Intro
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German company Canton is an independent family business operating out of Weilrod that has been making speakers for over 50 years. They make passive, active as well as in-wall speakers spread over 12 different series. Today we’re testing their Reference series, their current top tier speakers, and strangely enough the first Canton we’ve had on review here at Alpha Audio. We’re only too glad that has changed because the Canton Reference 9 completely blew us away. Do we have your attention. Right on. Let’s check it out!
Canton Reference loudspeakers are designed and manufactured in Germany and they were developed from scratch. To be clear, the Reference line is not a continuation of the previous K-series. The design, the crossover, the tuning and the placement of the drivers; everything is different.
Each speaker is available in three finishes. Piano lacquer black, satin white and walnut. The black version comes with no less than 12 coats of lacquer but our preference goes to the white version because it shows off the cabinet’s wavy lines even better. We think the design is very nice and at the same time contributes to a better reproduction. Those wavy lines should, among other things, reduce the diffraction of standing waves.
The Canton Reference 9 is a two-way speaker with a bass reflex system and the only monitor in the Reference series. The other models are all floorstanders. There is also a subwoofer and a center speaker for those who want to go all out. Inside, several chambers have been reinforced to prevent resonances.
The Canton Reference 9 is not a small speaker. It reminds us a bit of the Focal Sopra 1, which we then amically christened “The Fat Lady”. Because of that larger cabinet space, the Reference 9 is even wider than the Reference 7, there is room for a 174mm mid-bass driver.
German Gründlichkeit
That mid-bass driver is made of ceramic tungsten, a material known for its hardness. The 25mm large BC tweeter, this time positioned below the driver, is made of alumina ceramic, again known for its high degree of rigidity. In fact, both drivers are made of aluminum but coated with a specific ceramic top layer. A tried and true recipe at Canton. The bass port is at the bottom this time, fitted with a separate plate, a technique we remember from at Elac. There are separate, magnetic fronts in the box for those who like to protect or hide the drivers.
At the back we not only see a nice pair of WBT connectors but also a system for tuning the tweeter. This way you can alter the response a little by either boosting or reducing the tweeter frequency range. We tried it but recommend using the neutral setting. It is simply the best.
Furthermore, matching stands have been developed to decouple the speaker from the surface and they also feature cable routing. Finally, you get a 10-year warranty on all speakers and it is possible to test the speakers for 30 days before making a purchase.
Canton states a frequency range of 25Hz to 40000kHz which seems quite ambitious but more on that later. With a sensitivity of 87db and an impedance that does not go below 4Ohm, they are not difficult speakers to drive. Still, we did notice they like some power if you really want to make them sing. With a height of 45cm and a weight of 18kg each, this is quite a large monitor that can move quite a bit of air.