Canton Reference 5

Canton Elektronik GmbH is a family-owned manufacturer of loudspeakers based in Weilrod, Germany. Founded in 1972—the name is from Latin and German: “Can” from the Latin “cantare,” “to sing”; “Ton” from the German for “sound”—Canton is now well past its 50th anniversary. The largest manufacturer of perfectionist speakers in Germany, Canton is still based in the small township where it began, with manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic.

- SASHA MATSON

LOUDSPEAKER

John Atkinson reviewed the Canton Reference 7K in 2021, and Ken Micallef followed up. The 7K ended up in Class A, Restricted Extreme LF, of Stereophile’s Recommended Components list. Now that Canton has significantly revised its Reference Series, it's time to take another look and listen.

Which new Reference-series speaker should I audition? I provided Jay Rein of importer-distributor Bluebird Music with the dimensions of my new listening room and asked him to choose the model he felt would be the best fit. In other words, I proceeded as customers with knowledgeable dealers should proceed. Jay recommended the Reference 5 ($11,000/pair), sharing that it was his favorite model in the series. Canton Head of Marketing Moritz Jung told me the same thing. The Reference 5 comes with an impressive 10-year warranty.

When I started gathering Canton intel, one of the first things that struck me was the breadth of the company’s offerings. I counted 21 floorstanding models in seven named series. I may have missed a couple. I didn't count standmounts, wall-mounts, subwoofers, center channels, or speakers intended as surrounds. Canton has something for everyone, from that first parental graduation present on up to the most experienced audiophiles. Bluebird Music's Jay Rein commented: “Yes, there is a huge amount of choice. Canton offers solutions for music lovers of all stripes, no matter how they take their music. Their philosophy is tomake anyone who wants music happy.”