Search

Kanto TUK Powered Speakers Simplifies Connectivity

08.15.19 | By
Kanto TUK Powered Speakers Simplifies Connectivity

The Canadian Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk is most renowned for the herds of caribou covering the land and the magical charged particles of Northern Lights dancing across its skies. It’s this Arctic settlement from which audio brand Kanto borrows an abbreviated name for their new sleek active wireless speakers, TUK.

Bookshelf speakers outfitted with aptX HD Bluetooth are common, but these minimalist models also offer an integrated USB DAC, optical input, line-level RCA and phono inputs, making them a versatile addition to a turntable set-up, or connected wirelessly to a phone, computer, or to a home theater television set-up. Aluminum drivers keep distortion at bay even at higher volumes, so feel free to turn these up.

The sparse and clean design hides a wealth of tech inside, most notably a 130W RMS class D amplifier providing 65W RMS to each channel. A full digital signal processing (DSP) shapes output, also adding an active crossover network to improve low-end resolution by filtering out frequencies below 80Hz when connected to a low end enhancing subwoofer. Another cool feature is the option to assign custom EQ settings for each input, eliminating the need to tweak the sound while switching from music to movies to gaming.

The clean front face has a few informative details, including dedicated LEDs indicating which input is being used for easy and informative input updates (LEDs can be dimmed or fully turned off, thankfully.) A 3.5mm headphone output on the front is also a welcome addition for anyone who might park a pair of TUKs to the side of their computer setup and want to pair these for more private audio sessions with a pair of favorite headphones.

We love these in their matte black editions, but also like the Stormtrooper vibe the TUK takes on in white. Both versions arrive this September for $800 a pair.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.