Kanto ORA Speakers Review: Great for Retro Gaming!

The new ORA desktop speakers from Kanto have a bunch of nice features, but in particular they are magnetically shielded, which means that they can be placed next to a CRT without warping the image or creating any "buzzing" sounds. So in this video we'll test them out and see how they will work in an ultimate retro gaming setup.
Now on Amazon! amzn.to/45WxNiL
Kanto ORA: www.kantoaudio.com/powered-sp...
More info on the ORA speakers: blog.kantoaudio.com/getting-t...
Speaker stands: www.kantoaudio.com/speaker-st...
Other items featured in the video:
Deity shotgun mic: amzn.to/3QzZTvI
U-Turn Orbit turntable: amzn.to/3saPJIw
PS Audio Sprout100 amp: amzn.to/3QAT7FN
ELAC Debut 2.0 speakers: amzn.to/3Qb07YG
AudioEngine A2+ speakers: amzn.to/3Sm8eUW
Tiger Fire Company No 1: tigerfirecompany.bandcamp.com...
This was a review unit sent to me by the manufacturer. All opinions are my own, they did not see this review ahead of time, and no money was exchanged in any way.
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Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
02:07 specs and pricing
05:11 unboxing and impressions
07:07 speaker stand options
08:11 interface walkthrough
09:29 desktop audio (best case scenario)
11:53 my home stereo setup
14:24 sample audio (Tiger Fire Co)
16:23 music sample testing
19:28 retro game audio testing
22:11 CRT shielding tests
23:36 summary (likes and dislikes)
25:36 conclusion
Find me on Discord! / discord
Theme song written by Jim Gray of Our Ghosts:
ourghosts.bandcamp.com/track/...
More music here: / posts
Note that this description may contain affiliate links. By clicking on an affiliate link and buying something, I may earn a small commission of the sale at no extra cost to you. You can read more about that here: retrogamecorps.com/about/
This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only.
#Kanto #audio #retrogaming #sega

[@RetroGameCorps]

Now on Amazon! amzn.to/45WxNiL

[@ice010]

do you know when they might come to the UK, please?

[@PinkDan12345]

Hey Russ, are you planning on doing some kind of a crt tv video in the future?

[@surfboardjoker6299]

I bump tf out of this idea!

[@RetroGameCorps]

Yes, I have a MiSTer that I want to set up, it's the reason I got this CRT in the first place!

[@kennethd4958]

@@RetroGameCorpsNice! The Mister is one of my favorite devices of all time!

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

Love the branching out to different (yet relevant) peripherals and products. So great to see the continued growth of the channel and how you bring your unique, thorough rigor to the table. Keep up the great work, as always! I feel like the audio comparison clips worked out really well, providing a nice representation of the different sounds. Great peek at your own setup as well, even doxing your current cable nest back there, ha! Oh, and great shout out to the group, great tunes!

[@RetroGameCorps]

Thanks Brian, I had a lot of fun putting together this video!

[@misterkeebler]

Just wanted to say this was a helpful review. You often have to really dig and look thru the right subreddits or forums to find much about verified magnetically shielded speakers, and it isnt uncommon to find those options are no longer available at retail when you come across those old references and links. So it's nice to see new options get reviewed as they surface. I have a CRT setup and have wanted to look into speakers myself. I will be keeping these in mind for that. Thanks!

[@robert.sec2]

I got into retrogaming handhelds in large part because of your videos, and how you made such a niche subject really approachable. i'm really enjoying these videos about other pieces of technology that are adjacent to that hobby, especially because you're once again bringing your ability to make everything that can be so complex instead very accessible. I don't know if I'll be picking these up any time soon, but some day I'd love to have a CRT set up like this.

[@kevino8420]

This comes at a great time. I'm looking at speakers now for a turntable setup, and Kanto was on the list!

[@thomasbryans6547]

Love seeing product reviews for non-handheld items! In all likelihood I won’t buy anything for an at-home setup, I like my retro games portable! Even so I will totally watch this content, maybe it’ll win me over like the handheld ones haha

[@nefariou5]

nice to see you branching out yet staying within the realm of game-testing, and also actually do a decent audio-device review. The comparison was great and really gave a clear difference between the different setups. You really conivnced me that these are great speakers. If this was my first time on the channel I could be fooled that you review speakers and audio equipment primarily. You also did a good enough job to make me want to buy your amp, but I'll restrain myself this time. I'm finding all your reviews captivating even for things I had no interest in prior to the review. I'm going to predict you review a projector soon.

[@MrDiegoMieres]

Who else is VERY disappointed with the unexpected and heartbreaking mess of cables that Ross hides under that poor table? Ross, you are the best! Greetings from Argentina.

[@choco_easty]

Thanks for sharing the tunes! I added the album to my Spotify playlist! Love the music!

[@jacobspradlin]

Timely video, Russ. I’ve been looking at the Kanto YU2s for some desktop speakers, then I see your vid pop up in my feed. Nice comparison between your setups. 👍🏼

[@haughtygarbage5848]

Definitely a necessity! I remember finding it hard to find decent shielded speakers.

[@conchobar]

Only if you limited yourself to powered monitors. With all the small and inexpensive desktop amps available today, you have your pick of nearly every bookshelf speaker sold between 2000 - 2015, as finding a non-shielded passive bookshelf speaker back then was incredibly difficult.

[@ralphmcmahan2139]

The 100 watt rating is the sales pitch rating, the nominal rms of 50 watts is the actual wattage. Now, 50 watts is a plenty for desktop near field speakers and I am sure they get as loud as they need to. I enjoy you branching out as well. Hey, those Elacs are a good choice for how you have them, as near the wall as you have them. Front ported.

[@nonyobiz6481]

The tests shows that each speaker puts out 50 RMS per speaker ...total of 100 wats

[@kennethd4958]

I’m a CRT enthusiast and seeing you review products like this is really awesome. I hope you have more CRT related reviews in the future! But that price tag for these speakers is a little high imo. There are many shielded speakers being sold these days that sound great and are less than half the price of these.

[@Rota42Videos]

Suggestions, please?

[@jdeluna777]

Keeping an eye on these speakers! Personally, I would love an A/B switch and dual speaker outputs and the ability to buy a 2nd passive speaker. My desk setup has my main PC monitor centered on my desk and a VGA CRT to the right for gaming. Switch in “A” position would have left/passive speaker and right powered speaker. Switch in “B” position would now have the powered speaker as left channel, and diverts power to a 3rd speaker that’s to the right of the VGA monitor.

[@DauntlessDamian]

Nice versatility with the subwoofer out. I would have liked to see an IR port and remote for volume adjustment from a distance.

[@colinmartin9797]

Hopefully you have a headphone audio test in the works too! I'd recommend doing it the way dankpods does, with a reference pair like the hd600s or those akgs you have hanging on the desk and A/Bing them like you also did here. It's by far the most helpful tool I can think of, you can use an inexpensive test stand like the hears minidsp for headphones, and a simple iem mic in a piece of 3 inch vinyl tubing for iems. You totally have the right idea, the reference pair helps show many of the differences between headphones and iems even with youtube compression I still highly recommend the budget pairs I mentioned in the keyboard video, I test out a ton of cheap stuff just so I can know the best things to recommend to friends just starting out with audio on the barebones budget. I'd also A/B swap between the speakers and the reference twice. So like CRT, Kanto, crt, Kanto, crt, a2+, crt, a2+, Kanto, a2+, kanto.Kanto. that way the listed can go back and confirm something they heard

[@lukedavis3953]

These are exactly what I have been looking for actually. Monitors were always too big for my setup and computer speakers are just terrible plus I own a few CRT’s and wouldn’t mind better audio for two of them.

[@Mampersand]

The main reason to use shielded speakers is that putting unshielded speaker magnets too close to a crt can cause purity issues and distortion. For the price, you’d probably be better off getting used studio monitors from the aughts. I picked up two different sets off marketplace for less than $50 each. My Logitech Z4s that I bought new in 2008 are also shielded, and I’ve heard older Klipsch Promedia 2.1 sets are shielded (newer ones are not since it’s no longer necessary for LCD) and sound great on the cheap.

[@Tommy31416]

Great review, thanks.👍 Can the R speaker (with the on/off and IO ports) be set up as the L speaker? Easier access to the power button if that one is on the left side. Plus would suit my desk set up much better.

[@scapegh0st]

Dropped a similar amount of cash on a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SE bookshelf speakers, also magnetically shielded, recommended by RetroRGB's Bob. They're unpowered, so you'd also need an amp/receiver... which I prefer anyway, since the input types, EQ, etc. are determined by the receiver rather than the speaker. They each have a 6.5" woofer and 27mm tweeter and handle 200W RMS, so they dwarf these ORAs. Love the sound, but they could use a sub. Easy enough to hook up to a modern receiver, though... and I don't need a magnetically shielded sub, since it's not going that close to the CRT anyway.

[@joelou]

So there is no crossover adjustment between what goes to the sub, if you plug a sub in?

[@fellowninja]

...how did you know that was my favorite song?! (Also, do you know what the Bluetooth codec is? I think you can find it easily through VLC's Media Information or Codec Information option, but I can't recall.)

[@ghostbaleada]

Can you do a tutorial or guide on using a mini pc with Hdmi on a CRT there's not much info on it

[@jameshadaway4980]

If you're on a budget I can highly recommend the edifier R1280T/s there about $150ca but I got mine on sale $110ca on Amazon

[@Boswd]

It would have been cool if you hooked these up to your tournament and have a direct comparison

[@jtfernandez5594]

Here is a cheap audiophile setup. I use a pair of jbl305 mkii speakers on my crt setup. They are amazing and can be had for around $100 each. Only downside is the 5" drivers magnets can interract with the tube if they are less than 3 inches away.

[@THEDOGSBODIES1]

When are you dropping your album?

[@polaroidd1306]

whats up RetroGameCorps quick question, are the edifier mr4's magnetically shielded i cant seem to find this info

[@mannfishh]

you should make a video about the mister!

[@MohsinWadee]

Why did you connect the Ora to your Mac via RCA and not USB which is actually the best connection?

[@gamesfanguy]

how many hertz is your tv?🤔Very good image😎👍

[@joeygreco1985]

I mean you only need shielded speakers if you want them to be practically touching your CRT. I have unshielded powered bookshelf speakers I use with my CRT that are about 1.5 feet away from my CRT on either side that work and sound great with no interference.

[@PoppaCYS]

I'd like to see a comparison between these speakers and the Vanatoo Transparent Zeros. I'm thinking of buying speakers for my new setup and I have the Transparent Zeros in my office. I was going to buy the new version of the Zeroes but these are $100 less and seem good. I also like the styling of these better.

[@Justin-xi6ue]

Same tbh. I’m not in the market for speakers because I’ve still been extremely happy with my T0s + Yamaha Sub, but I’d still love to see how they stand up against the Kantos. Also as far as I know the new T0s are basically the same, but with slightly upgraded internals due to sourcing issues with the original parts.

[@PoppaCYS]

@@Justin-xi6ue From what I can tell, the T0's have slightly larger woofers and tweeters, are slightly louder, and have more input options. On paper, they should have better bass. They are larger than these. I think if they were the same price, the T0s are better, but I'm thinking they aren't $100 dollars better. I probably won't make any decisions until black friday.

[@Zombie101]

that sound sample sounded so good out of my potato

[@CharlesQuales]

You should link you're friends music that shit was awesome

[@janwendtland8504]

+1

[@user-jm4we9gl1o]

Metal gear solid! :D Edit* nice song!

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

Not finished watching the whole video yet, but would recommend swapping the elac speakers placement with the sprout and Xbox, not ideal having the speakers next to the turntable for vibration, but also not ideal having them down so low on those shelves, and you can get some cheap isolation feet to help with that. Just a suggestion!

[@RetroGameCorps]

Yes, I completely agree that my setup isn't ideal, I meant to mention that. Unfortunately I don't have the space for an optimal arrangement right now, but it's definitely something I've been thinking about for a while now :)

[@stereodark]

I’ve been using the Kanto Yu4 for 5-6 years and they have always been amazing. These ORA seem to be interesting for Retrogaming, but quite expensive due to the woofer technology that is much pricier. If you are not interested in the specific properties the Yu series would probably be a better deal

[@boothman9321]

I've been mulling over the YU4/YU6 or the TUK's, do you have any complaints about the YU4's for desktop/gaming? Thanks

[@stereodark]

@@boothman9321 not really, but I’m not using a CRT. I think the Yu4 are perfect if you have a typical modern gaming setup with a 27” or 34” display and your PC has any of the supported audio outputs.

[@Questions4ALL]

I’m looking for speakers as well saw the Kef LSX 2 everyone are saying there badass what you’re suggestions

[@jonathangonzalez3793]

There really is a product for everything

[@skycloud4802]

Still waiting for an actual handheld CRT TV though. That would be nuts.

[@GayvontaDavis]

​@@skycloud4802whats special about CRTs?

[@kirbyman1kanden7pf]

​@@skycloud4802those have been around for a VERY long time

[@infin1ty850]

I want these but honestly have zero purpose for them. Awesome to see more and more companies riding the retro game wagon.

[@michaelseitz8938]

The audio sample sounded almost as good as my TV's speakers!!! Well ... I guess ... I fell for the engagement trick ... 😱

[@soaremicheledavid6020]

When you will do a GUIDE for the new budget king console ? TrimUI Smart Pro ? We need a video for roms, it dosent have folders for most of them. And dont buy the white one ( go black, never go back ).

[@nonyobiz6481]

Are these good to eatch streming movies too?

[@mvevitsis]

Is installing outlets sideways normal in Hawaii?

[@charlesham9214]

I don't know but it should be the norm everywhere. Impossible to get a plug that's been tugged out a bit and at the perfect angle for a butter knife to drop down and short the forks. Technology Connections has a very good video adjacent to the subject.

[@dumbkoffcrow974]

Needs some Crab Rave testing.

[@snowthearcticfox1]

Ok that's neato

[@jtrevorscott]

I will say this and run away... The best value in small speakers come from used, mini hi-fi systems that no one wants anymore. Usually the speakers are roughly the same size, maybe a tad larger, but produce vastly better sound. And, I can find these systems for a fraction of a new set of PC speakers. Plus, you might get some nice graphical interface that is fun to look at, be able to play CDs, cassettes, minidiscs, dats... Food for thought. Back to my running away.

[@OpoSai]

Legion go ready Russ, I have chips and drinks ready to go

[@highsurf]

great review! on an unrelated note, can you spot me ~$350 😉

[@maldjulio]

Is that the RG405M on your desk?

[@RetroGameCorps]

Indeed!

[@user-gv8ku8jg3r]

21 days ago , I turn on my powkiddy x55 , but when I start to play after 30min or less the game freeze ,and I could not leave the game , so I restart the device and checked if there is a new update (from the device itself ) , I contact the internet and update the device , but after the update finish , the device should turn on and the same opinig show up( the jelos logo ) but after the opining the screen do not turn on , I tried to restart the device and charging it but the screen always turn off after the opening , any one can help ?

[@colinmartin9797]

well shit i guessed gaming audio yesterday didnt i lol

[@Kavlor1]

I still have the HiFI speakers I bought 20+ years ago. No excuse to buy new ones

[@johnsducks9816]

Im out the exact second he said $350 for desktop speakers

[@Afuera86]

Please next Time Soundtest with SSF2 Ken Theme

[@JohnDoe-nh7ss]

I. Watched eta prime a few months back. Samsung galaxy s10 $110 dex docking station $30 usb-c to hdmi $15 joso wireless telescoping controller $26 for dock or on the go😋😋

[@kenkwok83]

How much are they?

[@garyfranks2586]

TOO Fucking Much

[@AKAAndreas]

You should see the rats nest under my table lol

[@SMG.Trill.92]

First viewer! ❤

[@disconinja108]

Sega Geneisis really had the best sound amoung 16-bit era consoles

[@RGTUGA]

Alesis monitors sound as good for a fraction of the price.

[@luked4587]

Yeah $350 I'm gonna pass

[@Kintah]

Thanks, saved me 27 minutes

[@tekzilla1354]

No optical? Nevermind

[@idkanymore3382]

Buy a KLIPSH Promedia THX 2.1 or 5.1 setup. Its all you need lmao

[@retropulse03]

"300$" HARD PASS. I'll stick with the pair of 90's speakers I found in the dumpster. Love the idea of nice speakers for retro-gaming, but jesus christ, for 300$? Gotta be something better priced than THAT w/ shielding.

[@kennethd4958]

There are many that are shielded. Idk why people act like it’s a rare thing these days. My Bose Companion 2 Series 3 speakers cost about $100 and are shielded and sound great.

[@retropulse03]

@@kennethd4958 Still a bit pricey, but WAY better than 300$. Bose even, not bad at all.

[@_BELMONT_]

i feel like you can get magnetically shielded speakers that sound great for next to nothing. i cant help but feel like we are paying a premium for buzz word products with "RETRO" in it title.

[@AlexPerez-bd9nc]

No doubt

[@View619]

Absolutely, I can't imagine spending $300 on accessories to go with a CRT TV.

[@AlexPerez-bd9nc]

If the idea isvto experience the games as we did back in the days, then the crt speakers are more faithful to the experience@@View619

[@hiepbenh88]

Watching the clip with 2.5$ speaker :)

[@YRGHY2010]

Retro speakers is what happens when shipping delays your big review 😜

[@bearonguitar]

Russ, stereo speakers need to be positioned with the speaker directed towards the listening position. Imagine a triangle between yourself in the listening position and the speakers and set them up accordingly. You'll get a better listening experience that way.

[@otachi_r2x458]

hmmm, virtually every other review has said these speakers produce impressive bass for the size. I think your methodology is flawed.

[@markalexander5578]

Just admit the wires are always like that. You are a people too

[@_dimitrisbr]

retro speakers?

[@viewtifulbo1988]

Ora ora ora ora ora, wrong Anime

[@HughesyTech]

Just buy Edifier speakers and be done with it.

[@idkanymore3382]

Those speakers suck

[@felipehorvath5527]

" Retro game speaker " Ok this is getting too far.

[@FoxbatStargazer]

Yeah, this is clearly VINTAGE gaming now.

[@felipehorvath5527]

@@ScottWozniak i was just kidding man , relax ! hahaha

[@felipehorvath5527]

Sorry , my native language is portuguese , so ill be more careful.@@ScottWozniak