Bookshelf Speakers — Kanto Audio YU6

The YU6 is the powered speaker pair placed above the YU2 and YU4 in the range of Canadian brand Kanto, priced at USD 519.99 per pair. It targets living rooms, TV setups and record playback as well as desks. Finishes cover gloss and matte colours plus bamboo, and a walnut version was also sold. The active left speaker houses the amplifier and connections, and a length of speaker wire links it to the passive right cabinet.

Key specs that matter

Kanto fits a 5.25 inch Kevlar woofer and a 1 inch silk dome tweeter in each enclosure, crossed over at 2.0 kHz in a 2-way network. Its Class D amplification reaches 200 W peak, or 100 W total RMS for the pair, into a nominal 6 ohm load. Kanto lists a 50 Hz to 20 kHz response, 560 mV input sensitivity and total harmonic distortion below 0.3 percent. A single speaker is 17.5 cm wide, 27.2 cm tall and 20.5 cm deep. The active unit weighs 5.2 kg, the passive one 4.0 kg, and the boxed pair 11 kg.

Engineering and use context

Connections on the rear include RCA L/R, a 3.5 mm AUX jack, two optical Toslink inputs and Bluetooth 4.0 with Qualcomm aptX, giving five sources in total. A Phono/Line switch decides whether the RCA input runs through the built-in phono preamp, and a grounding post takes the earth lead from a turntable. When no signal arrives for 15 minutes the system switches to standby, where consumption falls below 0.5 W, and playback restarts automatically once audio is detected again. The rear USB socket supplies 5 V at up to 1.0 A in both playback and standby, enough to run a phone, smart home device or streaming stick. The mains input accepts 100 to 240 V at 50 or 60 Hz. The remote, shipped with batteries, adjusts volume, bass and treble with reset keys for each, sets left and right balance and controls Bluetooth tracks. A 1/4-20 threaded insert is provided for mounting.

Pairing

Turntables without an internal preamp plug into the RCA jacks with the switch on Phono, and those with a built-in stage run at Line level. Televisions and computers can connect through either optical port, while a phone or tablet streams wirelessly. A mono subwoofer output sends the low range to a powered sub. In the box are about 5 m of speaker wire, a 2 m AUX cable, a power cord and eight rubber feet. Kanto pairs the YU6 with its SP6HD desktop stands and SP floor stands, which come in 66 and 81 cm heights with a rotating top plate.

Alternatives

The Kanto YU4 offers the same five inputs in a smaller cabinet with 4 inch Kevlar woofers and 140 W peak power.