Canton GL-260 bookshelf speakers

[Bratwurst7s]

Umm, first, in my rambling way, a little background. Recently I've seriously upgraded my HT system with a new (to me) amp, Canton Karat 60 fronts and Karat 200 rears. Now I've become increasingly unsatisfied with the Infinity Alpha center that I've been using. It's not a bad speaker but the voicing just doesn't match with the Cantons.

So I started looking at some Canton centers and haven't found something that 1) I can afford, 2) that isn't taller than 20cm (so I don't have to raise the TV). So I started looking at the idea of buying 2 small bookshelf speakers and running them in series as a center.

I hit upon the GL-260 as the size looked perfect.
General:

• Producer: Canton
• Modell: GL 260
• Build Year: 1981
• Produced in: Germany
• Color: Black, White, Bronzebown
• Size: 180 x 265 x 120 mm (WxHxD)
• Weight: 3,4 kg
• New Price ca.: 460.- DM/Pair

Technical Data:

• Type: 2-Way closed, Bookshelf Speaker
• Chassis:
  • Woofer: 16 cm
  • Tweeter: 2 cm Soft Dome
• Power Handling: 45/70 W (RMS-/Peak)
• Frequency Range: 42 - 30.000 Hz
• Crossover: 1700 Hz
• Impedence: 4 Ohm

When I started to check the auction site here I was surprised to see that these little boxes are still commanding quite a bit of money for their size, like €140-150. Looking around it seemed that they have quite a good reputation, so I decided to buy a pair when I could save up a bit of funds.

So last Sunday I saw a pair (brown) sitting at €41 and to make the story short I got them for €62. Today they arrived. Aside from a very few small scratches they look very very good for a pair of ca 35yo speakers. I hooked them up to my PC amp for a test run (Yamaha A-520 with ASUS Xonar Essence sound card as source).

I am stunned. These tiny things are simply amazing. They have a pure clean presence and amazing bass for their size. I didn't think it possible for a speaker this size to have such deep bass. I approached the stated 42hz with some scepticism but am now a believer. They are a boxer that hits way over it's weight class.

I don't have enough room on my desk to properly set up the speakers without removing the Grundigs that I'm currently using so I just set them down where there is space. They are only about 60cm from my face with about a meter between them. With that spacing I didn't expect to hear very good imaging, I just wanted to give them a test run.

They have imaging to die for! Crazy good imaging. I've only listened to 3 cd's so far, ZZ-Top Tres Hombres & Degüello, and am now listening to The Allman Bros Fillmore East. This is so very good. I now have a dellema. I bought these to use in my Living room HT system in series as a center. But they blow away the Grundig 650b's that I've been using on my PC, and in fact the Grundigs are quite good sounding speakers. Now what do I do?

I realize that I've been using a lot of superlatives and that that can get to be irritating, yeah yeah, Daddy has a new toy and it's better than all of the old ones, but the fact is simply this. These are some amazing speakers for their size. I put a glass of something good next to the speakers in the pics to give a size perspective.
Cheers,
James

 

[cmmatt123]

I have never met a pair of Cantons that I didn't like, enjoy!

 

[Fairlane]

You must keep these for two channel James. Look very cool, love my German speakers.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I have never met a pair of Cantons that I didn't like, enjoy!

You must keep these for two channel James. Look very cool, love my German speakers.

Thanks guys. For the moment they will stay on my desktop but eventually, in the next week or so, they will start their new life as my HT center channel. I'm interested to find out if there are any advantages to doing a center this way. Like what happens when I separate them a little bit, or toe them out to the sides slightly. But if I see another pair for a good price I'll probably have to buy them. They are much better than the Infinity Alpha 5's that are now on my wife's PC (former HT rear speakers) or my Grundigs.

While I have them on the desk I plan on opening one and photographing the crossover and noting the driver part numbers for future information. And they will eventually get recapped.

Cheers,
James

 

[Fairlane]

I have used a single speaker as a center. Who knows, you maybe on to something using two.
Try it and see how it sounds.

 

[jazzmans]

Back 'in the day' we did use two speakers for the center, I'm pretty sure my Yamaha DSP a1000 had dual center outputs for that reason. It's a lot easier to match the main speakers, I've never been fond of the voice of any of the center channel speakers I've heard.
Do it op, I used to 'frame' the tv with them, and have left and right furthur out.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

The plan is to lay them on their sides with the tweeters in the middle and wire them in series. They are 4 ohm boxes so that'll give me an "8 ohm speaker" that's position expandable/flexable. Then I'll start experimenting with small position changes. I'll post my impressions of the results. Thanks for the suggestions and support everyone.

Cheers,
James

 

[cmmatt123]

Comb filtering might end up being a problem.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

Bummer. I never thought of that. So do you think it would be best to keep the speakers flush up against each other with the tweeters as close to each other as possible?

Cheers,
James

 

[CKDC]

Try it, let us know what happens.

Canton speakers are not known for huge explosions but you never know.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I found it surprisingly difficult to bring myself to unhook the 260s from my desktop and take them out front to their intended new home. I got really attached to them as desktop near field speakers. I suspect strongly that when another pair comes up for a decent price I'll have to buy some more.

But yesterday I did take them to the front room and hooked them up to the HT amp in place of the Infinity Alpha center.



In spite of the pair of them being actually wider than the Alpha they look much smaller because they are so much thinner. I like the look a lot better. But more importantly I like the sound a lot better. After plugging in the mic and re-running the setup program we gave them a workout last night. (The last 3 episodes of Walking Dead season 5). For starters I placed them as close together as possible without touching each other and lined them up with a straight edge.

The system sound is much more homogeneous now. The front sound is a unified field and I don't notice the center standing out as different than the left & right any more. Dialogue is clearer now too. Being thinner than the Alpha they also line up better with the face of the TV and the front speakers and I'm guessing that that contributes to the improved sound field. I really really like them! I'm declaring this experiment a winner and no longer an experiment but a finished system. I can't recommend these little speakers enough They hit way above their weight class.

So far I haven't opened them up but will eventually look inside to replace the caps, sketch the crossover schematic and document the driver part numbers.

Cheers,
James

 

[Bratwurst7s]

So a few developments with the '260s. I told a friend at work about them and he came over and listened while they were still hooked up to the A-520/PC. He liked them and the amp enough to ask me to find an A-520 for him and then went on the 'bay and bought himself a black pair of the Cantons. He got them home yesterday and is loving the new system. He replaced a low powered AV amp and a pair of JBL Control1x speakers with the Yamaha and GL's so it's a nice step up for him.

And a week ago I bought a second set of the 260s for my own use. I like them that much. Today I pulled the woofer on one and took a look around in them. The big surprise is that the woofer has what looks just like the normal aluminum frame that I'm getting used to seeing on Cantons but actually it's a plastic frame! It looks like it might be some kind of glass reinforced plastic, but plastic nonetheless. The speaker box is also a 2 piece plastic cab with the front baffle being the 2nd piece and is removable, being held on with 6 screws.

The caps are the typical Canton caps made by Wego and don't have any value markings other than 23vac, just part numbers. The part numbers for everything are as follows:

Tweeter = 2746
Woofer = 1368
Cap (tweeter) = 3779
Coil (tweeter) = 2097
Cap (woofer) = 1228
Coil (woofer) = 2862
And 2 resistors, 12 ohms and 150 ohms.

I'm putting a list together of the cap numbers from all the different Canton speakers that I and some friends have and will be writing Canton to ask if they can identify them. I'll post when I get an answer just to put it on record. Wego apparently specializes in producing OEM caps etc made to spec for the end user. And I've already found out that pulling and measuring a cap with an LCR meter doesn't help much because some (most?) of the caps are made to some non standard values, such as what I found in a CT 80. A cap with PN 1615 measured 139.9µF when I pulled it. I found out in a German HiFi forum that that cap has an original value of 120µF. So this is turning into an interesting bit of research.

Some GL 260 pics...



Cheers,
James

 

[jadobbins77]

I am stunned. These tiny things are simply amazing. They have a pure clean presence and amazing bass for their size. I didn't think it possible for a speaker this size to have such deep bass. I approached the stated 42hz with some scepticism but am now a believer. They are a boxer that hits way over it's weight class.[/QUOTE]

I purchased a pair of these little wonders at a second hand music store this morning and am floored by how much clear sound such small boxes can produce, they areally extremely efficient. Driving them with my old Sansui 1000x, volume level 4 is as much as my ears care to handle, and the 1000x is no powerhouse. The pair of Sansui SP-X1U boxes are now headed to garage duty.

 

[xero-D-hero]

Believe everything ^^^^ these guys ^^^^ say folks,,,as it is all QFT...

I love mine,they have FAR surpased any pre-purchase expectations & I could'nt possibly be any happier with my GL-260.

As stated one tends to be suspicious of the frequency response ratings at first (especially the low end),but hearing a pair will put that suspicion to rest pronto.
So a subwoofer is'nt really needed with these,though using one just makes the GL-260's sound even better yet,I am running a Canton AS85-SC sub w/my GL-260.

And the description of these as having a pure/clean & natural sound is dead-on as well.
These speakers sound superb with any genre of music I've thrown @ them.

One thing I really like about these is they sound exceptionally clear at lower listening levels,no loudness or contour needed -nor- missed.
Yet they can easily handle significantly louder useage as well,and they sound great doing that too.
Many speakers it seems you get one-or-the-other and typically not both.

Ask me these are one of the best "under the radar" small speakers out there...
I almost hate to give such a glowing review here as I'd hate to see the prices for these spike upwards & availability drop off as a result of doing so.
I say that as I DEFINITELY plan on picking up another pair or two in the future.
And they have also forced me to give Canton a lot more interest in the brand as a whole as well.
I say that as I've recently scored a pair of Plus S for a real good price as well.
I'm gonna pit those Plus S head2head with some Pro7AV and Delta Labs M1 (AKA: ADS L200).

Enough gushing for now,here are some pics vvvv .

Close ups vvvv .

Note that I repainted mine OD green to match the OD green Corsair C70 computer case and Roccat gaming mouse (camo charge / OD green).
Those two were bought to match a big 'ol mini-gun ammo box I already had.

More pics of this system here: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?media/albums/headphone-nearfield-2-1-system.400/

This headphone/nearfield system sounds exquisite.
System is comprised of:
Desktop PC w/SB Zx using optical out > Monoprice powered optical splitter > Parasound D/AC-1000 > NAD 106 preamp using XLR outs > EV 7100 power amp.
RCA & XLR IC cables are all Mogami & the optical cables are Emotiva Econnect,speaker cable is GLS OFC AWG 16ga..
Power is supplied by a Middle Atlantic PD-915R and the power cables are 14ga./15A IEC style from either Middle Atlantic (signal safe) -or- Tripp Lite.

Anyhow,yeah these are great little speakers,so if you're ever looking for something like these,do yourself a BIG favor and give a pair of GL-260's a go.
I'm sure you'll be REAL glad you did so...

JMO ~ FWIW

Bret P.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

You guys remind me that I haven't updated this thread for a while.

Several more pairs of 260's have gone through my hands now and are being used by different friends.

I have found the values for the caps since my last post. I hope that this helps if you are planning to recap your speakers...
Tweeter - 3779 = 6.8µF/23v
Woofer - 1228 = 39µF/23v

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/canton-speaker-capacitor-reference-thread.740362/

My 260's that I used in my PC system have moved into the guest room paired with a small Yamaha AX-300 amp (recapped of course) and a Denon DCD-1290 cd player (modded). Wife gives them regular workouts when she does her fitness routine. Heh heh, the Yamaha A-520 amp that I used in the PC system has also been replaced. As good as the GL-260's are their replacements are even better - Canton Quinto 510's. And the replacement amp is a Yamaha AX-500, fully re-capped with upgraded filter caps (15000µF instead of 12000µF).

I've been using the series-pair of 260's in my home theatre system regularly for over a year now, they aren't going anywhere. I love 'em

If you ever need to replace a woofer the GL 300F uses the same 1368 as the GL 260, so that's a viable source of donor woofers.

The 2746 tweeters can be found in several different speakers, I'm still making a list of possible donor speakers, here are a few...
Plus S
Plus GX, Plus GX3,

Enjoy your Canton's,
James

 

[biscuithead]

I have Canton Ergo 31s that I am married to... so now I guess GL-260s are a must.... Thanks guys

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I have Canton Ergo 31s that I am married to... so now I guess GL-260s are a must.... Thanks guys

I haven't had the chance to listen to any Ergo's yet, but I can imagine that they sound pretty darn good. Afaik the Ergo line is pretty far up the food chain in the Canton lineup.

You can add the Quinto line to your list. So far I have a pair of 510's and 520's, and have heard some 530's that I recapped for a friend. They sound fantastic. And of course the follow on to the Quinto, the Karat's aren't to be passed up. I can attest that the Karat 100, 200 and 60's all sound superb. And I have a pair of LE 600's that are still waiting to be restored (have to find grills).

I guess that one could say that I've become a dyed-in-the-wool Canton fan.

Cheers,
James

 

[MJB1959]

I can't hardly blame you for your attachment to the Canton brand, I have only heard one pair, and they left quite a lasting impression, so they are always on my radar, my fixation is on ADS/Braun, which seem to be similar in style and sound. I keep looking at the "s" series or the Plus xl, as an entry bookshelf to get my feet wet with the brand.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I can't hardly blame you for your attachment to the Canton brand, I have only heard one pair, and they left quite a lasting impression, so they are always on my radar, my fixation is on ADS/Braun, which seem to be similar in style and sound. I keep looking at the "s" series or the Plus xl, as an entry bookshelf to get my feet wet with the brand.

While I haven't had the pleasure of hearing and ADS speakers I have been able to listen to some Braun speakers recently (L1030 & L630). They were very much of the same family of sound as compared to Canton's. And why not? I've been doing a bit of reading concerning the history of Braun/Heco/Canton and many of the same names keep popping up concerning their engineering and development. Similar design philosophies.

I had an interesting day today. A few friends came by to pick up an amp (Yamaha AX-700) and cd player (Denon DCD-1290) and audition them with some different speakers. A pair of Infinity Primus 250's, a pair of Canton Karat 200's, and a pair of Braun L1030's.

The Infinities had very clear and sparkling high end, so-so bottom end, and weak midrange. The Canton Karat 200's blew them away. Just as clear and concise high end, tighter bottom end and great mids. The Braun's were very similar to the Cantons with the exception of having deeper bass. All things considered I was very disappointed in the Infinities and felt that the Canton's did a pretty respectable job of holding their own against the larger Braun's. Also, considering the stated sensitivity of the Infinities at 92db vs the Karat 200's at 90.2db (Braun = ?) the Canton's and Braun's played louder at the same volume setting. I had no problem recommending the Braun speakers, and would definitely take the Canton's as second choice. The infinity's were simply not (imo) worth considering in comparison.

Cheers,
James

 

[MJB1959]

Yep, we are hearing similarly, I also have some mid-rated Infinity 3 ways in my garage, they are hooked to a Rotel receiver, and are used mainly for news radio which they do well, but for HiFi, the ADS, Braun family is what makes my music sing best. It's definitely the legacy of German engeneering, which is why I need to add some Canton speakers to my collection at some point. Must be nice to live there!