Above: the Focal Kanta Loudspeaker is shown at the 2017 TAVES Consumer Electronics Show.

The latest addition to Focal’s Classic Home Audio collection, the Kanta N°2 is a totally new design from the French company. By utilising many of the company’s proprietary acoustic innovations with newly-researched techniques, Focal has created a compact 3-way floorstanding speaker that combines the exceptional performance the brand is known for, with an exciting new industrial design that will blend in perfectly with any interior. As befitting a brand with the acoustic heritage of Focal, Kanta is completely dedicated to performance. For the first time, the company has developed a loudspeaker combining its Flax sandwich cone speaker driver system with its legendary Beryllium tweeter. Housed within a totally new cabinet that offers a softer approach to design, Kanta is destined for music lovers who, above all, are searching for a loudspeaker that delivers the exceptionnal Focal performance in a compact design. However, as it is the case with all Focal designs, every detail is dedicated to acoustic performance, from the density and rigidity of the materials used for the front panel and housing, to the smooth edges on the baffle and the dual port design.

High-frequencies are reproduced by a new pure Beryllium tweeter designed and developed especially for Kanta. The IAL 3 tweeter combines the principles of the IAL (Infinite Acoustic Loading) and the IHL (Infinite Horn Loading) tweeters developed for Focal’s flagship Utopia range. Designed to improve the absorption of sound waves and reduce the resonance frequency of the tweeter, the IAL 3 delivers an effortless performance, blending perfectly with the mid-range drivers making it acoustically invisible. Hand made in France and patented, Focal’s Flax cone has already proved its worth in several of the company’s leading designs. By sandwiching flax fibre between two thin layers of glass fibre, Flax driver cones deliver high internal damping, high velocity of sound and high flexural rigidity. This unique driver cone design is characterised by its natural sound, with low coloration, richness of reproduction in the midrange register and tighter bass when used for low frequency duties. The 1 x 6.5” (16.5cm) midrange driver is equipped with a technology which has become a must for Focal: TMD suspension (Tuned Mass Damping). All Kanta’s speaker drivers are also equipped with NIC motors (Neutral Inductance Circuit), which stabilise the magnetic field to provide perfect definition, whilst delivering better controlled bass via the 2 x 6.5” (16.5cm)
bass drivers. This unique combination of Flax and Beryllium delivers music with an incredibly natural yet musical performance.

When it comes to innovation, constraints call for technology. To meet the criteria of a compact design, Focal’s engineers had to reduce the volume of the bass cabinet, yet retain high-quality performance levels. This called for a new material to be utilised for the baffle, which would retain the high-levels of rigidity required, yet remain favourable to the acoustic conditions. Through research, Focal engineers discovered and developed a mono-bloc high-density polymer (HDP): a material which is capable of a significantly higher performance compared to MDF, being 70% denser, 15% more rigid, and 25% increased damping. To avoid any diffraction of the sound, the mono-bloc baffle has been worked with the resultant shape offering only smooth edges, allowing the sound waves to effortlessly flow across the surface. This has been attached to the rear housing of the cabinet, which is internally braced and constructed from moulded multi-ply wood to provide even greater rigidity.

For more info, check out www.focal.com

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