If you’re short on time and just want the highlights of this article, here it is:
The Kanto Living YUP4 is a great speaker for anyone looking for a cost-effective way to enjoy music in their home. It offers a wide range of features and connectivity options, allowing you to connect it to your amplifier, TV, computer, or home network and stream audio from various music services. The sound quality is good but can be a bit muddy in the low end and harsh in the highs.
Overall, the Kanto Living YUP4 provides decent sound quality for the price and plenty of features and connectivity options. It is a great choice for anyone looking for a budget-friendly speaker with decent sound quality, but those looking for the best possible sound quality should look at more expensive options.
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Now let’s get to its bolts and nuts.
Kanto Living YUP4 Review: Sound quality
Have you ever noticed that there often tends to be quite the opposite opinions about a speaker?
I can understand this for more "personal taste" kinda products like clothing, for example.
But for engineering products like speakers? Personal tastes and preferences probably still play a role. But shouldn't it be less?
Why is it that we can't set a universal metric for sound quality?
First time I asked this question to myself has been a pivotal day.
Because it turns out that in the mid 90's, Electrical Engineer PhD Floyd Toole came up with a method called Spinorama. This is exactly what he accomplished with this. Turns out that his book Sound Reproduction is like the bible of audiophiles.
Put it simply, Spinorama is a set of measurements that gives a comprehensive overview of a speaker's performance from various angles.
It allows you to compare the performances of different speakers before even laying your ears hands on them.
Isn't that amazing?
This is why Spinorama was apparently groundbreaking news for audio industry. Hence in the mid-late 2010's, most brands and magazines began publishing Spinorama measurements, despite the challenges of making such measurements.
Fortunately, now we have the Spinorama data for a bunch of quite popular speakers. Pierre Aubert put all this untidy data together and put it into https://www.spinorama.org/. This is a stunning source. Pretty valuable stuff from him right there.
All good up to this point.
Now there comes a caveat.
Since the sound speakers propagate are in the form of omnidirectional waves, all measurements are obtained in anechoic or semi-anechoic chambers (a super-quiet room where soundwaves don't bounce back, here's how different that room sounds [a mind blowing time-adjusted video]).
This is a problem because it means that Spinorama alone, unfortunately, won't give us all we need. Placement and reflections play an equally important role there too.
This is why most A-class brands (like SVS, Bang & Olufsen, etc) often come up with room correction features, adjusted either manually or automatically. The EQ adapts itself to the placement (room, corner, center, etc) for a better (deeper and more accurate) sound. Which is great.
Additionally they often emphasize the importance of placement, here is an example: https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/75365187-the-art-of-subwoofer-placement
Anyways...
The source code under Pierre Aubert's work is licensed under GPL (General public license). He didn't perform any of the measurements himself, and instead he compiled all of them into one place, so that makes sense.
At this point, I thought that if there was a tool that combined both the Spinorama with the room acoustics data, it'd be extremely useful.
Unfortunately, it turns out that there wasn't any.
This is where I stepped in and partnered with an Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD in order to achieve this.
We combined Spinorama data with room acoustics and came up with Soundton. A very simple, 2D online tool that allows you to:
- Reveal optimal speaker positions in a room,
- Test with real speakers from real brands,
- Compare different speakers and different positions in the room.
It can be very valuable for the vast majority.
The colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) listening experience.
It works the best with subwoofers since Soundton processes low frequency response waves only.
- Soundton is going to be, say, 80% accurate. Not 100%.
- Because, other parameters such as the age/materials of the building, furniture/windows in place also have an impact on room acoustics.
- If you want absolutely the most detailed room analysis, then what you need is an acoustics consultant. Mind you that's going to require deep pockets and patience though... assuming you find the right person and they get the job done.
Anyways...
If you are looking for a pair of speakers that will faithfully reproduce your music, the Kanto Living YUP4 is definitely worth considering. With up to 70W of power, the YUP4 can fill your home with realistic and uncolored sound from your amplifier. The combination of 4″ Kevlar woofers and 1″ silk tweeters produces a frequency response of 60 Hz to 20 kHz, allowing you to enjoy enhanced midrange reproduction. The rear-firing tuned bass port helps to reduce distortion and augment the low-end.
The sound quality of these speakers is good, but there is definitely room for improvement. The low end can be a bit muddy at times and the highs can be a bit harsh. However, it still produces clear and detailed sound that is pleasant to listen to. The overall soundstage is quite wide and the sound is balanced overall.
I would’ve liked to see a little more depth and clarity in the soundstage and more attention to detail in the highs. I would’ve also liked to see more power handling and better separation between the various frequencies. The bass could have been crisper and the mid-range could have had more presence. However, for the price, you get a decent sound that is good for casual listening.
Overall, the Kanto Living YUP4 delivers decent sound quality that is suitable for casual listening. It offers a wide soundstage and balanced sound, but can be a bit muddy in the low end and harsh in the highs. It could use a bit more power handling and better separation between the frequencies, but for the price, the sound quality is good.
Kanto Living YUP4 Review: Connectivity
The Kanto Living YUP4 offers a wide range of connectivity options, giving you plenty of ways to listen to your favorite music. It has an integrated spring-clip terminal for connecting your amplifier and it also comes with a pair of stereo RCA input jacks. You can also connect it to your TV or computer via a 3.5mm aux input and a USB audio input.
In addition, the YUP4 comes with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Bluetooth allows you to pair the speakers with your smartphone or tablet and stream audio from your device. With Wi-Fi, you can access streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Apple Music, and more.
The YUP4 also has an optical audio input and an Ethernet port. The optical audio input allows you to connect the speakers directly to your TV and the Ethernet port gives you a wired connection to your home network.
Overall, the Kanto Living YUP4 offers a wide range of connectivity options that give you plenty of ways to listen to your favorite music. You can connect it to your amplifier, TV, computer, or home network and stream audio from various music services. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections make it easy to pair the YUP4 with your device and stream audio from it.
Kanto Living YUP4 Review: Most & least ideal user profiles
The Kanto Living YUP4 is a great speaker for anyone looking for a cost-effective way to listen to music in their home. Its wide range of features and connectivity options make it suitable for a wide range of users.
The most ideal user profile for the YUP4 is someone looking for a decent pair of speakers at a budget-friendly price point. The YUP4 offers a good soundstage with balanced sound and decent bass response. It also has plenty of connectivity options for streaming music or connecting your device directly to the speaker.
The least ideal user profile for the YUP4 is someone looking for the best possible sound quality. While the YUP4 offers decent sound quality, it won’t be able to compete with more expensive speakers. Additionally, the low end can be a bit muddy and the highs can be a bit harsh at times.
Overall, the Kanto Living YUP4 is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a cost-effective way to enjoy music in their home. Its wide range of features and connectivity options make it suitable for a wide range of users. Those looking for a budget-friendly speaker with decent sound quality should definitely consider the YUP4. However, those looking for the best possible sound quality should look at more expensive options.
Kanto Living YUP4 Review: Conclusion
The Kanto Living YUP4 is a great speaker for anyone looking for a cost-effective way to enjoy music in their home. It offers a wide range of features and connectivity options, allowing you to connect it to your amplifier, TV, computer, or home network and stream audio from various music services. The sound quality is good but can be a bit muddy in the low end and harsh in the highs.
Overall, the Kanto Living YUP4 provides decent sound quality for the price and plenty of features and connectivity options. It is a great choice for anyone looking for a budget-friendly speaker with decent sound quality, but those looking for the best possible sound quality should look at more expensive options.