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The first thing that strikes me is its general cleanliness there’s the sense that I am peering through a far more translucent lens than with standmounts at just £1,000 less. The good news is that it is – although it’s not flawless. The Kanta N☁ sits at an awkward price point where it’s starting to get into true high-end territory, so needs to be a serious performer. Claimed sensitivity is 88dB and the Kanta N☁ specifies a frequency response of 46Hz to 40kHz (+/-3dB), power handling of 25 to 150W and nominal impedance of 8ohm. As is typical, a modest amount of toe-in is needed. The speaker works best placed over half a metre from the rear boundary wall, although you can push it a good deal closer if you use the supplied port bung. Obviously, mounting on a stand is essential and Focal’s offering is an excellent visual match, but costs a stiff £900 per pair. The cabinet top plate is glass, and the supplied ‘beret-type’ grilles attach to the lower drive unit magnetically. The back of the box is made of wood, and sports a largish bass reflex port for which a foam bung is provided for use close to rear walls. The front baffle is made out of a high-density polymer, said to be 70 percent denser than MDF, 15 percent stiffer and with one quarter as much again in terms of damping. It’s a third order for the tweeter and second order for the mid/bass unit.
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A silicon steel laminate core inductor is used for the mid/bass part of the crossover.
Focal pro print drivers#
The crossover has large tracks that minimise circuit resistance, with direct paths from input to drivers and selected film-type capacitors and low distortion air coils. It uses Focal’s Tuned Mass Damping and Neutral Inductance Circuit technology to stabilise the magnetic field to provide perfect definition and better-controlled bass, says the company. At 2.4kHz it crosses over to the 165mm flax sandwich cone mid/bass unit, said to have low mass, high rigidity and excellent damping.
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Although it’s two-and-a-half times lighter than titanium, it is seven times more rigid.
![focal pro print focal pro print](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51M+BcTX5eL._SX351_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
The new pure IAL 3 27mm inverted-dome tweeter combines the principles of Infinite Acoustic Loading and Infinite Horn Loading tweeters, both of which improve the absorption of sound waves to reduce the resonant frequency of the tweeter, according to Focal. Personally, I’m a big fan of both Focal’s beryllium tweeter and its flax mid/bass unit. There’s also a walnut wood option, where you get a choice of ivory, warm taupe, gauloise blue and dark grey baffles. Another innovation is the range of snazzy baffle colours offered with the gloss black cabinet paint finish – carrara white, gauloise blue, solar yellow and black lacquer are also available. Regular readers who saw the £6,999 N☂ floorstander review back in HFC 435 will remember the Kanta range is the first time that the company’s beryllium tweeter and flax mid/bass drivers have been combined. Focal describes it as “a new vision for a premium speaker,” no less… It’s certainly something different for this French brand and is one of its most expensive standmount loudspeakers. The striking Kanta N☁ is best described as a high-end standmount speaker aimed at those who put design flair before convention. You’d think with such a vast speaker range it would have already hit every possible niche, but apparently not.