Напольная акустика — Canton Reference 5

The Reference 5 is a three-way passive floorstander in the Reference series that Canton of Weilrod, Germany, introduced in 2023. Canton lists it at EUR 4,400 per speaker in black piano finish, and the maker now files the 2023 Reference models in its archive section. In North America a pair costs USD 13,000 in black or white and USD 15,000 in walnut.

Key specs that matter

Two 174 mm woofers and a 174 mm midrange use BCT cones, short for Black Ceramic Tungsten, and the woofers carry wave surrounds. In a BCT cone about 25 percent of the molecular structure of an aluminium cone is converted into ceramic and refined with tungsten and other metal particles. The 25 mm tweeter has a black coated aluminium oxide ceramic dome. The filter divides the band at 170 Hz and 3,000 Hz. Canton quotes a range of 21 Hz to 40,000 Hz, an impedance of 4 to 8 ohm, a sensitivity of 88 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, and load capacity of 200 W nominal and 370 W music. The cabinet is 30 cm wide, 102 cm tall with the base and 46 cm deep, and the feet add a 4 x 4 x 12 cm footprint supplement. Each speaker weighs 36 kg.

Engineering and use context

The midrange driver works in a separate enclosure inside the cabinet and uses Canton's wave bead technology at its edge. The reflex port vents downward, while the two woofers are matched to a large internal volume and the Bass Guide arrangement in the plinth area. The enclosure is built from multilayer laminate, and its curved baffles are machined on a 5-axis CNC router. WBT nextgen binding posts sit on the back, joined by copper bridges with hard gold plating, so the speaker can be bi-wired or bi-amped. Level controls for the midrange and tweeter move in 1.5 dB steps. The black piano surface is built up from twelve lacquer layers, and a silk-matte white version and a walnut version are also offered. The feet are height adjustable and prepared for spikes, the fabric cover attaches with magnets, delivery is by pallet, and passive Reference models are covered by a 10-year warranty.

Pairing

A sensitivity in the high 80s combined with a 4 ohm minimum load points toward a transistor amplifier specified into 4 ohm that can supply plenty of current. The separate terminal pairs let owners of two stereo power amplifiers split the bass and the upper range across different channels.

Alternatives

The Canton Reference 3 sits one step higher in the same series, with two 192 mm woofers.