Canton’s philosophy from the beginning, according to its Web site, was to build speakers that would appeal to both the audio-obsessed (through good sound) and their spouses (through good looks). The 820 is made in Germany the brand name has nothing to do with China-in case anyone was wondering. The Vento 820 is a small, stand-mounted, two-way, rear-ported mini-monitor made by Canton, a German company that was founded in 1972. When you consider the Magico Mini II, Wilson Audio WATT, Rogers/BBC LS3/5a, Advent, and Acoustic Research AR3a all made the “The 12 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time” list in the TAS Speaker Issue (#205), it is clear that small speakers play a major roll in specialty audio. My former condescension toward compact speakers evaporated, and the C1 ($7500 with stands) remains my reference. That little speaker had bass extension and power that embarrassed some larger three-way speakers and retained all the advantages of an articulate, fast, coherent compact speaker in a musically compelling package. When I reviewed the Dynaudio Confidence C1 mini-monitor for Sound Stage! in late 2007, I was hooked.
#Large advent speaker placement driver#
Aside from the presumed small loudspeaker advantages such as driver integration, image precision, placement ease, and reduced bass overhang, there is also the sheer pleasure of getting great sound-even a fairly big sound-from loudspeakers that do not look as though they should deliver the goods. I have since learned that many mini-monitors simply meet some people’s needs better even if they can readily accommodate a larger floorstander. Some twenty years ago, I switched to a three-way floorstander as soon as I had a large enough room and could get away with the elevated bass and sound pressure levels in my living situation. “Compact monitors are for people who can’t have large floorstanders.” Not enough room, can’t turn the volume up, need expensive amplifiers to match, other members of the household won’t tolerate them, and on and on.