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The result is a level of adjustability unlike any other speaker.” This speaker brings together the Model 5A carbon tweeter and the patented Carbon/Balsa core midrange from the Model Seven MK II, the Mid-Bass from the Quatro CT with the all new built-for-Vandersteen side-firing pistonic opposing powered bass drivers. The answer came in a totally new design at the historic Model 5 price point.
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“The KĒNTO Carbon represents a ground up re-thinking by Richard and Nathan Vandersteen. The trip to the Milwaukee area was uneventful, but I was excited to hear what Richard Vandersteen had cooked up with the Kēnto’s. Ultra Fidelis is my closest Vandersteen dealer, so I gave Jon a call to come up for a listen in their showroom. So, I did a little research on the Vandersteen Kēnto and found this q&a session with Richard Vandersteen, hosted by Ultra Fidelis during the Kēnto’s “release into the wild.”
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I have heard the Treos a few times and knew the Quatros were an evolution of trickle-down research of the Model 5. When I heard that the Vandersteen Kēnto Carbons were replacing the esteemed Model 5, I was excited. It was a speaker that did so many things I liked and maybe, just maybe, it would be attainable someday. At high-end audio shows I always made it a point to listen to my next holy grail speaker, the Vandersteen Model 5, in its various iterations. When I get my copy of Music Direct, I first go to the close-outs, then check out all the gear: speakers, preamps, integrated amps, power amps, sources, cables and even music streamers. Sure it’s an eclectic choice and you could argue the virtues of other speakers, but Vandersteen was my brand that I always came back to and I thought my audiophile days were behind me. I settled on a used pair of Vandersteen Model 3s.
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I had settled on my “forever” system about five years ago and my forever speakers about 15 years ago. It’s hard for me to say this and I haven’t been shopping for speakers or electronics in years, but I’m an audiophile.” Words and Photos by Graig Neville
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