I bought these loudspeakers a year ago after auditioning similarly priced pairs for about five months. I was looking for a very specific speaker. I listen to all kinds of music, including jazz, classical, hip hop, and Brazilian jazz, ballads and pop. Even more important, my girl has the only P.H.D. in salsa ever given to anyone, so I also needed to address her needs: a detailed speaker that could transform a big living room into the hottest live salsa club in town. These babies are just what the doctor needed. I was so lucky to catch a pair of demos on eBay, particularly since I was about to spend a whole lot more on some fancy bass cracking B&W bookshelves. Canton’s twin 9 inch woofers offer nothing but sweet deep bass. No distortion, no cracking noises. Yet, the beauty of these speakers is the mid range: clear and detailed. It’s just amazing. Imaging and detail give a live-like ambiance people cannot believe—especially at loud volumes. The equation is simple. If you play some congas and bongos music, be ready to shake it. If a trip on a flying carpet is your thing, any decent song with harmonicas and flutes will literally lift you up and take you away. These speakers are not perfect though. They are bulkier and uglier than average (subjective opinion), and as the reviewer immediately below says, there is something “covering the last edge in detail” that one notices during some extreme high notes. All in all however these Cantons make great used speakers for those of us who love loud music without distortion at a reasonable price. If you are thinking of buying these speakers make sure you have components with enough juice to move them.

Huge, black, heavy, rare.

Bass distortion at near high volume.

Got them five month ago. Impresed by their size and their huge, heavy, ugly looks--cause they're ugly as they could. These girls however are just loud. Nothing else. At low volumes they're certainly NOT cristal clear. In fact, worse than Bose. Trust me, I'm running these Spkrs on good Nakamichi stuff, and I'm telling you: DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN $800 for the pair.

Similar Products Used:

Budget B&W's; Celestion.

At 50+ pounds each, these can''t be stolen

Ugliest grills I have ever seen. Just Ugly.

Excellent speakers, excellent deal. Got these babies in pristine condition less than a year ago. Impressive. They are all around speakers (any music, any volume, any room). I agree they need a heavy-duty amp, but they also benefit from CD players that emphasize high notes (such as Nakamichi players). In fact, the lack fine detail in upper range the colleague below notes as a weakness is nonexistent when running a decent player.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned B&W 805, Celestion A1 & A2, Definitive Technologies.

Flexability, efficiency

Lack fine detail in upper range.

Nice speakers. These speekers play it all and crank. Classical, jazz, blues, rock etc. I like the Canton's because they cosistently play all types of music at "live" volume :) Yes I like my music loud with-out any distortion. I have a large room 40x30 my friends and I love to dance and I need speakers that move some air! Yet I still want to hear all the detail and imaging. Mid range is outstanding ~ wind intruments fly ~ voice is exceptional and bass is tight, quick and deep. It will help deliver some classical music in ways that trully take your breath away. A times the music transends the speekers and becomes three dementional. Sounds live! :) For rock n roll ~ forget all the rest ~ these Cantons are flat out badddd assss!! You cant handle the detailed volume the speekers put out - its scarry! They move the room, its contents and the people. As for quick jazz riffs, angelic voices, and great sound reproduction ~ the speekers are good but not great. There seems to be a thin veil or mist covering the last edge in detail - most noticed at highest notes in a voice and cimble. I have kept the spekers for over a year in spite of looking for better ones. I have auditioned over 10 different manufacturers with plenty of fine stuff in all price ranges($1,500 - $8,500). I have found better detail in some (few), but in giving up way to much volume ~ SO I HAVE STUCK WITH THE CANTONS. I would like to hear some higher end Canton, but no one carries them in this town for auditioning, :( and auditioning on my system is a must. I realize that the quality of the recording has a big effect on my systems sound, but I can tell you that the speekers handle Phono as cleanly and hiss free as CD's. I am very happy with the speekers. :)
System:
Canton 730
Audible Illusions 3A pre
2X Golden Tube SE 100 amps
Revox B22 MK III CD (nice!)
MK III Platter with Virtuoso DTI Cartridge
Tara Labs RSC Prime speeker cables and interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Soliloquy, Theil 2.3, B&W 803N, Spendor SP2, JM Lab Mini Utopia, Apogee Stage.

I have boght this loudspeaker before one year and since then I have been abusing it with HeavyMetal music and movies. Those speakers are loud and have very good transiant response. The vocals are very clear and vived, and the high freqauncy notes are well done. The bass extnsion is good but it suck alot of power. So you need to have a high currnet amp in order to get the best out of them.