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I appreciate good quality audio from a hifi system but most of my time listening is spent at a desk so good quality speakers for the desk set up is appreciated, and my desk speakers have been acting weird so I may take a look at these. Thank you good sir

Those are beautiful. Simple and elegant. I still use a Klipsch thx promedia 2.1 and I'm embarrassed to say how amazing the simple system is. Kanto also makes great inexpensive powered subwoofers. Great system for small rooms.

Fantastic work on this. You swayed a couple of hours of research into a high-confidence purchase of these. As a complete beginner in this space, I appreciated your approachable and unpretentious presentation.

Just got these for my desk and at the price and for the size, they are astonishingly good. And I have heard a lot of speakers over the years.

I've had a pair of Kanto YU4 on my desk, no sub, with the Kanto stands, since buying them new in 2021. That's the same price as the current ORAs. They are spread 4 ft. apart with two computer monitors in between them and are angled inward. I sit exactly in the center which is ideal, but I am so impressed with L/R separation. I actually listened to them without the stands initially and was stunned when I added them. My computer is connected via optical to a $99 Schitt Modi, and the Modi is connected via RCA to the YU4s. I am very impressed with the sound.

I just bought a pair of Kanto YU Passives and I like them a lot. Driving them with an Ayima D05 amp and paired with a Kanto Sub 6 and this little system pumps. I also own a pair of Kanto TUKs for a different room and they are really really good. Kanto is great.

I guess it must be Kanto Ora release and sell-out day if the CAM loves them! They are tiny, but they can't replace my Ultras. 😂. Thanks for sharing and introducing this product to us all. Have a great week, Sir.

Bonus is that connecting a subwoofer automatically engages the high pass filter relieving the speakers of sub 100hz duty. I have heard this in effect and was impressed.

I have a set of Kanto YU Actives w/ a 8inch Boston acoustics sub hooked up to my Schitt stack's pre-out at my desk and they sound amazing. Handles gaming and music very well, so much so that I find I listen to them more than my headphones unless I'm seeking more immersion or am critically listening to music.

Hey Randy, I’ve been following you since the beginning - great show. Published specs are one thing, but have you thought of using a test CD to determine just how low speakers can go, at least in your room?

I'll tell ya, back in the day Logitech computer speaker systems were top notch... often rivaling conventional "cheap audio" systems at the time!

IMHO the Vanatoo Tzero's are the benchmark for "desktop" active speakers in this size for both sound quality & features (I love mine!). Curious on how these compare side-by-side..

My desktop system is a pair of Kanto YU Passive 5.25 and a Modius/Gjallarhorn for power. They Make Great Speaker stands as well! Love the Kanto stuff!

How do they compare to the Vanatoo Transparent Zero Plus you recently reviewed?

In his review for one of the Vanatoo speakers, Zeos speculated that the D/A conversion was built into each of the spearer drivers, that could be the case for these as well. However there does need to be a traditional DAC for the sub output. 100Hz crossover is engaged when a sub is connected, so jack the crossover all the way up on the sub and trust the output from the master.

Heck yeah I LOVE my Kantos. If you have a DAC or just want to use Bluetooth (although not the best on it) and your ok with a little bigger speaker you should check out the Kanto YU($350CAD) it a 4 inch power speaker set with RCA and Bluetooth The YU 4($480CAD) and ORA($400CAD) both have DAC and more ins and outs but the YU's are cheaper. I use it for my bed room set up paired with a SMSL C200 for better Bluetooth. The one thing I like is the potential to upgrade, because when I brought them into my main listening space and put them down in a treated room and a very good DAC they sounded amazing, I was showing my friends how the room matters and they both said they thought the Kantos sounded pretty close to my Focals at 12times the cost. they do really like a little bit of power filtering FYI and like randy said they also really should be Decoupled it makes a huge difference with speakers that small and powerful.

Kanto make great speakers and this is probably first new one for a few years . They also make great subs and actually do sell little tilted stands for all their speakers .

I bought YU Passive 4 on a sale few weeks ago and paired them with some cheap 8inch Jamo sub for my desktop PC. I wanted something on a budget for both music and gaming. I was really surprised how well those passive 4inch sounds. They have slight dip around 2k, but overall a steal for the money. At least here in EU where I live. I DSP them together with the sub and I am getting superb 2.1 for reasonable price. However I would be really interested to hear how those bigger 5inch YU perform. Too bad I don't have the space for them :(

I have the Kanto Sub8 so far, so good 👍 Use it with my JBL towers, wish I had room for a 2nd one.

Welcome back to TX!

Interesting product. Good brand. Nice video.

I snagged a pair of OSD Trevoce 8's for 99$ each from their website for their autumn sale. Hands down smokes the two polk 10's that they replaced. The 8's are no longer on sale but the 10 and 12 inchers are still half off right now

I hope you can review the FiiO SP3 too. I’d love to hear a comparison between those and these ORA

For about $100 the pro media 2.1 is hard to beat. I can vouch for that.

Wow exactly ! in the 9 tys I had the little Logitec satelite subwoofger combo and i was dazzled ! at that time. Today is another day so Im listening ...

Hey, Randy! I wonder, how they compare with Vanatoo t0+?

Great review! Can you comment on these vs. the Kanto YU4? We already know they're going to be better than the YU2, but but can the DSP tuning and bi-amplification make up for the bigger drivers of the YU4? (Is there really a replacement for displacement?) I'm trying to decide between the two for my desktop. The YU4 is tempting b/c it can be had for cheaper, but I prefer the USB input of the ORA.

I've had the Klipsch THX ProMedia 2.1 for 11 years. The foam around the sub surround started to rot and I'm in the process of replacing it. I'm itching for something new but nothing too big for desk setup. I kinda wanna go crazy and get some Focal Shape 40s or some Genelecs, but my klipsch have been more than enough. Edit also payed 100$ for them over 10 years ago. Such a nice little desktop speaker Aio

Hi audio man! If I was overhauling my entire setup for my PC from my klipsch 2.1 media for $500, what is the best solution? Is it these and call it a day or a passive + dac + amp?

Cool review and nice Omega Seamaster 300 ;)

My yurt could definitely use these, thanks Randy!!! Also my wife says you’re ‘wearing my shirt’, ha, but it’s ok cuz u pull it off better than I do so I’ll allow it 😊

How do they do against the vanatoo transparent one? They seem to be in the same class.

Hey! Yurts have great acoustics

'Active' and 'powered' are straight synonyms. Any distinction is spurious, with the possible exception for a speaker that has inbuilt DSP for room correction, etc. I *guess* we could call that active "active" in comparision to a non-DSP "powered", but then, "Speaker with onbaord DSP" is a lot more descriptive.

Kinda late, I already bought a Kef lsx to replace my Hivi Swan OS10, I was surprised with the kind of performance the OS10 had in in room so I choose to upgrade it. The kef is better, but lacking in bass, so I picked up a sub for it also. My room is small and I can't fit 5inch and up speakers in it so options is limited, I was in Headphone game before so I thought it's better to just buy the best I can and stop.

do you have alternative for magnetically shielded speaker?

"I Wish." Great tune. Should have won the Grammy. Skee-Lo was robbed.

Not powered, but I have a set of Dali Spektor 1's (€184) hooked up to a BT20A Pro and connected to a Fosi Audio DS1 dongle DAC and a portable CP-08 BT CD player on my desk. All hooked up to my MacBook Pro. That's about €400. Great little system that I'll be building out, probably with a different DAC and separate headphone amp

Looks shockingly familiar to the Dayton MK402. I'd love to see you review the MK402 passive speakers BTdubya. I'm wondering if it is the exact same drivers different wrapping.

They are 350 dollars. They shouldn't be compared to computer speakers, but with studio monitors. There are plenty of very good monitors for that kind of money. Been running a set of M-audio BX5a's for ten years now. Just XLR or TRS inputs. each speaker has it's own volume control and dual class A/B Amp (double as radiators in winter). Less than 200 dollars at the time. These are very light so bound the fall of your desk if you don't fix them ;).

Would be interested in a comparison of these with the FiiO SP3 speakers.

I’d definitely wanna hear how these stack up against their TUKs.

Tried these side by side with the Swan OS10s. I prefer the latter and they are cheaper. Hooked up to the Geshelli JNOG, Wiim Pro and the Leak CD Transport. Beautiful, small room filling, layered and nuanced sound. the Oras are back in the box and heading back home

I would love to see them up against the YU2, YU4, YU6, and TUK. I have the YU6 and am very happy with them for phono, TV and music. They can do a lot. 😅

Do you like these better than the Vanatoo Transparent Zero? You liked those too and they are about the same price.

Just wondering how long is the speaker wire that comes with it. Wanted to use them as nightstand speakers?

Kanto is badass. Please review the Tuks.

How do these compare to a set of ILoud Micro's?

Any good sub pairing to match with these in my office? Considering the Kanto Sub8, but seen some comments online that there are better alternatives.

PreSonus Eris 3.5, $99. With Bluetooth $150. Best value for money that I have personally used. And they’re built well and they can take a hell of a beating! Very good sound for the price. I recommend them to Everyone!!!!

These look nice. I would consider them if I didn’t recently purchase the Swan OS-10. Those sound great and are only $100 but don’t have a sub out. Luckily for my situation I won’t need a sub.

How do these behave during low volume listening?

The speaker with the amp looks to be the right channel, in case that matters.

i DO have the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and the $150 pricing for a speaker that images unbelievably and its sub that is included which goes down to the 35Hz range, I don't see any motivation for these Kantos, even though they seem like they are great. they would have to be pretty spectacular for me to go that much for 100Hz cutoff. ...hifitommy

I'll stick with my Monsoon MM-2000 4.1 setup (at least, until it dies) for desktop/near field.

I have the Kanto YU6 and they have excellent sound. I don't doubt the ORA sounds good too, but I'm willing to put my powered YU6 against the ORA. Still, the ORA seems like a good solution for a small room.

Has anyone compared these to the Audioengine HD3? Similarly priced but seemingly a little more versatile? I'm very curious as I currently use the HD3.

I would like to buy the kEF LSX 2 for gaming on PS4/ps5 at my computer desk using a monitor what’s your opinion about them. Looking for a nice sounds at my computer space pls help

You should check out their YU6 Great speakers the pair so well with their Sub8

I had a Logitech 5.1 system that sounded really good, I was using it as a 3.1 as it had a center channel that hosted the knobs and controls and the small sub as Randy mentioned. Then I got the Klipsch ProMedia at...um Costco...and I thought it sounded great (whudda I know?) until not a month after I bought it, I got on my knees under the desk to reposition the sub, reached around the back edge and my finger sparked a big static charge on one of the back plate screws. The system made a mighty POWWW sound and it was dead. Turns out the v2 version which this was does not have a replaceable fuse. It's soldered to the board (freaking really???). So I took it back to Costco who took it back no questions asked after Klipsch did NOTHING from a customer support perspective. I currently have the Edifier 350S something something and it works great for near field, but I am feeling like I've run up against the limits on it.

Epic nosehairs. Nice.

The low end Adam Active monitor speakers (£300 pair - both monitors are active) like the T5V will send these Kanto's packing :)

Still using the old pro media 5.1s on the computer.

Little Kantos always had credible bass, not pushy but real...

Heard the Elac Debut ConneX at CAF and was amazed. Anyone A/B those with these Kanto’s, Randy?

It has a DAC, in fact if you run something in through RCA, it’s going to convert it to digital and then back to analog again.

In 1984, as a kid, I suggested to an engineer to split the digital signal and use a separate amplifier for each cone, something we know today as a digital crossover. Was I ahead of my age? When were the first digital crossovers on the market? And more importantly: why isn't that the standard?

Just think about this... how can a pair of speakers output sound from USB connection without a built-in DAC?

How do these compare sound quality and experience wise to the Klipsch Fives/Sevens?

Love me some Skee-Lo!!!

Any static noise or hissing?

I spent around $150 for a pair of passive Kantos (5 inches) and a topping mx3s (headphone and speaker dac/amp) for less than $200. Come on Kato.

For 350 is should sound good. Lots of competition at that range

Are the vanatoos transparent zero plus worth the extra money for desktop gaming use? No sub

Cute speakers

Whoa whoa whoa, I saw a little jab at CostCo! I love CostCo for meats (rated #1 by consumer reports). We need a CAM retailer shootout video for A/V!

Awesome just heard about these...and with DSP!

So they seem to challenge the iLoud Micro Monitors at $350

Hmm...think they will be on sale anytime soon?

You should have a talk with your desk

I have a pair of old Fostex aluminum speakers. Plays loud music in the shop. Black paint was pitting, sanded it, now it’s bare aluminum.

Hmm comparison KEF LSX ?

Nothing will beat Swan OS-10 in its price point

Vanatoo T0 could also compete with them right

I saw some people commenting that "Klipsch pro media 2.1 costs 100$". Is that real? Because in Viet Nam it is sold for $250

Hey! All good? Why don't you put the equipment to play? It would be really cool if there was this on the channel. Don't feel compelled to do this for us. Hugs!

At $350 a pair these speakers better perform. Lots of options at that price.

You had me up until you mentioned the price, then I bounce. Yeah, $200 for a pair of computer speakers, fine, but not much above that. These are just too expensive.

Will they get released in white at some point?

It would be great if the next step up from this included HDMI ARC and/or optical input and a remote control for using with a TV.

ATTENTION Randy: Since you Asked during live stream recently. The deal fell through on the Nakamichi Dragon….next. You still haven’t told me what model of Nakamichi you have with respect ??😱 I can send you some very high quality and valuable Type II tapes and metal IV tape to experiment with. Cassette can sound amazing and truly dynamic to say the least. It’s all about high end decks. Great tapes and proper recording techniques 🙏🙏🇮🇱🇺🇸 It’s not rocket science.

I'm glad you did not say audioengine a2 for 300 those are horrible

The Kanto YU and YU2 are the powered computer speakers. The Kanto Ora might be the replacement. Interesting is that they do "DSP tuning". The amplifier in the primary speaker powers the drive units in the secondary speaker which Kanto refer to as a passive speaker but the multi-pin connection cable suggests that the secondary speaker has no passive crossover. Having Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C for connection to a computer the Kanto Ora has to have a DAC. With DSP tuning even the analogue input would go through the DSP and so it must have an analogue to digital convertor. Usually this means latency on watching a movie and might have via the RCA and Bluetooth but the USB-C might avoid latency issues - not always the case as B&O speakers with USB-C audio still have latency issues because of the DSP and room correction. Powered speakers have an amplifier built into the primary and the second speaker connected by a two core bell wire and so have passive cross overs. Active speakers amplification in both speakers and an active crossover. There are some cases where all the electronics is built into the primary speaker but a multi-core cable connects to the secondary speaker but the active crossover in the primary. B&O have a four channel amplifier that converts old passive speakers to active with the user cutting out and removing the passive cross over with the electronics fitted to a Raspberry Pi computer to provide Bluetooth, wi-fi, Ethernet and connection to digital services. Linn Series 3 is a single speaker and a very different secondary when wanting a stereo set up. Adam Audio and Genelec speakers are active and you buy two identical speakers to set up as a stereo pair. They don't have digital inputs, no Bluetooth, no streaming or DACS. DSP speakers are found as powered and active versions. DAC is often because of Bluetooth and wi-fi input along side Toslink and coaxial digital inputs. Many do room correction and digital tuning in which case there is no analogue by-pass and everything gets converted to digital before amplification. Powered speakers start from a very low cost up to the likes of Audioengine A1 (159GBP) , A2+ (249GBP) and A5+ (425GBP) to Acoustic Energy AE1 (1050GBP). The Kanto YU2 at 169GBP, YU4 at 290GBP. YU4 drop USB for a moving magnet phono stage. Few active speakers would be considered cheap. Adam Audio T5V at 318GBP, T7V at 358GBP but Genelec 8020D at 798 GBP. where the competition starts. It a speaker has electronics inside and any wireless connection it is not immediately clear if it has any analogue by-pass to ADC and DAC, digital amplification and DSP tuning. This may affect their use with televisions and computers because of potential latency problems. Some adjustment might be possible (e.g. using VLC on a computer) but these might not be automatic or easy to set up for every movie or video clip. One of the positive selling points of the YU range has been the finish. The bamboo and other finishes contrast to everything black or dark wood veneers.

Randy, why do you hate Costco?

I can’t get behind these.. I feel they’re using the “retro” tag to sell these at a premium.. so many shielded speakers available at better prices and better specs.

Presonus E3 powered speaker at a fraction of the Ora price is amazing and much better value than the Ora.

What?! Did I just hear you right? You "hate" Costco?? Seriously, how can anyone hate Costco? That's just crazy talk. Do you hate saving money, and having access to the best return policy in the game? If so, that would explain it

This or the Klipsch The Nines Mclaren edition? The Klipsch are 50% off right now.

Swan OS10's exist at $170 a pair....I'll pass