Kanto YU2 powered speaker set on sale for $170 shipped

I wonder how these would sound if I used two as a center channel, and a set for rear speakers paired with my A5s?
 
Just a heads up from someone that has been in the desktop speaker game for a minute, you will most likely end up regretting buying a speaker that has such a tiny 3" driver .... that's about 3 1/2 pennies set side by side. It's ... nothing.

For about the same money you can upgrade to a 5" or 6" powered studio monitor, I've even seen highly reviewed 8" studio monitors ( pair ) for around $200 or below.

Just my opinion, but if depth of sound is not important to you, or you just have a tiny ass desk / computer area, this might be the speaker for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-Apm6b-Powered-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B01GV0OJFE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fst=as:eek:ff&qid=1585954046&refinements=p_89:Rockville&rnid=2528832011&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1

Dig deeper and you can find a lot of these types of brands, all with great reviews. Remember guys, your dealing with the same materials, guts and speakers as about anything else. Speakers are not complicated to build.

Get at least a 5" driver. I highly recomend 6" to 8"

Also, KRK can very often be found for around $200 used for a pair and most of the time, they are never used as most are bought and just set around.

I just recently bought a pair of KRK G4 5" hardly used for $225. Came in the boxes even.
 
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SixFootDuo said:
Just a heads up from someone that has been in the desktop speaker game for a minute, you will most likely end up regretting buying a speaker that has such a tiny 3" driver .... that's about 3 1/2 pennies set side by side. It's ... nothing.

For about the same money you can upgrade to a 5" or 6" powered studio monitor, I've even seen highly reviewed 8" studio monitors ( pair ) for around $200 or below.

Just my opinion, but if depth of sound is not important to you, or you just have a tiny ass desk / computer area, this might be the speaker for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-Apm6b-Powered-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B01GV0OJFE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fst=as:eek:ff&qid=1585954046&refinements=p_89:Rockville&rnid=2528832011&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1

Dig deeper and you can find a lot of these types of brands, all with great reviews. Remember guys, your dealing with the same materials, guts and speakers as about anything else. Speakers are not complicated to build.

Get at least a 5" driver. I highly recomend 6" to 8"

Also, KRK can very often be found for around $200 used for a pair and most of the time, they are never used as most are bought and just set around.

I just recently bought a pair of KRK G4 5" hardly used for $225. Came in the boxes even.
Click to expand...
Every speaker you recommend is very good, but they're much bigger than the YU2. If you have the space, those bigger speakers always are a better choice. For limited space or, as I use them, a portable audio solution, the YU2 is a great option, especially compared to the speakers on a laptop like my XPS 13.
 
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SixFootDuo said:
Just a heads up from someone that has been in the desktop speaker game for a minute, you will most likely end up regretting buying a speaker that has such a tiny 3" driver .... that's about 3 1/2 pennies set side by side. It's ... nothing.

For about the same money you can upgrade to a 5" or 6" powered studio monitor, I've even seen highly reviewed 8" studio monitors ( pair ) for around $200 or below.

Just my opinion, but if depth of sound is not important to you, or you just have a tiny ass desk / computer area, this might be the speaker for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-Apm6b-Powered-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B01GV0OJFE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fst=as:eek:ff&qid=1585954046&refinements=p_89:Rockville&rnid=2528832011&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1

Dig deeper and you can find a lot of these types of brands, all with great reviews. Remember guys, your dealing with the same materials, guts and speakers as about anything else. Speakers are not complicated to build.

Get at least a 5" driver. I highly recomend 6" to 8"

Also, KRK can very often be found for around $200 used for a pair and most of the time, they are never used as most are bought and just set around.

I just recently bought a pair of KRK G4 5" hardly used for $225. Came in the boxes even.
Click to expand...

M Audio B8's hit HARD and they can be found very inexpensively. PC speakers are just plain overpriced and not worth the money in general. Even the "high end" ones.
 
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Commander Shepard said:
Every speaker you recommend is very good, but they're much bigger than the YU2. If you have the space, those bigger speakers always are a better choice. For limited space or, as I use them, a portable audio solution, the YU2 is a great option, especially compared to the speakers on a laptop like my XPS 13.
Click to expand...

Much bigger? Yes and no. If your desk has ZERO room then get the tiny 3" speaker.

If you have the average sized desk, I promise, a 5" driver powered studio monitor will fit very nicely. They are not huge. They are ( not exact ) around 9 to 10 to 11" tall and the base is normally ( not exact ) around 8" x 6" .. in that general area.

Early on I had a pair of these tiny 3" speakers and I almost immediately regretted buying them due their very very small sound stage. Me personally, I am big on sound. I used to have KRK G2's 8" and yes, those were big but I had them on speaker stands and they looked amazing and sounded amazing.

I am not trying to derail the tread. So my apologizes. Just providing some additional info to those that are considering new desktop speakers. An additional POV.

I've seen hundreds of computer desks setups over the years ( mostly online ) and as far as I am concerned, everyone has ample room for 10" tall with a base of 8 x 6" speaker housing a 5" driver. Paired with a cheap 8" powered sub and you will be in business.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Much bigger? Yes and no. If your desk has ZERO room then get the tiny 3" speaker.

If you have the average sized desk, I promise, a 5" driver powered studio monitor will fit very nicely. They are not huge. They are ( not exact ) around 9 to 10 to 11" tall and the base is normally ( not exact ) around 8" x 6" .. in that general area.

Early on I had a pair of these tiny 3" speakers and I almost immediately regretted buying them due their very very small sound stage. Me personally, I am big on sound. I used to have KRK G2's 8" and yes, those were big but I had them on speaker stands and they looked amazing and sounded amazing.

I am not trying to derail the tread. So my apologizes. Just providing some additional info to those that are considering new desktop speakers. An additional POV.

I've seen hundreds of computer desks setups over the years ( mostly online ) and as far as I am concerned, everyone has ample room for 10" tall with a base of 8 x 6" speaker housing a 5" driver. Paired with a cheap 8" powered sub and you will be in business.
Click to expand...
You also ignored the main reason I use the YU2. Try traveling with any of the speakers you mentioned and get back to me. :rolleyes:
 
Still using my old pair of Swann 1080 MK2's. Still sound great after all these years. ;)
1586007107971.png

Nowhere near new of course but good sound to me.
 
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delita said:
M Audio B8's hit HARD and they can be found very inexpensively. PC speakers are just plain overpriced and not worth the money in general. Even the "high end" ones.
Click to expand...
M-Audio is good stuff. My pair of BX8a's + BX10s sub = obscene.
 
Last edited:
SixFootDuo said:
Just a heads up from someone that has been in the desktop speaker game for a minute, you will most likely end up regretting buying a speaker that has such a tiny 3" driver .... that's about 3 1/2 pennies set side by side. It's ... nothing.

For about the same money you can upgrade to a 5" or 6" powered studio monitor, I've even seen highly reviewed 8" studio monitors ( pair ) for around $200 or below.

Just my opinion, but if depth of sound is not important to you, or you just have a tiny ass desk / computer area, this might be the speaker for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-Apm6b-Powered-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B01GV0OJFE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fst=as:eek:ff&qid=1585954046&refinements=p_89:Rockville&rnid=2528832011&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1

Dig deeper and you can find a lot of these types of brands, all with great reviews. Remember guys, your dealing with the same materials, guts and speakers as about anything else. Speakers are not complicated to build.

Get at least a 5" driver. I highly recomend 6" to 8"

Also, KRK can very often be found for around $200 used for a pair and most of the time, they are never used as most are bought and just set around.

I just recently bought a pair of KRK G4 5" hardly used for $225. Came in the boxes even.
Click to expand...


The audio quality is HORRIBLE on those Rockville speakers in the Amazon video.

The kid is bobbing his head to techno crap with very high distortion.
Just terrible sound.

Yes, I know I'm not hearing the speakers in person, I'm listening to my speakers.
And the techno crap is certainly not to my liking..... but still, that just pushes me away.

Demo the speakers with some Led Zeppelin, then we'll see what they have.

Yeah, I know...... Ok boomer.

.
 
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Spartacus said:
The audio quality is HORRIBLE on those Rockville speakers in the Amazon video.

The kid is bobbing his head to techno crap with very high distortion.
Just terrible sound.

Yes, I know I'm not hearing the speakers in person, I'm listening to my speakers.
And the techno crap is certainly not to my liking..... but still, that just pushes me away.

Demo the speakers with some Led Zeppelin, then we'll see what they have.

Yeah, I know...... Ok boomer.

.
Click to expand...
Dude what? Are you actually judging a speaker's quality based on a low quality manufacturer video?
 
elite.mafia said:
Dude what? Are you actually judging a speaker's quality based on a low quality manufacturer video?
Click to expand...

That would be a yes.

The video was good enough to hear all I need to know.
The distortion came in clear as a bell.

That's about the worst possible sales video they could come up with.

.
 
Spartacus said:
That would be a yes.

The video was good enough to hear all I need to know.
The distortion came in clear as a bell.

That's about the worst possible sales video they could come up with.

.
Click to expand...
Don't all speaker systems begin to distort at a certain power? How can you tell how loud it is if you aren't there (what's the mic sensitivity?). How do you know mic is not distorting? How do you know the source material doesn't have distortion in it? I'm not an audio expert, just curious.
 
serpretetsky said:
Don't all speaker systems begin to distort at a certain power? How can you tell how loud it is if you aren't there (what's the mic sensitivity?). How do you know mic is not distorting? How do you know the source material doesn't have distortion in it? I'm not an audio expert, just curious.
Click to expand...

Yes, all speakers will have rising distortion levels as you exceed their capabilities.

And yes pretty much on the rest of what you said too. You can't tell what volume they are putting out on a video
or that the mic isn't being over-modulated. Experienced sound engineers are pretty good at determining that
stuff from a simple recording though.

And the source "music" they were using for the demo certainly does have distortion in it. Which is why it's just
outright stupid to use that type of music in a sales demo for speakers. If you enjoy high levels of distortion why
bother with quality speakers at all? Just buy the cheapest crap speakers you can find and turn the volume up to 11
and enjoy that sweet sweet distortion. lol

I have some background in high end audio equipment. Worked at an FM radio station for several years and was
licensed to run the transmitter and all of the studio equipment. One studio had hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of high-end digital broadcast equipment. We had great studio monitor speakers. :)

I know we are talking about home speakers for computer use here, but the fundamentals of quality sound out of
speakers remains the same.

Crap sound is crap sound. What I heard in that demo is most definitely crap sound.

.
 
Spartacus said:
Crap sound is crap sound. What I heard in that demo is most definitely crap sound.

.
Click to expand...
Ah i see. But what you are saying is that the demo is definitely crap, but the speakers might still be good? Or you can already hear specifically that the speakers are not good?
 
There are so many variables going on here regarding that amazon video to make a call on quality. I've never heard of that brand, and it was a cringy sales video but that said hearing any speaker 3rd party is a flawed way of evaluating it.
 
serpretetsky said:
Ah i see. But what you are saying is that the demo is definitely crap, but the speakers might still be good? Or you can already hear specifically that the speakers are not good?
Click to expand...
TheToE! said:
There are so many variables going on here regarding that amazon video to make a call on quality. I've never heard of that brand, and it was a cringy sales video but that said hearing any speaker 3rd party is a flawed way of evaluating it.
Click to expand...

I'm suspect of speakers where they intentionally use a source with high distortion in a sales video to sell them.
Ask yourself why they would do that.

Can't tell you if those particular speakers are any good or not. The may be fine for their intended purpose.

And I agree, if you are making a large investment on any kind of audio equipment, you want to do an eval in person.
Relatively cheap speakers like this? I'd go by the customer feedback and count on the generous return policy if needed.

.
 
Spartacus said:
I'm suspect of speakers where they intentionally use a source with high distortion in a sales video to sell them.
Ask yourself why they would do that.

Can't tell you if those particular speakers are any good or not. The may be fine for their intended purpose.

And I agree, if you are making a large investment on any kind of audio equipment, you want to do an eval in person.
Relatively cheap speakers like this? I'd go by the customer feedback and count on the generous return policy if needed.

.
Click to expand...

I agree with you! I could have watched the video on mute and got all the info I needed to hate on that speaker! Hate on brother!
 
The YU2s have a few things going for them:
  • They sound great
  • They look great
  • They're small
  • They have plenty of connectivity
Yes, they have small drivers too, and they'll probably distort significantly if pushed.

At the same time, for reasonable desktop listening levels, audio is great, and stereo separation is spot on.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
The YU2s have a few things going for them:
  • They sound great
  • They look great
  • They're small
  • They have plenty of connectivity
Yes, they have small drivers too, and they'll probably distort significantly if pushed.

At the same time, for reasonable desktop listening levels, audio is great, and stereo separation is spot on.
Click to expand...
Exactly! As soon as SixFootDuo started comparing the YU2 to speakers with 5" and 8" drivers, it was clear that reason no longer applied to this discussion.
 
Powered speakers with 8" drivers seem awesome when you order them. Then when they arrive and take a third or more of desk space, or don't sound the best because they can't be placed at proper distances, they cease being awesome.

My Monoprice Powered 8" monitors have been sitting on a shelf all their life because it's impossible to integrate them into my PC setup.
 
Hello, they don't have to sit on your desk they can be mounted to the wall, ceiling, etc.
 
So i picked up a pair of these for my desk 3 days ago and today i picked up the Sub6 to go with it. These speakers sounds pretty darn good to me but coming from a cheap 2.1 i was really missing the low frequency. Nice thing about the small sub is i can actually fit it on my desk behind my monitor. I realize its not an ideal spot for it but i have pet rats and they chew everything. Despite being in an akward spot they sound great together! My desk is just large enough for my 43 inch screen with these small speakers on either side. I probably would have gone for the YU4 if i could have fit them but these fit and look really sleek.


20200419_155548.png
 
Commander Shepard said:
Exactly! As soon as SixFootDuo started comparing the YU2 to speakers with 5" and 8" drivers, it was clear that reason no longer applied to this discussion.
Click to expand...


He has a long history on this forum of thread jacking/crapping. He spews his "vast expertise" on any and every thing hardware related disregarding practical usage and frequently blast people for buying anything that doesn't suite his personal tastes or needs. Just an honest observation I have seen over the many years I have frequented [H]. I'm sure once he gets bored he will do the same to your or my response. Everyone on [H] excluding him an "uneducated buyer". :rolleyes:

That being established.... These looks like decent speakers for what they are intended. Been thinking about getting some speakers recently so I'll take a look. From most have said they seem pretty pleased with their purchase.
 
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