CANTON A45 45th Anniversary Limited Edition Speaker

ematthews

ematthews

Audioholic General
Has anyone ever listened to these or Canton Vento's for that matter...Just curious as Accessories for less is selling them really cheap. I'm not buying but just wanted info if any. German engineering has some exceptional stuff and they caught my eye. The A45 really uses some higher end components in them. The sale price is so much less than original MSRP.
Anyways. Thought I would ask since I saw them today.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
See post #7:
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/canton-vento-820-2-2-way-6in-bookshelf-speaker.109838/#post-1223215

Also, when I was researching them, I discovered that the tweeter in the earlier, but more expensive Vento Reference 9.2 DC had a reputation for being on the bright side and having some fatigue. The "ceramic" tweeter in the 820.2 was developed to replace the earlier Ref. 9.2 DC tweeter. I thought the top end of the 820.2 was exceptional!
I feel the tweeter in this $650/pr speaker bested the Focal Be tweeter because of the fullness of the overtones of symphonic chimes!
So that is something to keep an eye out for within the Vento moniker! It appears the A45 uses the same earlier tweeter as the 9.2 DC.
 
ematthews

ematthews

Audioholic General
See post #7:
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/canton-vento-820-2-2-way-6in-bookshelf-speaker.109838/#post-1223215

Also, when I was researching them, I discovered that the tweeter in the earlier, but more expensive Vento Reference 9.2 DC had a reputation for being on the bright side and having some fatigue. The "ceramic" tweeter in the 820.2 was developed to replace the earlier Ref. 9.2 DC tweeter. I thought the top end of the 820.2 was exceptional!
I feel the tweeter in this $650/pr speaker bested the Focal Be tweeter because of the fullness of the overtones of symphonic chimes!
So that is something to keep an eye out for within the Vento moniker! It appears the A45 uses the same earlier tweeter as the 9.2 DC.
So am I correct in saying the Vento would be a better buy than the A45 Aniversary tower. Or maybe the Vento may sound better. Since the A45 looks to have a fatiguing tweeter.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
So am I correct in saying the Vento would be a better buy than the A45 Aniversary tower. Or maybe the Vento may sound better. Since the A45 looks to have a fatiguing tweeter.
Yes... at least the tweeter! The tweeter in the 820.2 is one of the sweetest (if not the sweetest) I have ever heard and I don't think they would have replaced the old one with the "ceramic" one unless they had improved it!! The 820.2 lost to the Focals on mid-range detail, but the Focal is a true studio monitor with emphasis on SQ/detail rather than having the 7" mid-woofer play low (as indicated by the 6" mid-woofer of the 820.2 having significantly more bass). Sounds like you are looking at 3-ways so that should resolve that.
The A4L site lists a 1" midrange for the A45, so you might double check Cantons site to make sure there are not other mistakes.
Also, sometimes A4L reps have more knowledge that you would expect, so it may be worth asking about the ones you are interested in.
They told Zieglj01 that the GLS model had the same drivers as the Chrono model (cabinet and XO are different), for example!
 
ematthews

ematthews

Audioholic General
The current Vento on the A4L is 890.2. Their site says ceramic tweeter. Just wondering if these Ventos they are selling have the good tweeter that you speak of. If so it’s a great buy. And I was actually looking at Focal Aria’s and Dynaudio X38.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The current Vento on the A4L is 890.2. Their site says ceramic tweeter. Just wondering if these Ventos they are selling have the good tweeter that you speak of. If so it’s a great buy. And I was actually looking at Focal Aria’s and Dynaudio X38.
They do!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I don't know if you noticed, but the white 890.2 are $1200 (before 10% discount), the black 890.2 are $1300 and the Cherry are $1400.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
So am I correct in saying the Vento would be a better buy than the A45 Aniversary tower. Or maybe the Vento may sound better. Since the A45 looks to have a fatiguing tweeter.
Don't judge a tweeter by the diaphragm material. There are lots of ways to control or attenuate modes that can occur with different materials.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I don't know if you noticed, but the white 890.2 are $1200 (before 10% discount), the black 890.2 are $1300 and the Cherry are $1400.
If anyone is looking for some really good towers (based on the SQ of the 820.2 bookshelf version I have) at a great price...Accessories4Less is still running the same 10% discount, but they have quietly dropped the prices on the Vento 890.2's since I made the post above by $200 for the White and $100 for the Black and Cherry.
After you put it in the cart to see the 10% discount, the price for each is:
$900 for White 890.2
$1080 for Black 890.2
$1170 for Cherry 890.2
I think that puts the White below their cost for Black Friday 2017!
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
I really like my Vento 820.2. Maybe don’t buy them up so the price keeps dropping and I can expand my collection for cheap in a couple months. :)
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
If anyone is looking for some really good towers (based on the SQ of the 820.2 bookshelf version I have) at a great price...Accessories4Less is still running the same 10% discount, but they have quietly dropped the prices on the Vento 890.2's since I made the post above by $200 for the White and $100 for the Black and Cherry.
After you put it in the cart to see the 10% discount, the price for each is:
$900 for White 890.2
$1080 for Black 890.2
$1170 for Cherry 890.2
I think that puts the White below their cost for Black Friday 2017!

We just did some blind listening the other day with his T1s, the BMR's and others, and these things really stood out in every test! It is worth mentioning, that KEW was convinced the T1's sound was just 'bigger' in sighted tests. He kept testing me on this with the Canton which I singled out vs T1 and I think only one live recording from the T1 made me feel as if I were at a concert hall watching a performance in any significant way, over the Canton.

There is also no denying that while my overly sensitive hearing adores the Scanspeak Revelator tweeters RBH uses in their Reference models, the silk can certainly make jazz sound good, but it's not always completely accurate with brass instruments. I have to give this Canton tweeter HUGE props! If Beryllium is out of your price range, this is truly the next best thing! If you've heard Infinity or Revel Ceramic tweeters, these are quite similar!
 
M

mtrot

Senior Audioholic
If anyone is looking for some really good towers (based on the SQ of the 820.2 bookshelf version I have) at a great price...Accessories4Less is still running the same 10% discount, but they have quietly dropped the prices on the Vento 890.2's since I made the post above by $200 for the White and $100 for the Black and Cherry.
After you put it in the cart to see the 10% discount, the price for each is:
$900 for White 890.2
$1080 for Black 890.2
$1170 for Cherry 890.2
I think that puts the White below their cost for Black Friday 2017!
Sounds great, but how does one get the additional 10% discount? I don't see anything about that on the A4L site now; maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Also, what's up with Canton's specs, with regard to bass frequency response? I see that they claim 20Hz for the 890.2. Given the cabinet size, how can they do that? What do you think is the real world bass extension?

And what is the difference between the Vento 890DC and the 890.2? Which is the newer model, and which is considered better?

Edit: Now I see the 10% discount is applied when I put them in my cart. This has to be one of the great deals in audio. My only concern is that there have been some issues with speakers arriving damaged and A4L's return policy. I was thinking a while back about picking up a pair of the Canton Reference 3.2, but got cold feet. It sounds like you think the tweeter on the 890.2 is even better?
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Sounds great, but how does one get the additional 10% discount? I don't see anything about that on the A4L site now; maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Also, what's up with Canton's specs, with regard to bass frequency response? I see that they claim 20Hz for the 890.2. Given the cabinet size, how can they do that? What do you think is the real world bass extension?

Edit: Now I see the 10% discount is applied when I put them in my cart. This has to be one of the great deals in audio. My only concern is that there have been some issues with speakers arriving damaged and A4L's return policy. I was thinking a while back about picking up a pair of the Canton Reference 3.2, but got cold feet. It sounds like you think the tweeter on the 890.2 is even better?
On my 820.2 the 10% showed up after adding to cart.
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
I would think bass extension is possibly in the mid 30s. Agreed 20 is probably not possible in that cabinet.
There’s quite a bit of bass in my 6in 820.2 bookshelf speakers though. It has a nice cabinet. I still use a little sealed 12in sub because I listen to a lot of bass heavy music. My Yamaha A770 is set at 80hz crossover to my Rythmik L12. My master bedroom is about 1400 cu ft. Most people wouldn’t even need a sub in a bedroom with these speakers but I’m picky. :)
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
Also, what's up with Canton's specs, with regard to bass frequency response? I see that they claim 20Hz for the 890.2. Given the cabinet size, how can they do that? What do you think is the real world bass extension?
Heh I played some test tones with the GLE's when I first got them, since they also claim "20-30000Hz." You can certainly see the woofers move at 20Hz (for what that's worth), but I didn't actually hear anything until the mid/upper 30's. They could stand to do a better job at articulating their specs.
 
M

mtrot

Senior Audioholic
I would think bass extension is possibly in the mid 30s. Agreed 20 is probably not possible in that cabinet.
There’s quite a bit of bass in my 6in 820.2 bookshelf speakers though. It has a nice cabinet. I still use a little sealed 12in sub because I listen to a lot of bass heavy music. My Yamaha A770 is set at 80hz crossover to my Rythmik L12. My master bedroom is about 1400 cu ft. Most people wouldn’t even need a sub in a bedroom with these speakers but I’m picky. :)
That's one heck of a master bedroom! You could almost play tennis in there.:)
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Heh I played some test tones with the GLE's when I first got them, since they also claim "20-30000Hz." You can certainly see the woofers move at 20Hz (for what that's worth),but I didn't actually hear anything until the mid/upper 30's. They could stand to do a better job at articulating their specs.
I believe the cabinets are better on the Vento and anniversary series than the GLE but mid 30s seems likely. Low 30s could be possible.
 
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