About the Focal Kanta™ No.2
A refined and powerful floor-standing speaker
The curved front baffle of the Focal Kanta No.2 aligns the drivers perfectly so the speaker delivers an expansive, fully integrated soundstage.
A refined and powerful floor-standing speaker
The Focal Kanta™ No.2 — a reference-quality floor-standing speaker developed and manufactured in France — delivers extremely detailed sound for two-channel and home theater applications. Its visually striking cabinet houses two 6-1/2" flax woofers, a 6-1/2" flax midrange, and a 1-1/16" Beryllium tweeter that deliver enhanced imaging and a room-filling soundstage. And it comes in multiple gorgeous finishes to match your home decor.
Brilliantly designed drivers
Focal outfitted their Kanta speaker lineup with a combination of their signature flax woofer cones and a Beryllium tweeter. The unique pairing allows the No.2 to deliver music with a high degree of clarity and precision without sacrificing warmth.
The IAL3 Beryllium tweeter combines features from Focal's IAL (Infinite Acoustic Loading) and IHL (Infinite Horn Loading) tweeters, with the goal of eliminating all audible distortion. And the tweeter's inverted dome design improves off-axis performance, for a wider 'sweet spot'.
The woofers and midrange use an NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) motor to stabilize the magnetic field for natural, uncolored mids and precise bass. The midrange also employs a carefully designed TMD (Tuned Mass Damping) suspension to control motion in the cone's surround, for more articulate midrange performance.
A gorgeous, vibration-damping cabinet
Rather than the usual MDF (medium-density fiberboard), the front baffle of the Kanta No.2 is molded out of a single piece of polymer for a higher degree of density, stiffness, and damping, and it's shaped to eliminate sound diffraction. The cabinet itself is crafted from a molded wood material that's rigid and vibration-resistant. Front and rear Powerflow ports helps deliver deep, uncompressed bass. Choose the look you want from a range of gorgeous color and finish combinations.
My hands-on experience with the Focal Kanta No.2
In May 2023, Focal came to our Charlottesville, VA headquarters to showcase several of the company's brilliant speakers. Crutchfield employees were given a crash course in the science that goes into building drivers with the right ratio of mass, rigidity, and damping to suit their role in the speaker's architecture. Then we listened to a few musical selections so we could hear how the theory is put into practice. The star performers were a pair of Kanta No.2 speakers connected to a Naim Uniti Nova integrated amplifier.
The company's product expert streamed a number of tracks as a way to showcase the speakers' facility with different genres and voices. A couple stood out for me. "Tremors" by Sohn featured a fluid, sonorous intro that gradually expanded to fill the room, then widened further until it seemed to go beyond the walls on either side. Female vocals and occasional bursts of subterranean bass showcased the No.2's impressive ability to create an engaging, controlled soundfield that wraps around the listener like a warm blanket.
Chris Stapleton's "Death Row" was naturally built around his one-of-a-kind voice. To reveal his unique tone and timbre required the speakers to "disappear" — to become so transparent that I felt like I was sitting in a room listening to Stapleton sing the blues just for me. Again they performed flawlessly, delivering an intimate listening experience that allowed me to feel the emotions the artist was channeling during the recording session.
After listening to a handful of songs, one of my colleagues asked the visiting Focal representative if we were hearing a subwoofer. He laughed and said "We didn't even bring one with us." For me, that fact just highlighted the exceptional performance of the flax cone woofers and front and rear Powerflow ports, which produced well-rounded and higly accurate low end.
It's difficult to sum up the experience of listening to speakers that are so carefully designed. Let me try by saying that the Focal No.2s sounded refined and powerful, yet also relaxed. Like they weren't "trying too hard," but rather allowing the pure artistry of the music to flow through them.
Build a Kanta surround-sound system
These speakers are an excellent choice for a two-channel system, but they're also compatible with other Kanta speakers that can be used to create a voice-matched home theater system:
- a Focal Kanta Center brings dialogue to the forefront, and enriches music and sound effects
- Focal Kanta No.1 stand mount speakers help create an immersive experience as side or rear effects speakers
For larger rooms and systems, consider the mighty flagship floor-stander — the Focal Kanta No.3 — for your front left and right speakers.
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Product highlights:
- three-way design:
- dual 6-1/2" flax cone woofers with NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) magnetic circuit for powerful, musical bass
- 6-1/2" flax cone midrange with TMD (Tuned Mass Damping) suspension and NIC for precise, detailed midrange
- 1-1/16" IAL3 Beryllium tweeter for extremely accurate high frequencies
- sonically neutral multi-ply molded wood cabinet
- molded high-density polymer front baffle for enhanced sound definition
- front and rear Powerflow ports for extended bass response
- carpet spikes and protective disks for solid floors included
- frequency response: 35-40,000 Hz (±3dB)
- sensitivity: 91 dB
- nominal impedance: 8 ohms
- power handling: 40-300 watts
- removable magnetic cloth grilles
- high-quality binding post speaker terminals accept bare wire, spade connectors, and banana connectors
- designed and built in France
Dimensions and warranty:
- 12-5/8"W x 44"H x 18-3/4"D
- weight: 77.2 lbs.
- warranty: 5 years
- MFR # JMLKANTN2-BHG/DB
What's in the box:
Focal Kanta™ No.2 owner's manual
- Floorstanding loudspeaker
- Large grille
- Small grille
- Outrigger feet
- 4 Spikes
- 4 Protective discs
- User Manual
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More details on the Focal Kanta™ No.2
Features & specs
| General | ||
|---|---|---|
| Enclosure | Ported | |
| Finish | Multi-ply/Polymer/Lacquer | |
| Color | Gloss Black | |
| Tweeter | Hard-Dome | |
| Tweeter Size (inches) | 1.1 | |
| Midrange Size (inches) | 6.5 | |
| Woofer Size (inches) | 6.5 | |
| Woofer Composition | Flax | |
| Woofer Surround | Rubber | |
| Built-in Powered Sub | No | |
| Dolby Atmos Drivers | No | |
| Connector Type | Binding post | |
| Bi-amp Inputs | No | |
| Parts Warranty | 5 Years | |
| Labor Warranty | 5 Years | |
| Specifications | ||
| Power Range | 40-300 | |
| Frequency Response | 35-40k Hz | |
| Sensitivity | 91 dB | |
| Impedance (Ohms) | 8 | |
| Subwoofer Amp Power | --- | |
| Height (inches) | 44 | |
| Width (inches) | 12-5/8 | |
| Depth (inches) | 18-3/4 | |
| Weight | 77.2 lbs | |
Product Research
Features
3-Way Driver Design: The Focal Kanta N2 floorstanding loudspeaker features a 3-way driver design that combines a Beryllium dome tweeter with a 6.5" Flax sandwich cone midrange driver driver and two 6.5" Flax sandwich cone bass woofers that give your music and movie soundtracks warmth, depth, detail, and clarity.
IAL3 Beryllium Tweeter: The Kanta N2 houses a new 1.1" pure Beryllium dome tweeter for the high frequency and treble register, up to 40kHz. The 1.1" Beryllium tweeter features an incredibly light and extremely rigid dome that offers a linear frequency response curve, acoustic transparency, and fast transient response. This new IAL3 Beryllium tweeter combines IAL (Infinite Acoustic Loading) and IHL (Infinite Horn Loading) tweeter technologies, both of which help with the absorption of waves, thus lowering the tweeter frequency and eliminating distortion.
- The rear of the Beryllium tweeter is loaded via a small cavity which is connected to the exterior of the enclosure by a horn. The inside of the horn is filled with a damping material. Thus, sound waves from the rear of the tweeter are delicately and gradually absorbed. Its acoustic impedance approaches zero so that no resistance alters the movement of the dome - pushing high frequency definition to its maximum.
- The advantage of this setup is that it only slightly affects the cabinet's internal volume. Thus, Focal can get the most out of the woofer to enhance bass performance while having an ideally-positioned tweeter - all in a reasonably-sized cabinet. Moreover, it helps to isolate the tweeter from any interference from vibrations that could lead to distortion.
Flax Cone Midrange & Woofers: The Focal Kanta N2 benefits from Focal's Flax sandwich driver cone technology, making voices more intelligible with more depth. Flax is an eco-textile with astounding structural properties - it is light, stiff, and well damped for greater neutrality of timbres and better definition. The Kanta N2 is composed of one 6.5" midrange driver and two 6.5" woofers with Flax sandwich cones that provides natural midrange, rich bass, and high definition sound. This sandwich cone is made of high quality flax fiber enclosed by two thin layers of glass fiber. The lightness of the fiber satisfies the criteria of high internal damping, high velocity, and high flexural rigidity. Flax is twice as light as fiberglass, because the fiber is hollow. It also has very low elasticity which makes it ideal to increase the flexural rigidity of a sandwich structure.
- TMD (Tuned Mass Damping) Suspension: Focal's Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) suspension system stabilize the dynamic behavior of the woofer's surround according to resonance, thus avoiding deformation of the cone without negatively affecting the dynamics.
- NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) Motor: Focal's NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) motor system stabilizes the magnetic field for perfectly defined sound and better controlled bass.
High Density Cabinet: Even the Focal Kanta N2's speaker cabinet is designed to create acoustic softness and warmth for a sound that is very pleasing to the human ear. The sides, top, and bottom of the cabinet are constructed of multi-ply wood layers, while the front-baffle of the speaker cabinet is molded in one piece from HDP (high density polymer). This configuration of material creates a speaker enclosure that is dense, stiff, and well damped. The speaker cabinet's soft angles eliminate standing waves inside the enclosure that can lead to distortion, while the one-piece HDP front-panel eliminates any sound diffraction so you don't loose any of your sound.
- Power Flow Port Technology: The Kanta N2 floorstanding speaker employs Focal's Power Flow technology with a front and rear firing port for greater efficiency and bigger, deeper bass performance with low distortion.
- Magnetic Grilles: Two cloth, magnetic grilles (one small and one large) easily attach and detach from the speaker cabinet's front-baffle. The large grille covers the two woofers, while the small grille cover the midrange driver. The tweeter has an integrated, non-removable metal grille.
Binding Post Terminals: The Focal Kanta N2 floorstanding speaker is equipped with a set of heavy-duty binding post terminals that will accept bare wire (up to 10AWG), pin-connectors, spade-lugs, and banana plugs (single only). Two plastic inserts will need to be removed to use banana plugs.
Mounting & Placement Options: The Kanta N2 floorstanding loudspeaker features sturdy outrigger feet with decoupling spikes that provide excellent stability on carpeted and other flooring. Protective pads are included to sit underneath the spikes to protect hardwood, tile, laminate, and vinyl floring. The height of the spikes can be adjusted for uneven floors. The N2 floorstanding loudspeaker is perfect for rooms measuring up to 320 sq/ft, and is also ideal for larger rooms of up to 645 sq/ft. Follow these simple placement guidelines to optimize the Aria 948 floorstanding loudspeaker's performance and to guarantee good tonal balance and a realistic sound stage.
- The loudspeakers should be positioned symmetrically, facing the listening area, ideally forming an equilateral triangle with it. However, these distances may be adjusted to find the ideal compromise according to the design of your rooms
- The loudspeakers should be positioned at the same height, in the same horizontal plane. Ideally, the tweeter should be positioned at the same height as the listener's ears in the usual listening position.
- Do not position the loudspeakers too close to a corner of the room and do not place them too close to a wall. This will induce some unwanted room resonance and artificially increase bass response. On the other hand, if the bass level is considered to be insufficient, you could try moving the loudspeakers nearer a wall to re-balance the bass level.
Note: The Focal Kanta N2 floorstanding speaker should always be used with the outrigger feet and spikes (protective discs) installed for maximum stability and optimum sound performance.
Focal Kanta Series: Focal's Kanta Series offers an uncompromising design that is totally focused on acoustic performance, thanks to its newly designed IAL3 Beryllium dome tweeter, legendary Flax sandwich cone technology, and high density cabinet construction. The Kanta Series consists of two floorstanding loudspeakers (N3 / N2), one bookshelf loudspeaker (N1), and a center-channel speaker (Center).
- Break-In Period: The speaker drivers used in the Kanta Series loudspeakers are complex mechanical components which require a certain time to adapt to operate at their best and to become acclimated to the temperature and humidity of the listening environment. This break-in period varies depending on the climate and may last a few weeks. To reduce the break-in period, Focal recommends operating the loudspeakers for approximately twenty consecutive hours. Once the loudspeakers' characteristics have totally stabilized, you will be able to enjoy the Kanta Series loudspeakers' performance fully.
- Made In France: The Kanta series of loudspeakers are developed and manufactured in France by Focal.
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