Kanto ORA 100W Powered Reference Desktop Speakers with Bluetooth - Black - Pair

Great Speakers! I have a lot to say so I will break this out in categories. For context about me, I am a hobby musician. I’ve dabbled in music production, so I feel I have a relatively trained ear. I am no “audiophile” because I know that is an endless money pit for diminishing returns. 1) Sound Quality Chefs kiss, these sound really good for the size. I don’t know the exact rolloff frequency, but it seems below around 120hz is where they start to get quieter. For the size, I can’t really complain, it’s impressive for these 4” woofers. I did buy the Kanto Sub8 to pair with these which really completed the setup. I would definitely consider pairing these with a sub at some point if you feel that is missing. When setting EQ for these in my room, I did have to notch down the 400hz range as it was a touch muddy there on some songs. -2/3db at 400hz really let the upper mids sing more. Overall a very neutral sound though. Also, definitely get some stands of any kind. Will help sound quality. Volume is adequate for a 12’x12’ room too. 2) Appearance I was a little worried about them looking cheap from the photos, but I can confirm that in-person they look really good despite being plastic. The only thing I don’t like is the seam in the assembly is pretty noticeable and towards the front. Small nit pick though. 3) I/O It’s a little lackluster in this area. There is no standard aux, optical, or turntable input. Definitely look at other Kanto speakers if you plan to buy turntable speakers because some of their other speakers have a turntable amp built in. So for a PC speaker(my use case), the USB-C is great. RCA is good for pairing with other sound equipment. 4)Price I definitely think the current MSRP of $450 is a little high for these. If paying $450 I’d definitely spend more time comparing to other speakers to see if these are right for you. I’d be a little more critical of these at $450. However, I got them for $330 which definitely tips these into a very competitive and compelling option. They seem to go on sale for $350 very often. 5)Misc The only thing I wish they had was a variable cutoff frequency for the sub out. It’s set to 80hz, but I wish I could play around with it more. However, I don’t think this speaker is for the “True Audiophile” and the 80hz sub out works well with the Kanto Sub8. Also, the power supply is external… which if that’s the trafeoff for how nice they look, I won’t knock it. Would’ve been nice to not have to worry about a power brick. Not too big of a brick. 6) Conclusion Overall, I love these, I am very happy with them. They are just pleasant to listen to. My very first listen I was telling myself “Oh, alright, they sound decent, noting crazy. I’ll listen for a while and see if I want to return them” Then I just kept wanting to listen to them more and more and more. I love them! They are just nice to listen to. I don’t get listening fatigue like I do with other speakers and headphones I own. If you are a casual music enjoyer who thinks $350 isn’t expensive to you, you’ll be very happy with them!

I was skeptical about how these would sound considering their size. I was WRONG, completely wrong. The sound (and bass) that these tiny speakers produce is unbelievable. I am now a diehard fan. I have a small, modest setup with little room and was looking for (monitor) speakers that didn't have a large footprint. I did some research and chose these. I am sooo happy I did. The colors they offer are amazing and again, the sound is 10/10 from these little guys. They are powerful/loud, solidly built and worth the $$$.

The Kanto ORA is a really good pair of desktop speakers. They have a pretty flat and laid-back sound. The bass with the unit itself sounds good, but it still doesn't produce much sub-bass (as expected of a speaker this size). If you don’t listen to a lot of bass-centered tracks, then you would not necessarily need a subwoofer with this. Connecting a subwoofer (I used a Kanto Sub8) activates the crossover (at 100Hz), allowing the ORA to focus its power on the mids and highs, producing a well-rounded, full-range sound. I bought this to replace my KEF Q100 + Pioneer SW-8MK2 + SMSL AD18 DAC/AMP setup, which was taking up a lot of space on my desk. Using a passive speaker also meant adding an amplifier and all the additional wires required, making the desk a mess. The ORAs are tiny in comparison and are powered, simplifying the setup considerably. One huge quality-of-life improvement for me with the ORA is that I can change its volume at the OS level (via keyboard) like an analog connection, even when connected via USB. I do this hundreds of times a day and don’t have to take my hands off the keyboard now. It is still a little confusing as the speaker volume (controlled via knob) and system volume are independent, and I am not sure how it’s affecting the subwoofer volume (it was at 50% with the SMSL, but I had to reduce it to 25% with the ORA). It took me a day or two of tinkering to get the volumes at a balanced state. @Kanto, if you are reading this, I hope you can share a guide on how to balance system, speaker, and subwoofer volumes, especially within the Kanto ecosystem. After dialing in the ORA and the Sub8, I compared it to the larger KEF system, and it was a tough one. The KEF, thanks to its coaxial drivers, sounded more magical than the Kanto. The imaging on certain tracks is out of this world, but on the flip side, they do sound thin and fatiguing with other songs (even though they are not bright speakers). The Kanto, on the other hand, sounded more laid back and neutral, which makes it a bit boring but more consistent across the range of songs I tried. At the end of the day, I prefer and am keeping the kanto setup for the desk, due to its size, laid-back neutral sound, simplicity, and other convenience features. The ORA feels well-tuned and optimized for the desk. If you want a speaker that you would like to move from the desk to the living room when needed, there are many other excellent (but larger) speakers at this price point that might serve you better. If this was priced around $249, it would have been a no-brainer recommendation.

If you’re planning to use these as PC speakers, I highly recommend installing Equalizer APO right away. Seriously. It makes a massive difference, and I would not suggest running these speakers without some kind of EQ. I’m generally a fan of these speakers. I’m not an audiophile, but I do care about clear, balanced sound. Out of the box, though, I was honestly pretty close to returning them. Without EQ, the soundstage feels very flat, like everything is coming from the same place instead of having any real depth or separation. On top of that, they sound very muddy, especially with rock or metal. Once there are a lot of instruments happening at the same time, everything blends together and it starts to sound dirty. To be fair, these are reference speakers, and I probably should have taken that more into account before buying them. They are clearly tuned to be neutral rather than exciting right away. That said, there are some real positives even before EQ. The bass response by itself is surprisingly strong and solid for small four inch drivers, and it is perfect for an apartment setup without shaking the walls. The highs on their own are also very clear and crisp without being overbearing or shrill. The speakers do not sound hollow at all, which I really appreciate. Once I installed Equalizer APO and boosted the highs and lows a bit, everything came together. The soundstage opened up, instrument separation improved a lot, and the overall clarity jumped way up. With a few EQ tweaks, these speakers end up sounding very well balanced. Because of that, I decided to keep them. With EQ, they sound great for listening to music, watching movies, and even playing games. Without EQ, I really would not recommend them unless you're looking for studio monitors. One small but annoying thing to note: the speakers are not labeled left and right. The one with the volume knob is the left channel. If you are like me and running these to a PC, you will probably put that speaker on the right side closest to your tower so you do not have to run a long USB C cable across your desk. The downside is there is no built in way to swap channels on the speakers themselves, so you will need software like Equalizer APO to reverse them. Overall, these are very good value for your dollar. They absolutely need EQ to shine, but if you are willing to do a little setup, they become a really well balanced set of speakers for everyday use.

Honestly surprised by the quality of sound of these speakers, sizing threw me off a tad bc I thought they would be a bit bigger but I actually like the size! Cute color, great sound, easy connection. I currently have them connected to a vinyl player but easy to connect to my phone back n forth if needed. I might even buy a second set if my other speakers ever die on me. Worth the money!

I have tested a lot of speakers in my days and I'm not surprised by much but these are a different story. The first thing I did was put them on some speaker stands and sit 5-6 feet back and played a bunch of different types of music. These are not large speakers. There very light and small. Like 8 inches tall. I was not expecting much bass below like 40-50 hz but when I played some test songs that have some 29-45hz bass and these speakers actually produced all of it. Down to 35hz I am getting a strong bass response something I didn't expect. They only have 4 inch woofers. I can even faintly hear bass tones down to 29hz. This is confirmed when I did a frequency response measurement with good bass down to 35hz. Than it rolls off quick below that. I have the klipish the fives and the are know for there size defying bass and yes they have more bass like double but the kantos go just as deep in a cabinet half the size. I also compared them to my edifier 2850db speakers that are huge with 8 inch woofers. They have decent bass but for 8 inch woofers there not as impressive as they could be but still some bass down to 30 -35hz. Similar frequency response to the ora 4. The ora 4 is like 8 times smaller and they dont sound weak in bass va the edifier which is wild. Edifier have more bass but the difference its not as big as the size difference would indicate The other great thing about these speakers is the balance of the sound as you increase volume. A lot of speakers will stop increasing bass above like 70% while the mid and high frequency get really loud making the sound unbalanced. This is what the fives do. But the kantos are just as balanced at max volume as they are at 40% also no distortion as all when pushed to max. The tuning is perfect and the sound is so clean and just on the warm side. This will prevent listening fatigue with long jam sessions. I plan on adding a kanto 8 inch sub soon just to get some more volume and fullness in my large room. I have them mounted to the wall 7 feet apart. I can use them with my TV if I want or just listen to music. I hightly recommend these speakers. It's weird they don't feel super premium when you hold them and feel the plastic there made if. But when they play music it all goes out the window. Also placement maters. Intried these on my desk and I where I was sitting was cancelling out the deeper bass and they didn't sound as big. But in my room where there mounted and I sit at the opposite wall the bass sounds huge. Rooms will always have areas where bass sounds super strong and deep and some spots where it almost disappears. Finding the right spot is important with these speakers.

Pros: - Compact design with decent bass (50–70 Hz) for the size - Built-in USB DAC ensures low-noise PC connectivity - Flat base and treble - Sounds acceptable—but only after applying EQ to correct vocal issues Cons: - Muffled Vocals: Voices sound as if underwater, with a noticeable midrange abnormality (confirmed using a UMIK-2 mic). Despite being marketed as “DSP tuned” and “reference quality,” the speakers require careful manual EQ to fix this flaw. - Limited Connectivity: EQ fixes work only via RCA or USB; Bluetooth (which is limited to SBC, no AptX) won’t apply EQ unless you use a phone app like SpotEQ31. - Harsh Treble: Sibilance makes strings sound scratchy unless corrected with treble roll-off in the EQ. - Channel Layout: The main speaker is always on the right, with no ability to swap. - Paper Cone Woofers: These may compromise both sound quality and longevity. Not acceptable at this price. EQ Adjustments: Preset 1 – Correcting Vocals & Midrange Defects: 20 Hz: 0dB 25 Hz: 0dB 32 Hz: 0dB 40 Hz: 0dB 50 Hz: 0dB 63 Hz: +0.5dB 80 Hz: +1dB 100 Hz: +0.5dB 125 Hz: 0dB 160 Hz: 0dB 200 Hz: 0dB 250 Hz: 0dB 315 Hz: 0dB 400 Hz: -1.7dB 500 Hz: -2.5dB 630 Hz: -1.8dB 630 Hz: -0.9dB 1 kHz: +1.4dB 1.2 kHz: -1.4dB 1.6 kHz: +1.1dB 2 kHz: +2.6dB 2.5 kHz: +2.6dB 3.1 kHz: +2.2dB 4 kHz: +3.5dB 5 kHz: +1.5dB 6.3 kHz: 0dB 8 kHz: 0dB 10 kHz: 0dB 12 kHz: 0dB 16 kHz: 0dB 20 kHz: -2.5dB Preset 2 – Normal Vocals and Midrange, Enhanced Bass & Treble: 20 Hz: 0dB 25 Hz: 0dB 32 Hz: +1dB 40 Hz: +2dB 50 Hz: +3dB 63 Hz: +3.5dB 80 Hz: +4.5dB 100 Hz: +3.3dB 125 Hz: +1.4dB 160 Hz: +1.4dB 200 Hz: +1.4dB 250 Hz: +1.1dB 315 Hz: 0dB 400 Hz: -1.7dB 500 Hz: -2.5dB 630 Hz: -1.8dB 630 Hz: -0.9dB 1 kHz: +1.4dB 1.2 kHz: -1.4dB 1.6 kHz: +1.1dB 2 kHz: +2.6dB 2.5 kHz: +2.6dB 3.1 kHz: +2.2dB 4 kHz: +3.5dB 5 kHz: +1.2dB 6.3 kHz: +0.9dB 8 kHz: +1.2dB 10 kHz: +1.3dB 12 kHz: +2.0dB 6.3 kHz: -2dB 16 kHz: +1dB 20 kHz: -3dB 20 kHz: -5dB Using either preset significantly improves the sound by eliminating the muddled vocals. Preset 2 is better for music, preset 1 is better for audiobooks and youtube. Overall Verdict: While the Kanto ORA’s compact size and basic sound performance are appealing, its factory DSP tuning falls short—forcing you to manually EQ to fix muffled vocals and harsh treble. It is perplexing that Kanto did not use its DSP to calibrate the speakers properly. That's a huge missed opportunity. I am not sure what Kanto audio engineers were doing here. They could have used a basic UMIK-2 calibration mic to see the easily fixable flaws. I hope they can release a firmware update to fix the sound signature. At this price, bluetooth codecs like AptX (or Snapdragon Sound) and proper out-of-the-box EQ should be standard. If you have room on your desk, alternatives such as the JBL 305 MKII offer gold-standard performance, backed by superb audio engineering, without needing manual EQ. Consider the Kanto ORA only if compact speakers are a must and you’re willing to invest time in fine-tuning the sound with EQ software.

I bought these specifically for the depth of the bass they can produce for their compact size, back when they originally released. On a 42 inch desk they still look noticeably large but not comically so, about as large as I would go for a small desk. First off, if you have a desk made of wood or plywood then I HIGHLY recommend using the SP9 stands, as using no stand or the S2 stand will causes early reflections which negatively impact the imaging. The RCA input on these have identical clarity to using a digital input, meaning they're good sounding even without the DSP (so don't fret if you have an analog audio setup like me, you aren't missing out on too much). One other tip I highly recommend trying, is to play around with how far away you have these speakers distanced from your wall. Initially I was disappointed in these speakers because they didn't sound as clear as I hoped, but after moving them farther away from my wall, the the clarity improved to a genuinely surprising degree and my opinion on them changed! The manual recommends these to be 20-25cm (about 8-10in) away from the wall, but I found that to be too close for sound quality sake and currently I have them set 13.5in away from the wall; Which is the farthest I could set them from my wall without ruining the bass performance. Make sure you have them aptly distanced apart from each other as well, not too close together. And atlas, the bass - they have generally a flat sound profile, but if you pair these speakers with a tone control (I'm using a Schiit Loki+ for example) or EQ them, you can raise the lower frequencies without ruining the sound clarity as long as you don't bloat the mid-bass. After raising said low frequencies, raise the volume higher than you normally have it set to. With these tweaks, I found that my eardrums could feel a thump come from the speakers during gunshots during gaming use, instead of just simply hearing the sound of a gunshot. Granted, these are certainly no bass cannons, it's a light thump that's just strong enough for your eardrums to feel the bass.

Not worth the price tag, seen it on YouTube and people liked it, sounds not bad, but she struggles in multiple different ranges, I’m also sad it didn’t include the speaker stand for the price tag. I guess for 100w it’s not bad fogeting the price, but for the price it really needs to be massively improved. It’s a $150 speaker at best.

The sound coming out of this tiny speaker is unbelievably good

I kept saying, "wow" the first time I listened to these speakers. The clarity, range and response is highly enjoyable. Impressive. A few downsides however: (1) the speakers are white, but all the cables are black; (2) they are not loud, even at maximum volume. So if you like to listen to your music loud, you should buy another set of speakers.

I waited a long time for these to upgrade my speakers. As an audiophile with a $3k headphone setup the time came when I wanted to invest in great sound for my desktop speakers too. I have mine on the angled stands, there isn't much to say other than I couldn't be happier, they sound incredible and clean, being near field they also don't travel through the entire house but when you're in the listening position in front of them they're loud and powerful with a sound which wraps around you and doesn't sound directional at all. I do not understand why people pair them with a sub, the bass is perfection, it vibrates my chest, I don't need it to vibrate the walls too. Even those lucky enough to live in a standalone house (certainly not an apartment/unit) on their own with distant neighbours, why ruin perfectly good music by drowning it in excessive bass? It makes no sense. I've also started using them for music production rather than dedicated monitors, as stated by Kanto they are perfectly suitable for that too, really they can do anything and do it better than anything else in the price range while being smaller too.

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