FOCAL KANTA Floorstanding Speaker User Manual

: June 13, 2024
: FOCAL

Table of Contents

FOCAL KANTA Floorstanding Speaker
Product Information
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Connections
Positioning
Recommendations for use
Special precautions
Specification
Conditions of guarantee
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

FOCAL KANTA Floorstanding Speaker

Thank you for purchasing a Focal product. Welcome to our High-Fidelity world. Innovation, tradition, excellence and pleasure are our values; our one and only aim is to bring you a sound that is rich, pure and true. To get the most out of your product, we recommend that you read the instructions in this booklet, then store it in a safe place to refer to in the future.

Product Information

The KANTA speaker series consists of various models designed for different purposes. The available models include:

KANTA Floorstanding Speaker (Type: Three-way Bass-reflex floorstanding speaker)
KANTA Center Speaker (Type: Two-way Bass-reflex center speaker)
KANTA Bookshelf Speaker (Type: Two-way Bass-reflex bookshelf speaker)

Each model comes with different specifications and features. Here are the key details:

Model| Drivers| Sensitivity (2,83V/1m)| Low frequency point (-6 dB)| Nominal impedance| Minimum impedance| Recommanded amplifier power| Crossover frequency| Dimensions (HxWxD)| Net Weight (unit)
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
KANTA Floorstanding Speaker|

61/2 (16.5cm) Flax mid-bass with TMD suspension and NIC motor
11/16 (27mm) `IAL3′ pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter
Two 61/2 (16.5cm) Flax woofer with NIC motor

61/2 (16.5cm) Flax midrange with TMD suspension and NIC motor
11/16 (27mm) `IAL3′ pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter
Two 61/2 (16.5cm) Flax woofer with TMD suspension and NIC motor

61/2 (16.5cm) Flax mid-bass with TMD suspension and NIC motor
11/16 (27mm) `IAL3′ pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter

| 88dB| 46Hz – 40kHz| 8 Ohms| 3.9 Ohms| 25 – 150W| 2400Hz| 422 x 234 x 391mm| 13kg

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Read these instructions.
Keep these instructions.
Take the warnings into consideration
Follow all the instructions.
Do not use this device around water.
Only clean with a dry cloth.
Keep the loudspeakers away from sources of heat, such as radiators, stoves, heat register or any other devices which give off heat (including amplifiers).
Only use fixing devices, stands, tripods, supports or tables recommended by the manufacturer or those supplied with the product. If using a trolley or cart, pay particular attention when moving the equipment to avoid any risk of damage or injury.
All maintenance must be carried out by a qualified professional. Maintenance is necessary if any damage has been caused to the device, damage due to liquid spilt on the device or objects inserted into the device, exposure to rain or humidity, a malfunction or physical damage.
Do not use accessories not recommended by the manufacturer to prevent any risk of damage or injury.
Never insert an object into the vents on the device. It may come into contact with high-voltage components or cause a short circuit which may lead to fire or electric shock. Never get liquid on the device.
Never try to repair this device yourself; opening the device may expose you to high-voltages and other risks. For any maintenance or repairs, contact a qualified professional.
When it’s necessary to replace components, make sure the technician uses the components specified by the manufacturer or ones which have exactly the same characteristics as the original. Components which aren’t compliant may cause a fire, an electric shock or other accidents.
After any repairs or an intervention on the device, ask the technician to test the equipment in order to check that the product works correctly and is safe.
The device must not be mounted to a wall or ceiling unless intended by the manufacturer.
In order to avoid damaging your hearing, do not listen to speakers at high volumes for extended periods of time.
Listening to speakers at high volumes can cause damage to the user’s ears and may lead to hearing problems (temporary or permanent deafness, buzzing in the ears, tinnitus, hyperacusis).
Exposure to excessive volumes (over 85dB) for more than one hour can cause irreparable damage to your hearing.
Your loudspeakers use a tweeter with an inverted dome made from pure beryllium, a substance that is harmless in solid form. However, given its nature, certain precautions should be taken to avoid exposure to unnecessary risks:
- The beryllium dome must never come into contact with abrasive materials.
- If the beryllium dome is damaged in any way, use the protective adhesive strip supplied to cover the entire surface area of the dome, as soon as possible. You will find the adhesive strip in the plastic packet containing the leaflet for the tweeter with an inverted dome made from pure beryllium. Contact the retailer to have the tweeter dismantled and replaced by trained personnel at the distributor.
- If the dome is broken, any beryllium particles should be carefully collected using sticky tape and then placed in a hermetically sealed plastic bag and sent back to the retailer along with the loudspeaker. For more information, please refer to the safe use manual in the box.
  You can also address your questions directly to: beryllium@focal.com

Please validate your Focal-JMlab warranty, it is now possible to register your product online: www.focal.com/warranty

Connections

Kanta connectors provide reliable, multi-purpose contacts for stripped cables (up to 4mm diameter), fork terminals or banana connectors. It is imperative to respect the connector polarity of both the loudspeaker and the amplifier. The connector marked “+” must be connected to the positive output on the amplifier and the connector marked “-” must be connected to the negative terminal (fig. A). Stereo image and bass perception would be seriously compromised if these conditions are not respected. Choose good quality cables with a cross-section appropriate to their length: your retailer will be able to advise you.

Positioning

These loudspeakers have been designed to deliver the most faithful reproduction of all kinds of music or home cinema programmes. Nonetheless, we recommend following these simple rules to optimise their performance and to guarantee good tonal balance and a realistic sound image. 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 interior (fig. B). 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 (fig. C). Do not position your 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 (fig. D). $FOCAL-KANTA-Floorstanding- Speaker- $5$$

Optimisation
For perfectionists, here is a formula for optimal positioning: If A is the distance from the centre of the woofer to the nearest floor or wall, B is the distance to the next closest floor or wall, and C is the greatest distance (A < B < C), the equation B² = AC defines the ideal loudspeaker position.

Example:
If the centre of the woofer is 20” (50cm) away from the rear wall (A) and 24” (60cm) above the floor (B), then the side wall will be ideally 28” (72cm) away [C = B² ⁄ A = 28” (72cm)] (fig. E).

Recommendations for use

The behaviour of the loudspeakers depends on the acoustics of the listening room, on the correct positioning of the loudspeakers within the room, and on the position of the listener.
It is possible to tweak each of these parameters to obtain or improve a desired effect.
Stereo perception is imprecise and poorly centred: try moving the loudspeakers closer together and/or have them facing the listening point: The sound is harsh, aggressive: the acoustics of your listening room are probably too reverberant. Consider using sound-absorbing materials (carpets, upholstered furniture, tapestries, curtains, etc.) and sound-reflecting materials (furniture) to absorb or diffuse resonance.
The sound is “flat”, strangled: there are too many sound-absorbing materials in the room, the sound is soaked up, it has no relief. Look for the best compromise between sound-absorbing and sound-reflecting materials in your room.
In general, aim to have a reflective wall behind the loudspeakers for the sound to develop correctly. The wall behind the listening area, on the other hand, should ideally be sound-absorbing to avoid rear reflections “contaminating” the stereo image.
Furniture can be judiciously placed near the side walls of the room to diffuse sound waves and ensure certain frequency ranges are not excited, particularly in the midrange (suppression of flutter echoes).

Spikes
Kanta floorstanding loudspeakers are equipped with decoupling spikes. These spikes give the floorstanding loudspeakers very good stability, particularly on uneven floors. The height of the spikes supplied can be adjusted to ensure the 4 spikes (fig. F) rest evenly on the floor to prevent any wobbling. Four spike pads are also supplied to protect soft floors such as parquet, etc. (fig. G).

To fit the pads, tilt the loudspeaker slightly and place a pad underneath each spike, one by one. We strongly recommend that two people do this together, paying particular attention when your hands get near to the spikes, owing to the risk of injury.

Silicone pads (Kanta N° 1 , Kanta Center)
Kanta N°1 bookshelf and center speakers include silicone pads to protect the bottom of the speakers. To place the speakers on a shelf or a furniture, please stick the silicone pads before use (fig. J).

Securing the Kanta N°1 bookshelf loudspeaker to the stand

The Kanta N° 1 loudspeaker can be secured to its stand using the screws supplied (fig. H).
Make sure the Kanta No. 1 loudspeaker is stable while it is being assembled on the stand to prevent it from falling off. The speaker must be firmly secured to the stand (screws properly tightened).

Foam Bung for Bass Tuning (Kanta N°1)
This foam bung allows you to make some fine adjustments to the bass performance of your loudspeakers. The Kanta N°1 loudspeaker has been designed to reproduce deep bass in an even manner for a «free space» position. If you position your loudspeakers close to a wall, bass frequencies are further enhanced. Similarly, some rooms have an acoustic that exaggerates low bass. The foam bung allows you to reduce the amount of energy from the port tube to reduce bass levels and improve damping in such situations. It is advised that you use the foam bung for both loudspeakers. To do so, insert the foam bung into the port tube as shown in Figure I.

Break-in period
The speaker drivers used in Kanta loudspeakers are complex mechanical components which require a certain time to adapt to operate at their best and to become acclimatised 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, we recommend operating the loudspeakers for approximately twenty consecutive hours. Once the loudspeakers’ characteristics have totally stabilised, you will be able to enjoy your Kanta loudspeakers’ performance to the full.

Special precautions

The only maintenance required for the Kanta loudspeakers is dusting with a dry cloth.
If you loudspeaker becomes dirty, we recommend simply cleaning it with a damp cloth.
Never use solvents, detergents, alcohol-based or corrosive products, scrapers or scourers to clean the surface of a loudspeaker.
Keep the loudspeakers away from sources of heat.

Kanta Center loudspeaker positioning
The Kanta Center loudspeaker must be placed within close range of the screen for realistic dialogue reproduction. If a standard projection screen is used, the center unit must be placed right under the screen for optimal performance. If a perforated, acoustically transparent screen is used, the center unit can be placed behind, at the lower half of the screen.

Choosing the right amplifier
It is not an excess of amplifier power that can damage your loudspeakers and speaker drivers but a lack of power. Moreover, if the volume is turned up too high, the amplifier saturates and generates parasite signals that may damage the tweeter. The dynamic capacity and definition of Kanta loudspeakers are sufficient to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of whatever amplifier is connected. Your retailer will be able to help you choose the amplifier best suited to your tastes and budget.

Specification

$FOCAL-KANTA-Floorstanding-Speaker- $11$$

Conditions of guarantee

All Focal loudspeakers are covered by guarantee drawn up by the official Focal distributor in your country. Your distributor can provide all details concerning the conditions of guarantee. Guarantee cover extends at least to that granted by the legal guarantee in force in the country where the original purchase invoice was issued.

Correct elimination of this product.
This marking indicates that within the EU this product should not be disposed of with other household wastes. To prevent any risk to the environment or human health, please recycle them responsibly to encourage the reuse of material resources. To return your used device, please use the return and collection systems available, or contact the retailer where you purchased the product. They can recycle this product safely.

Scan QR code for information on packaging disposal:

Focal-JMlab® – BP 374 – 108, rue de l’Avenir – 42353 La Talaudière cedex – France – www.focal.com
Tel. (+33) 04 77 43 57 00 – SCCG – 21/08/2023 – v4 – CODO1573