With all the talk these days of audio gear being imported from China, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a brand like Canton probably comes from the same place that brought us yummy Cantonese food like stir-fried vegetables and wonton noodles. In truth, however, you'd be far from the mark, as this Canton takes its name from the Latin word cantare (to sing) and the German word ton (tone) and is based in central Germany — a place better known for its bratwurst and beer.
Although tweeters that employ metal domes have been commonplace for decades, metal-cone woofers are a somewhat rarer breed. Weight becomes a significant factor, and a metal cone's higher inertia will typically lower the woofer's efficiency and upper-frequency limit. On the other hand, metal cones can be pushed much harder before breakup and distortion set in, enabling powerful bass output from a relatively small cone.
Canton uses a two-step solution to avoid problems in the floorstanding Vento 809 DC. First, it divides the woofing duties between two smaller, lighter drivers, which in turn hand over to the midrange driver at a relatively low 250 Hz. Then Canton employs something it has called Displacement Control (hence the DC in the name) to filter out infrasonic frequencies, greatly reducing the big, floppy cone movements you often see in ported speakers such as this. Still, the company claims that the 809 DC has useful response right down to 20 Hz, even with this ultra-low-bass filtering. Filling in the middle is a 7-inch aluminum midrange driver positioned above the tweeter, ensuring that the latter ends up close to ear height.
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The Short Form
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| Price $11,000 (AS TESTED) / cantonusa.com / 612-706-9250 |
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Snapshot
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| An uncanny ability to project the power and dynamics of a big horn setup combined with the bass and refinement of traditional cones in this pricey system. |
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Plus
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| •Potent and authoritative, yet subtle and transparent •Impressive fit and finish |
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Minus
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| •Requires very careful setup for optimal performance •Costs as much as a small car |
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Key Features
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| Vento 809 DC ($5,000/pair) •1-in aluminum/manganese dome tweeter; 7-in aluminum-cone midrange driver; (2) 8-in aluminum-cone woofers; 44 in high; 63 lb Vento 805 CM ($1,500) •1-in aluminum/manganese dome tweeter; 7-in aluminum-cone mid-woofer; 7-in aluminum-cone woofer; 20.8 in wide; 29.5 lb Vento 802 ($2,000/pair) •1-in aluminum/manganese dome tweeter; 7-in aluminum-cone woofer; 14.3 in high; 19 lb Vento AS 850 SC ($2,500) •12-in aluminum-cone driver; 200-watt amplifier; 15 x 20.5 x 20 in; 71.5 lb |
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Test Bench
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| Measurements revealed just a few often-seen faults. The 809 DC has well-controlled directivity, a very mild floor-bounce attenuation (less than 4 dB at 270 Hz), and some irregularity above 500 Hz. The grille on my sample rattled noticeably during bass-limit tests. The sub has above-average dynamics, delivering max SPL of 111 dB at 62 Hz and a true 20 Hz at 86 dB, though its crossover range proved considerably more limited than its dial markings suggest. — Tom Nousaine Full Lab Results |
Even though all of the Vento speakers have been designed to deliver well-extended bass, you'll still want to add a subwoofer to round out a complete home theater package. The AS 850 SC fits the bill nicely with the same type of cabinet design and aluminum woofer cone as its siblings. Powered by a 200-watt digital amp, this hefty sub uses a forward-firing 12-inch driver for impact, with a downward-firing port to increase its overall output. The 850's amp is well equipped, with a three-position switch to tailor the low-frequency extension and a control that lets you adjust the phase continuously through 180 degrees. Curiously, there's no way to totally bypass the internal crossover, even though most systems these days use the crossover inside the surround processor.
SETUP
Because of the their extended response, I initially tried running all of the speakers full-range, using the sub strictly for the LFE channel. Although this might have worked well in a space larger than mine, I soon found that this approach resulted in bass that was a bit too thick and tuneless, no matter where I put the speakers. With experimentation, I ended up with the main speakers crossed over at 40 Hz and the center and surround channels set to 60 Hz. The main speakers worked best near what is a typical position for ported speakers in my room: about 2 feet from the front wall and 3 feet in from each side wall. The subwoofer was just to the right of the left speaker but near the wall, while the center channel was on a stand just below my video display. I used the surround speakers up against the wall and directly to each side of the listening position, raised about 2 feet above ear level.
This system has a remarkable ability to reproduce sound in a way that can be fairly involving. Tonally, it's quite neutral, with just a bit of emphasis in the upper bass and low treble while retaining a lively midband with plenty of detail. On a simple but well-crafted two-channel recording such as Krushevo by Vlatko Stefanovski and Miroslav Tadic on the MA Recordings label, the sense of depth created by the acoustic space was truly palpable. At the other extreme, the newly remastered edition of the seminal Stooges classic Fun House sounded fabulously punchy and fat, with the speakers extracting tremendous energy and authority from its stripped-down sound. Although some other speakers are able to squeeze a tad more beauty and elegance from a recording, none that I can think of manage to combine that with the Vento's power and slam. Each speaker uses very similar drivers, so timbral matching is another strength of this system, allowing for seamless surround sound effects from multichannel music, such as Sacred Feast by Gaudeamus on a dmp SACD.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE
Based on what I'd heard with music playback, it seemed clear that this system possessed all the right qualities for excellent movie sound. Dialogue reproduction was particularly impressive, thanks to the center-channel speaker's ability to project sound very cleanly. On the DVD of Pixar's Cars, for example, the distinctive character of each actor's voice was extremely vivid and clear. This movie uses a lot of sonic panning, with both voices and sound effects following the onscreen action, and rarely have I heard transitions both across the front stage and from front to back delivered with the smoothness heard through the Vento system.
To test wall-crushing bass and dynamics, I went back to an old favorite, the DTS version of The Haunting, and heard just how cleanly the aluminum-cone woofers could deliver this movie's massive bass transients. Since I was asking the main speakers to handle so much of the bass, I did run into a couple of places where the ports would start chuffing a bit, but this was only at very loud levels with real torture-test material. Under normal conditions, the dynamic and power-handling abilities of the system remained truly superb.
BOTTOM LINE
It's quite a trick to deliver a really big sound with impressive impact and excitement while avoiding a look that might seem more at home in the local Cineplex. Yet the Canton Vento home theater speaker system manages to make it all seem easy. This system has a truly uncanny ability to project the power and dynamics of a big horn setup, yet it combines that with the bass extension and refinement of a more traditional, direct-radiating design. It requires no excuses, and it can extract the best from just about anything you might care to throw at it. As if that weren't enough, the system stays true to its German heritage by being built like a Mercedes and looking as good as Heidi Klum. Okay, so maybe I went off the deep end there . . . but you get the idea.
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