Focal Kanta N°1 Bookshelf Speaker (High-Gloss Walnut & Black, Single)

For the Kanta series, a flax sandwich cone speaker has been combined with a beryllium tweeter. This unique flax/beryllium combination gives audio incredible warmth and musicality. Made in France, the patented Flax cone has already proven itself in other Focal speakers, like the Aria 906. The midrange speaker uses TMD (Tuned Mass Damping) suspension, and every Kanta series speaker is also equipped with an NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) motor, which stabilizes the magnetic field for perfectly defined sound and better controlled bass. The IAL3 Beryllium tweeter combines the IAL (Infinite Acoustic Loading) and IHL (Infinite Horn Loading) tweeter features, both of which help with the absorption of waves, thus reducing distortion.

Due to its incredible rigidity, beryllium represents the ultimate material for a tweeter dome. Able to cover more than five octaves (1 to 40 kHz), you may ask yourself why does Focal strive for an extended response at 40 kHz, if the human ear can only hear up to 20 kHz? If you can extend frequency response, you will improve the perception of transients and other micro details.

The linearity of the speaker's response curve is mainly a function of three conflicting parameters: lightness, rigidity, and damping. Currently, only one material permits a joining of these parameters: beryllium. For domes with identical masses, beryllium is seven times more rigid than titanium or aluminum, the latter two well known for their rigidity. This results in a sound wave propagation three times faster than titanium and two and a half times faster than aluminum. In the end, the linearity of the frequency response curve, the acoustic transparency, and the impulse response of the beryllium tweeter are maximized and offer near-perfect sound.

Flax cones are made of a high-quality flax fiber core enclosed by two thin layers of glass fiber. Flax is twice as light as fiberglass, because the fiber is hollow. It also has very-low elasticity, which makes it ideal to increase the flexural rigidity of the sandwich structure. To design a high-performance diaphragm, you have to optimize a complex set of criteria, which are for the most part contradictory. The composite solution using flax in a sandwich structure with fiberglass skins is a very harmonious way of combining low mass with high internal damping, high velocity of sound, and high flexural rigidity.

The flax cone is made in France exclusively by Focal since 2013. With their original design, the cone is entirely oriented towards acoustic performance. F cone are characterized by their natural sound, with low coloration, their richness of reproduction in the midrange register and their tighter bass.

With the Kanta series, everything is designed and made to create acoustic softness and warmth, including the density and stiffness of the front panel and cabinet materials, softened angles, and double port vents. The cabinet is made from one-piece integrally molded wood. The front panel is molded in one piece from High-Density Polymer (HDP). This material has excellent performance; it is 70% denser than MDF, 15% stiffer, and provides 25% more damping. The one-piece front panel totally eliminates any sound diffraction.

This foam bung allows you to make some fine adjustments to the bass performance of your loudspeakers. The Kanta N°1 loudspeaker has been designed to reproduce deep bass in an even manner for a free space position. If you position your loudspeakers close to a wall, bass frequencies are further enhanced. Similarly, some rooms have acoustics that exaggerate low bass. The foam bung allows you to reduce the amount of energy from the port tube to reduce bass levels and improve damping in such situations.