Canton CT-1000/2 Three way Speakers

[Qwin]

I heard a set of these at NEBO 14 (North East Bake Off #14) held in Hartlepool February 2024.

mik_rik of this parish had taken them and along with most of the audience, I was blown away by them.

They have sweet highs, fleshed out mids and deep bass, what's not to like.

Canton is not a make I was familiar with, thought they might be Chinese, but no, they are a family owned business in Germany, still going today.

The CT-1000 came in two editions as can be seen in this picture.




The original series had the Mid-range and Tweeter drivers mounted side by side, the mid range had a rear vented chamber and the input terminals were spring loaded.

The second series had the tweeter mounted above the mid range and no vent at the rear. The spring terminals were replaced with proper binding posts.

Both used the same 12" bass driver in a sealed cabinet of the same volume.

Here are some pictures of my series two, though they don't do the finish justice, which for a roughly 1986 product, has been very well looked after. I was on tender hooks waiting for these to arrive, the German seller had no boxes and advertised them as collection only. I arranged for them to be picked up and packed for shipment to the UK and was concerned the finish may not survive the journey. With text book German efficiency, they arrived without a scratch.






















These were obviously aimed at competing with the Yamaha NS-1000m, a similar sized 3-Way speaker, using a 12" woofer in a sealed box.
Having both at my disposal, I would say, the Canton is the better of the two, certainly for home listening, a more relaxed presentation, yet just as dynamic and with a much deeper bass.

[Jimbo]

I did not realise you were going for some "old School" Canton speakers Ken but I must say looking at your mini review would suggest they deliver a very compelling performance. Nice to have 12" bass drivers so they must have a bit of guts in the bass department?

[Barry]

Interesting review. I had not heard of Canton, but if they can stand comparison with Yamaha NS-1000 speakers they must be pretty good.

How much do they go for Ken?

[Qwin]

I did not realise you were going for some "old School" Canton speakers Ken but I must say looking at your mini review would suggest they deliver a very compelling performance. Nice to have 12" bass drivers so they must have a bit of guts in the bass department?

Hi James, yes roughly 1986, though they look like new. Bass is very good, nice detail and texture, can hit hard and goes very deep.
All round, it's a very, very good speaker and has slipped under the radar for some time, word is out now though.
Just waiting on a pair of Neurochrome 686 Monoblocks, which is a marriage made in heaven. Ali drove Micks Canton speakers with his 686 mono's and it was superb.

[Qwin]

Interesting review. I had not heard of Canton, but if they can stand comparison with Yamaha NS-1000 speakers they must be pretty good.

How much do they go for Ken?

Back in the 80's they retailed for about 2,000dm and the piano finish like mine for 2,500dm which converts roughly to Euros. So not a cheap model.
They are very rare in UK but are seen reasonably often in Germany (home market), the United States and strangely enough, old Iron Curtain countries.
I got a link to mine through hifishark.com
A Black or Satin wood finish go for £400/500, piano finish £600/700 in good condition. I've seen a couple of slightly tatty but fully functioning black pairs go for 285 and 300 Euro.
Like most large speakers (21kg each) they tend to be collection only and being the age they are, have no shipping cartons. I had to pay for collection in Germany, the company (MBE) arrived by car, wrapped the speakers in blankets, put them in the boot and took them back to their depot for packing. Fedex then brought them to my address in the UK. This process, cost nearly as much as the speakers, but the examples I have are mint and well worth the money in my view.
They are cheaper than NS-1000m but for domestic listening, I think they are better. Not as forward at the top end, so more amp tolerant and that deep bass which is lacking in the Yams.

[Macca]

They look very tidy Ken - well worth the money.

When I hooked up Mik's ones at NEBO (they had been hidden over by the bar under a pile of empty boxes) I thought they might be decent, but they turned out to be a lot better than decent.

I was googling to see if there were any more up for sale in the UK almost right away!

There's a few threads about them on Audiokarma if anyone wants to know more.

[Qwin]

They look very tidy Ken - well worth the money.

When I hooked up Mik's ones at NEBO (they had been hidden over by the bar under a pile of empty boxes) I thought they might be decent, but they turned out to be a lot better than decent.

I was googling to see if there were any more up for sale in the UK almost right away!

There's a few threads about them on Audiokarma if anyone wants to know more.

Yeh, I saw some some of the threads there, about re capping the crossover etc. There is also Canton owners club on AVS forum covering the older models.

I'll keep my eyes open, let you know if any come up for sale in the UK.

[Ali Tait]

They look brand new! Nice score Ken, very nice sounding speakers.

[Qwin]

They look brand new! Nice score Ken, very nice sounding speakers.

Thanks Ali, Yeh they don't come up very often in this kind of condition. It was worth the effort involved in arranging a third party collection and packing service.
I will be taking these to the Maverick Show (Ex WAM) in October.

[Ali Tait]

Won’t be there, but next NEBO maybe?