KantoYU4 Gloss Red/Rouge

BackgroundWhilst not wishing to label myself an audiophile, there can be little question that I like my music to sound live, the kind of experience where you can shut your eyes and visualise the musicians around you as if you're in the same room. This is remarkably difficult for any audio system to achieve, whether the recording be of a full-blown Marshall stack, a folk rendition, or a concert piano.Source FormatAll my music is stored in high resolution FLAC format on a central NAS device and accessed via PLEX. For mobile listening tracks are live streamed direct from the PLEX media server to my Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Fortunately, I have excellent broadband courtesy of Virgin and a 50Gb mobile data package.RequirementsFor home listening I have a Meridian active speaker setup in the lounge and a Meridian Explorer USB DAC coupled with Sennheiser HD 650 for headphone use. Both perform exceptionally well, but do not necessarily lend themselves to all day listening whilst working at the desk. Neither do they come cheap and trying to find acceptable near field audio quality, without breaking the bank, was the challenge in finding suitable desk top speakers.In addition to a pleasant listening experience suitable speakers would need to meet the following criteria:• Powered (active) to minimise cabling.• Input sources to include digital (optical or coaxial), analogue, Bluetooth and phono (ideally).• Subwoofer output in case of requirement.• Ease of control.• Aesthetically pleasing to look at.Having already unsuccessfully tried a cheaper pair of speakers in the £100 bracket, online research narrowed my choice down to three speakers ranging from £199 to £999, of which the Kanto YU4’s reviewed here came in at £334 including stands.Unpacking and SetupInitial impressions of the Kantos upon unpacking was one of concern that I did not accidentally dent the drive cones whilst lifting the speakers out of the box. Fortunately, I was aware the cones were unprotected and thus avoided harm, but I would have preferred there to have been a sheet of cardboard at least to prevent any mishap. The weight of the speakers was reassuring at around 6.5 Kg including stands and the chosen finish (gloss black) was of good quality, as was the construction in general. Having mounted the speakers on the YUS stands (purchased separately), after experimentation I ended up positioning the speakers approximately 30” apart (centre to centre) and equidistant to my listening position also about 30” away. My desk backs onto a wall, the speakers eventually being placed about 4” forward. I found best results were obtained with no toe-in of the speakers.Input wise I tested the speakers on the analogue input via the Meridian Explorer USB DAC, on the digital optical input via Nobsound Douk Audio U2 USB Converter, in both instances the source being USB output from my PC. I also tested the Bluetooth input from my Samsung Galaxy phone. All inputs worked equally well. The Bluetooth had a limited range of about 10 feet, though this could be extended with Google Chromecast for those who want to wander further afield. The speakers also come equipped with a phono input, which I didn’t test but make the purchase of a record deck more likely (nostalgia) and is a welcome addition.Listening ExperienceSound wise, the speakers certainly demonstrated no lack of bass. If anything, I found that I would knock back the bass a single step with certain recordings. On no occasion did I find myself increasing the bass. That is not to say I don’t think the sound could be improved by the addition of a subwoofer, these are after all a relatively small enclosure, just that I don’t think it is absolutely necessary and I won’t be purchasing one. On AC/DC’s Gone Shooting the bass sounded almost perfect with no EQ adjustment, whilst on Yo-Yo Ma’s cello suites I preferred to back bass off a notch. These speakers really excelled at both AC/DC and Yo-Yo-Ma, the latter being particularly impressive considering the low frequencies exacted by the cello. Other recordings tested including Eagles’ Hotel California, Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty, The Beatles Paperback Writer, Beth Hart’s Jazz Man, Brian Setzer Orchestra’s This Cats on a Hot Tin Roof, Olga Scheps’ Concert Suite from the Nutcracker: March, Amanda Marshall’s Let It Rain, Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone, Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers and Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of my Head all played fine with no EQ adjustment.The speakers themselves are equipped with a rotary dial volume control on the front of the left speaker which also serves as a push type input selector. Since I found little need to adjust the EQ, this was more than adequate for everyday use. The remote included does however provide additional adjustment for balance, bass, treble and volume along with input selection and Bluetooth control. I did like the inclusion of a reset buttons on the equaliser adjustments. There is also a power button on the remote allowing the speakers to be put into standby mode.ConclusionOverall, I am most impressed with the speakers and cannot rate them highly enough for near field desktop use. Having now had them for a couple of days, I remain highly impressed, with no tiredness experienced during long periods of listening (five hours this morning) and even less desire to adjust the EQ settings, which is testament to their very balanced sound stage. I have defaulted to using the optical input, there being no noticeable benefit to feeding an analogue input from the external Meridian Explorer DAC, again testament to the quality of the internal DAC and peripheral components. I am really enjoying these.

I bought these speakers to use with my TV. The sound quality of most flat screen TVs is awful, but adding these speakers brought Hi-Fi sound to my living room. The left speaker contains the pre/power amps and the supplied speaker cable is used to connect the right hand speaker. There are inputs for analog line/phono inputs (switchable) and 2 digital optical inputs. If your TV only has a digital coax output, get a digital coax to digital optical converter box for a few pounds. The makers seem to have responded to criticism of the remote and a boxy, sturdy remote is now supplied. This allows you to control treble, bass, volume, input and Bluetooth pairing. The sound quality is natural and bass is remarkably good for such a small speaker. Bass freaks may want to add a subwoofer - there is a rca phono output on the back of the 'master' speaker. Bluetooth pairing worked flawlessly and I can now use VLC Player on my phone to stream music from my music server. My only niggles? The remote only seems to work if it is pointed straight at the left hand speaker. Also, my satellite receiver remote seems to confuse the speakers - not really anyone's fault! I haven't tried hitching up a turntable to this system, but my son, who bought the same speakers, is very happy with the sound from his record deck through the system. In conclusion - a real value for money pair of powered speakers that could form the centre of a budget hi-fi system.

I bought these to use as desktop speakers for a PC. They're active (inbuilt amp) which kept the cable clutter down (I run an optical cable from PC to them.)They sound fun, with decent bass for their size. They are bookshelf speakers so don't expect to get super low but music is entertaining to listen to, and you can drop a point or two in the inbuilt treble & bass adjustment if you like.The auto-power on works great for the PC, which can now be used as a Spotify player and remote controlled from my phone. There is a quiet high-pitched whine for a few seconds when they power up, but they don't auto-power down so quickly that it's a problem.Lots of inputs on the back and they have a sub pre-out if you want to pad out the bass.They look fantastic, mine are plain white but plenty of other colours available.I'd buy again.