Canadian speaker firm Kanto Audio has revealed its extremely striking new active loudspeakers, the Kanto Audio 100W Ren (stylised to REN) and our love for the product is not wholly tied to our love for the animated TV series Ren & Stimpy – although that helps.
There are five different colors including the absolutely stunning orange option shown in the promo pic above; your other choices are matte black (boo!), matte gray and matte white (OK) and matt blue (hmm!), so if, like me, you're a bit bored with monochrome audio kit, the orange one will seem like a citrus ray of 'Oh, joy!' sunshine (sorry).
But of course what matters here is the sound, and while the 100W RMS / 200W peak of class D amplification here means they'll go loud, the spec suggests they'll sound good too – as does recent form (see our Kanto Ora review for evidence). They're made from acoustic grade MDF with rear ports, 1-inch silk dome tweeters and 5.25-inch aluminium concave cone drivers, and their frequency response is 50Hz to 22kHz – impressively low for their relatively small size.
Kanto Audio 100W Ren Active Speakers: key features
For wireless connectivity, there's Bluetooth 5.3, but for the best audio you'll really want a cabled connection – and your options here include HDMI ARC with CEC (a first for Kanto's speakers, so something you won't find in the company's January 2024 ORA4 lineup, for example), USB-C and optical inputs supporting up to 24-bit/96kHz sound sources. There are also RCA and 3.5mm connections, a subwoofer output and a USB port to charge small devices.
The Ren speakers also include a digital signal processor with two special modes: Vocal Boost for better dialog clarity and Night Mode for ensuring harmonious relations with your neighbors or roommates.
We haven't heard these new speakers yet but, as mentioned above, we reviewed the firm's Kanto Ora speakers and found them to be very impressive: while they're very loud for their size that's not at the expense of sound quality or clarity. So we're looking forward to getting our ears, and our eyes, on these.
The new Kanto 100W Ren Active Speakers have recommended pricing of £499 / €579 / $599 / CA$799 (which is around AU$974) and will be available imminently.
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