With mass manufacturing and thousands of products being pumped out every day it can sometimes be difficult to find truly quality products. The demands for new products and gizmo’s are so high that it can be difficult for the few manufacturers that want to make quality products to stand out from the crowed. Kanot AV Systems is one such company and as a journalist I believe it is our duty on sits like this to give quality products a voicing platform. Normally I like to write my intros under the assumption that I have not already tested the products but in this case I have and the theme will be set from the beginning; we love quality products and the Kanto iPort 5 (Syd 5)is no exception. Let’s get into the review and get a better look at this product:

Price: $359.00

Closer Look:

Specifications and Features:

Audio Inputs • Left and
right line-in RCA

• 3.5mm (1/8”) Auxiliary mini-audio jack

Outputs • Auxiliary
AC power

• S-Video output — View video and photos

on your TV

IR Wireless Remote

Control Functions

• Controls iPod click wheel functionality

• Volume, treble, bass and mute

• Input mode select: iPod, RCA or Auxiliary

(3.5mm mini-audio jack)

• Instant repeat and shuffl e mode

Rear Panel Controls •
Master volume

• Input mode select

Drivers • Low-range
driver: 5.25” magnetically

shielded cone

• High-range driver: 3” magnetically

shielded cone

• Input impedance: 10K ohms unbalanced

Audio Specifi cations •
Frequency Response: 45Hz-20KHz

• S/N Ratio: >90dB (typical, A-weighted)

• 80 real watts power

• Low Driver: 35 watts RMS 8 ohms @1%

THD+N

• Full-range Driver: 2x20 watts RMS 8 ohms

@1% THD+N

• Bass refl ex port enhances bass response

Size and Weight •
Height: 18.5cm

• Width: 56cm

• Depth: 20cm

• Weight: 10kg

Colour • Black, Green & Blue
(other Pantone

colours
possible)

Testing:

To start off testing a pair of speakers it is key that you burn them in for a decent period of time in order to appreciate the full range of the speaker system. I ran the Kanto on a medium- high volume on and off for about 3 days slowly raising the bass and Treble as I went. At the end of the burn-in in process I began the testing.

One thing I will make mention of before we go any further is this: I never thought much of these speaker at the beginning. Granted I loved the design and they did look to be of great quality, I just never thought that a measly $359 set of speakers would have much in the form of range and power. Granted the 80W made me think it might pack a bit of a punch but I always remain skeptical.

Also the packaging made mention of the speakers being of “Audiophile grade” again my skeptical self grimaced.  So what happened when I started testing? I was blown away. Not just mildly impressed but completely shocked. The testing room was about 30 x 24, wide open, and high ceilings. The ideal place to test a large loud speaker system, of course I never imagined the iPort 5’s to be able to fill the room with any sort of decent sound, short of turning them up so loud that they started frapping.

Again, as if Kanto was smugly waggling its tongue out at me in disgust; they performed far beyond what I imagined a tiny all in one speaker system could do. I have heard the Bose “room filling sound” claim on its infomercials for the radio wave. Needless to say I was only marginally impressed when I finally heard the Bose system first hand. The iPort 5 speaker system literally filled the entire room with sound; not just that, it also sounded even better from 20 feet away.

So back to the testing I chose a nice assortment of songs from various genres: Classical, folk, rap, rock, punk (for speed), House (for speed and hard bass hits), and some country (because if anything makes country sound good it is worth its weight in gold). So for now I will break these genres into sections: High (Treble), Mid (Mid-range), and Low (Bass).
 

High (Treble):

I will try not to get too wordy because our readers like us for our straight to the point reviews. For high notes such as cymbals, harmonizing vocals and high noted stringed instruments the Kanto iPort 5’s did an amazing job of balancing smooth treble with sibilance. When treble is too smooth it fade into the background of Mid and Bass tones but if it is too sibilant it end up over powering and music becomes grating on the nerves. To sum it up these are the best speakers I have hear for balancing treble in such a surgical way. 

 Mid (Mid-Range):

 So on to the mid-range for those of you unfamiliar with these term mid-range is you lead vocals, guitar, and in some cases rhythm guitar. An important thing to remember when buying speakers is that you always listen to them first. Always try something in the alternative rock or country Genres and this will tell you not only how well these types of music play but also how well spoken word sounds on them. This point is very important especially if you are going to be using the speakers for both music and home theater applications.

Once again the Kanto iPort 5’s shined through with incredible fortitude. The vocals were crisp and clear when I turned up the treble the brightness showed through very well and there was no distortion or ambient noise to ruin the mid-range experience. Overall, another 10 out of 10 for mid-range.

Low (Bass):

So I must admit again I scoffed that the poor Kanto Speaker system; thinking that in my all mighty opinion that puny little 5.25 drivers had no chance of putting out any kind of decent bass notes. Then as if to crush my pretentiousness like a tiny insignificant bug the Kanto’s drops a good o’l fashion passionate butt whoopin on me and dropped beats like no shelf system I have ever heard. It is one thing to hit low notes but if bass doesn’t have the punch behind it, the overall experience loses consistence and credibility. The Kanto system hit deep bass and hit hard notes like punk and house in triplicates and quads without breaking a sweat. I was extremely impressed with the speed and accuracy the drivers hit the notes. When you are dealing with bass some speakers end up blending quads and triplicates into solid note without differentiating between each tone this is not the case with the Kanto’s. Another ten out of ten.

So suffice it to say I loved these, while I pick up my shattered arrogance and whats left of my pride lets see the final thoughts:

Conclusion:

 Ok so I praised them and they deserved true praise but what are some negatives? Well one drawback is the remote, its range leave a bit to be desired I could only get about 12 feet away before experiencing some issues with it picking the signal up. Second there was a bit of factory glue left over on the screen of the speakers. But these are just little nit pickings and I do not seriously consider them as true cons. Most people won’t be running these anywhere other than an office or living room so your chances of having issues with the remote are slim and as for the glue it is not going to be on every unit and with some solvent it came right out.

Would I recommend this product? Yes, I am officially a Kanto fan I have yet to hear a speaker in this price class that can even touch the quality of sound this produces. The only frapping I had with these was when poor quality MP3 files were used. If you are in the market I strongly suggest getting a set of these I was a skeptic turned believer after using these.

Pros:

• Style
• Price
• Sound Quality
• Easy to use
• Incredible range and able to reach very impressive volume level's
• Multiple Color Choices 
• Can be used with multiple devices with RCA adapter
• It is also compatible with iPhone (which is what we used for testing)

Cons:

• Remote not the best for big rooms
• Little bit of glue

 

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."