use an active electronic crossover which is far more efficient. The ORAs also utilize digital signal processing, or DSP, to perfectly set up for the specific drivers to extract the very best performance from the speaker.
There is just something about an active speaker where you have a separate amplifier for each speaker driver that brings the sound to life and lets you hear all the details, especially when it comes to recording music or editing videos. Another cool feature is the RCA inputs that let you hook up legacy gaming systems or other analog gear.
Performance
We set the ORAs up at a typical desk setup in our office that we use for video editing, casual music listening, and general use like watching YouTube videos. The setup was super simple as we used a USB-C to USB-C cable to plug into our MacBook Pro, and it instantly recognized it, and we were up and running.
Immediately, we noticed how much the bass performance had improved over the YU2 speakers. We turned them up pretty loud, and they went shockingly low without distortion. Add in the Kanto sub, and not only did our entire setup sound more dynamic, but it improved the mids and highs dramatically due to the sub handling the entire low end. And we love the fact that it automatically crosses the sound over with a subwoofer, so it’s truly just plug-and-play without any worries of having to set anything up.
When we listened to music with the ORAs, they had great clarity and precision in the high frequencies. The mids were well-balanced, and the vocals sounded extremely realistic. And this proved important when it came to video editing or even producing music. Hearing the instruments and voices how they were recorded is important so you can accurately adjust them to your liking. We must admit that using these as reference monitors with how small they are made us skeptical of their quality. But we were pleasantly surprised and extremely happy with their performance.
It’s also great to have options of stands that match perfectly. We really liked the stands that raise these up closer to your ear height for a better listening experience. And the volume control knob made volume adjustments super easy with a knob on the front of the speaker. Overall, the ORAs were easy to use, sounded fantastic, extremely compact, and proved to be perfect for a desktop setup without taking up too much space.
Overall Recommendation
If you’re looking for a pair of desktop speakers that are compact and easy to use, you have to seriously consider the Kanto ORAs. Add one of their speaker stands and a Kanto subwoofer, and you have yourself an insanely good desktop sound system for a very affordable price. We highly recommend the ORA’s as some simple and great-sounding computer speakers that won’t take up much room but sound way better than the speakers built into your computer.
We’re here to help!
If you have more questions about the Kanto ORAs or any other audio or video gear, reach out to our team of experts or stop by one of our award-winning showrooms, and we‘d be happy to help you!
Audio Advice has been in the industry since 1978, and throughout the years, we’ve developed a team of professionals who live and breathe all things audio and video. We spend countless hours testing and reviewing every product we sell to ensure it meets our extremely high-quality standards. With our state-of-the-art home theater audio lab, we can become product experts and provide our customers with in-depth, honest feedback.
When you buy from Audio Advice, you’re buying from a trusted seller since 1978. We offer Free Shipping, Free Returns, Lifetime Expert Support, and our Price Guarantee. We look forward to serving you!
