Kanto Ren

Introduction

The Kanto Ren is a powered sound system. It’s speaker that could serve as a stereo system on its own or potentially replace your soundbar.

Like other powered/active speaker systems, it’s the type of speaker that’s a Swiss Army Knife in terms of what it can do. It could be used with desktop/laptop PCs, connect to music streamers via its optical port or connect to any source that uses Bluetooth.

It’s designed to be versatile – to accommodate what you have in your home in a form that takes up less space than an amplifier and pair of stereo speakers would, and for potentially less money too.

Design

• Comes in a range of colours
• Wired cable to connect speakers
• Passive and active units

One of the useful things about powered speakers is their accessibility – i.e. they’re less confounding than a traditional hi-fi set-up. Take the Ren out the box, tie the cable that connects the active and passive speakers together and you’re pretty much done.

The fact that the Ren uses a cable means it’s not strictly true wireless, and that does mean having to deal with a cable that drapes over your table or whatever surface you’ve placed the speakers on. Some will find that a hindrance, but I’ve found wireless speakers such as the PSB Alpha IQ a hassle to set-up, and more expensive too.

There’s a specific look to Kanto’s speakers, contoured edges and a quite simple (for lack of a better term) appearance. They’re somewhere in the middle of the Venn diagram where functional and fun overlap.

The cabinet is not too big by bookshelf standards; the speakers should be able to fit into most spaces without alarm. They’re a bit tall, but nowhere near as deep as similar-priced hi-fi speakers are.

The set comes in a variety of colours: white, black, blue, orange, and grey; and they’re all matte finishes, which makes it easier to wipe off the dirt and smudged fingerprints that are inevitably attracted to the speaker’s surface.

It comes with baffles to cover the speakers though I prefer them without; and there’s a chunky remote that would be be difficult to lose but is easy enough to use with EQ options, sources, volume and playback buttons included. It doesn’t come with batteries though, at least none I could find, which I think is a little stingy.

There’s a dial on the active speaker for onboard volume control, and pushing the multi-function button in changes the source; useful if you somehow lose that remote.

Rubber feet are included for placing the speaker on hard surfaces, and the rear port also acts as a form EQ-ing the sound. Placing it near or further away from a wall and it’ll affect the bass performance.

Features

• HDMI ARC input
• Bluetooth support
• EQ modes

First off, there’s no Wi-Fi. This is a Bluetooth system as far as wireless connectivity goes, and codec support extends only to AAC.

That’s useful for both iOS and Android devices, though something of a shame when powered systems such as the Q Acoustic M20 has the higher quality aptX HD – and is less expensive.

Regardless, what the Kanto Ren has that the Q Acoustics doesn’t is an HDMI ARC input, which means it can be used with any TV built in the last ten years or so. It’s worth remembering that the Ren only supports PCM, so you’ll need to plunge into the TV settings to change from Dolby to PCM.

Other connections include USB-C, optical, 3.5mm and RCA; and these are located on the back of the active speaker, so mind where you place it if you want easy access to hook up your sources. There’s also a subwoofer output if you want to add one of Kanto’s subs, such as the SUB6V ($299). You’ve also got an actual on/off switch at the back rather than leaving the speaker in standby.

With the remote you can switch through a couple of sound modes – Voice Assist and Night Mode. For bass and treble there’s a button to revert back to the out-of-the-box setting – I do like how you can reset EQ options.

Pressing the button in the top right of the remote cycles through the sound modes, and holding it reverts back to ‘Normal’ though I can’t say I’m a fan of relying on blinking LED lights to show the modes. I’d prefer voice confirmation.

You might guess by now that there’s no app support, and aside from Klipsch’s The Fives, I can’t think of a powered Bluetooth speaker system that comes with an app – so app support is rare for a non-Wi-Fi powered speaker.

Sound Quality

• Clear midrange
• Wide soundstage
• Bass is lacking

The Kanto Ren has 200W of peak power that it can push through its 1-inch Silk Dome tweeters and 5.25-inch Aluminium Concave Cone woofers. The question you’re asking yourself right now is ‘How does it sound?’

There’s definitely a warmth to its Bluetooth performance that makes for a smoother presentation with music. I wouldn’t describe the top end of the frequency range as having too much bite.

There’s certainly a brightness with Greg Foat’s Symphonie Pacifique and GoGo Penguin’s Raven, but it does sound slightly rolled off. There is at least clarity to those highs and variation too – they’re not one-note in their performance – with the Ren’s tuning avoiding sounding thin or edgy.

Bass is something of a taste that the Kanto Ren hasn’t quite acquired. Low frequencies err more towards the richer side in terms of tone, but there’s not much depth or power to those lows.

With Warren G’s Regulate it’s obvious the speaker has trouble locating the track’s sub-bass. Kingdom’s Bank Head sounds a little light from its outset, even though I like the tone of the overall sound.

Adding more bass with Maye’s La Cancion and it does make the Ren’s low frequency output firmer, with more depth, but it does lead to a slight recess in the midrange and a thickening of the overall sound – there sounds like there’s slightly less space for the midrange when the Bass EQ is activated.

What increasingly becomes clear over testing is that, while the bass could be more assertive, there’s a sense of control and measured performance to the Ren that’s quietly impressive. It’s not a flashy sound, but the more I listen to it, the more I’m forgiving of some aspects.

Part of the reason why I forgive the Kanto Ren some of its trespasses is its wide stereo image, which, while not the most defined, the sense of space that speakers create; the organisation of vocals and instruments within that space, is more involving than I was expecting.

But it’s the midrange that’s the Kanto Ren’s USP. There’s a hint of warmth that smooths it out and avoids any sibilance, but it’s the vocal clarity that’s impressive. Every performer sings with a naturalism to their voices, a clarity I’ve not heard on other similarly priced powered speakers.

Singers sound true and lifelike, and those voices stand out more than any part of the Ren’s performance, whether it’s Sufjan Sufran’s in Chicago, or Billie Eilish in Wildflower or Anette Ashvik’s Liberty. With both male and female voices, the Kanto Ren strikes a chord.

There’s decent dynamism, as well as energy and drive with rock tracks like System of a Down’s Radio/Video. It’s an easy listen and it delivers a fine sense of momentum with some more energetic tracks. While it’s not the most defined performance, you can easily tell what the instrument is and where it’s placed within the soundstage.

Where the lack of bass output affects songs is in tracks that require more energy and weight. Club/party tracks like Yeah Yeah’s Body Rock feel light and tame – drum & bass isn’t the best match for this speaker, and trying to beef up the low end with the EQ only serves to affect clarity and detail.

The Kanto Ren is a speaker that sounds very accomplished, and that’s not what I was expecting going in. It’s best suited to music that doesn’t have a raging bassline to it, though.

However, it’s not just music that the Ren can be used with. Podcasts streamed via my iPad Pro sound clear with no harshness or sibilance. Connecting the Kanto to my Sony A80L TV and the tone of its sound changes. The smoothness and warmth is replaced with a clearer, sharper sound.

It’s still natural sounding with voices, as well as offering a tall and spacious soundstage. It is a slightly thinner sound but it does sound more detailed with movies than it does with music.

It’s not the punchiest performance, but the midrange is great in terms of clarity. Where it lacks is describing ‘hard’ sounds: punches, knocks etc which sound a little crude and lacking finesse. Bass remains a sore point for the Ren with some weight to explosions but not much. That’s where having a subwoofer would come in handy.

Should you buy it?

FAQs