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Canton LE-109

elitopus

elitopus

Addicted Member
Long read. Skip to the end for the actual questions.

I was taking some stuff to my storage building today with one of my kids. Actually we were taking a pair of speakers, a powered mixer, and about 100 records. I was also going to pick up a pair of speakers I had in storage that am selling on FBM.

Anyways this guy in the parking lot is coming out from his storage unit and sees me putting my audio gear on a cart to take in. He asks me if I want some speakers he has in his storage building also. I jokingly say yes of course.

My daughter and I take the stuff up to my storage unit. On the way outside the guy is waiting and asks if I seriously want the speakers. I’m like hell yeah of course. He said they are Canton, Paradigm, and something else.

I followed him to his storage unit and took a huge Home Depot box full of speakers. I just glanced at the Canton, and I haven’t pulled the Paradigm out yet. I think there is a center speaker and subwoofer in the box also.

So I went from telling my wife I was selling a pair of speakers, to telling her that deal fell though, and now I just got 6 more speakers :eek:

So I’ve read reviews about the Cantons, but it looks like there are not a lot of people who have them in the US?

I grabbed this pic from AudioKarma (Russia?). I’ll take some pics of the actual speakers when I bring them home to test out.


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From what I’ve read they have a 1” tweeter, 7” midrange, and 8” woofer(s).
 
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I'm not seeing any questions (unless it's the part about not many people in the US having them). Yes, considering their size, Canton is not particularly well known in the US. But they are definitely good speakers. I doubt you could go wrong with any pair of Cantons, and for the price you paid? Score!
 
Yeah I guess that was my question. I was writing and then got distracted with kids and bedtime.

I’ve read about other Cantons on AK, and it seems like they are more common than what these look to be. Where did they sell Canton in the US?

Also the label on the speakers says Made in Germany, but they also have the CE “Chinese Export” label. So where are they actually made?
 
I have a couple pair of their smaller speakers and to my ears I haven't met a Canton I didn't like. I try to keep my eyes open for them but they don't pop up often--especially those the size of yours. Well done! Right place right time.
 
You were gifted a fine set of speakers. I haven't heard them, and don't need to to be able to say that they are good speakers. They are Canton after all.

Translated from HiFi Wiki:

Canton LE-109
Production year: 2002.
Made in Germany.
Finish/color: Silver, Beach/Silver, Ash/Black, Cherry/Black.
Cabinet Measurements: 220mm x 1025mm x 310mm (W, H, D).
Weight: 19.2kg / Cabinet.
New price = €898.00 / Pair (MSRP).

Speaker Type: 3-Way Bass reflex.
Drivers:
Woofer = 2 x 200mm, Polypropylene Cone.
Midrange = 1 x 180mm, Polypropylene Cone.
Tweeter = 1 x 25mm Soft Dome.
Load carrying ability: 150w RMS / 250w Peak.
Sensitivity: 89db (1w/1m).
Frequency Range: 20hz - 26khz.
Crossover Points: 300hz/3200hz.
Impedance: 4ohm.

I think that you should give that guy a beer or something.

Cheers,
James
 
Btw elitopus, my Canton journey started in much the same way.

I was in our buildings elevator going down to the cellar and it stopped in the middle. A neighbor was standing there with a fair sized black speaker. He looked at me and asked "What does one do with old speakers when one doesn't want them any longer? Take them to the dump?"

I quickly gave him an off the cuff answer "Just give them to me."

He replied "Wait here while I get the other one". And came back with the 2nd speaker and a small Onkyo receiver. I did actually offer to pay him something but he said no. They turned out to be a pair of Karat 60's. I got fairly well hooked on Cantons after listening to them the first time.

Cheers,
James
 
That’s a good story. And thanks for the specs on them. If always amuses me how some people ask too much money when they sell something, where as other people give away things they probably could have sold.

I’m planning to go get them tomorrow probably and bring them home for testing. I don’t have a lot of power in the house. I’m using a 35wpc receiver right now in the living room). If they need power I can take them in the man cave for 300 wpc. And actually if they’re 4 ohm that ups the power to 500 wpc.

It’s funny because after I talked to the guy in the parking lot, but before he gave me the speakers, I was talking to my daughter about it. I said that if you talk to people about your hobbies that sometimes you can get good deals or opportunities. And then the guy was waiting for me a few minutes later. It was pretty cool.

My wife says I’m banned from going to storage, but I’m thinking maybe I should just always have some speakers or records with me when I go to help strike up a convo :)
 
Yeah I’d bet that’s around the same sensitivity as the OLA’s I have hooked up to it now. It’s my “family friendly” system.
 
Ok here we go. The pair of Cantons, an older Yamaha subwoofer (YST-SW90), and a Paradigm center speaker (CC-150). Also a random pair of speaker stands.

I thought he said something about some book shelf speakers but I probably misunderstood.

The Cantons look to be in good shape. I assume the metal grills just pull right off? I don’t see any screws holding them on.

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elitopus said:
I assume the metal grills just pull right off? I don’t see any screws holding them on.
Click to expand...
Yes, but they can be a bit fiddly, especially if the edges get even a little bit bent. I recommend either leaving them on or leaving them off all the time, they're not the sort of thing that you'll want to be removing regularly.
 
Right that makes sense. I just wanted to take them off to check out the drivers and xovers and then they will go back on for good.
 
Here’s some driver and xover pics. Woofer, midrange, and tweeter. The midrange is in a little enclosure by itself up top.

All drivers work and the speakers sound pretty good.

The Yamaha sub sounds good also. The Paradigm center, not so much. The surrounds are foam and are falling apart. Since I don’t have a use for a center channel speaker, I’m not sure what I’ll do with this one. Maybe give it to someone who wants to refoam the woofers.


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I’ve spent a little time with the Cantons and have some listening impressions.

They seem to soak up the 175wpc I’m feeding them without issue. Overall sound is decent. The HF extension is nice, but there seems to be a hole between the mid and HF drivers. Maybe the dome doesn’t go low enough to meet the mid, or the mid doesn’t go high enough to meet the dome.

They are somewhat rolled off on the low end. I guess what I would expect from HT speakers. They are probably meant to be used with a subwoofer.

I don’t have a ton of experience with tower speakers, so I don’t know how these compare to others. If I was putting together a home theatre setup I would consider these though. They seem to sell for pretty cheap (couple hundred) on the used market.
 
Ok so I think I was wrong about these. I’ve spent even more time with these speakers now. They've been hooked up in the living room for general family use. After playing with them I’m actually pretty impressed. They sound pretty good regardless of what I throw at them. And they seem to hold it together even at high volume. The hole I was hearing before between the mid and tweeter is actually a good thing at higher volumes. Even when cranked the midrange doesn’t get harsh.


The funniest thing is playing something like bass mekanik (I might loose my audiophool card for this). They can hit most of the low notes. They have more bass than the Large Advents that were on duty before them. I think they are just more seamless then the Advents. The bass isn’t as in your face but it’s there.

For music use there is no need for a subwoofer.

I was going to sell these. I had them on CL and had some interested parties, but I decided to keep them and I pulled the ad. They won’t be replacing my Altecs in the main system, but they will stay right where they are for family use. I’m pretty sure my kids couldn’t blow these up, even with 175 wpc.
 
hello OP can you give me some feedback if you still have these cantons or have sold them?

saw someone selling these floors. hes asking $280 in mint condition was wanting to get them down a bit to $230 ?

how long did you have them and what are its weak points? I do have a 12" sub to go with this. perhaps use them for my pc as music/YT/movie/tv show use or maybe use them only for TV which I hardly use. I have a pair of Q55 currently and wanted to step up to something a bit better
 
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