same aluminum cone material found

Canton is Germany's largest and best-selling speaker manufacturer. I'd recently checked out the company's DSS 303 iPod sound system ("What's Up, Dock?" September 2008) and was impressed by that wonderful bit of Euro-engineering. So it was with great interest that I greeted Canton's new, revamped GLE Series home theater speakers, touted as a "high value" line that uses trickle-down technology from the company's more expensive products.

My review system comprised a pair of GLE 490 floor-standing towers, a GLE 455 center speaker, a pair of GLE 420 surrounds, and an AS 85 SC powered subwoofer. All of the satellites share similar drivers - a good thing, since it helps ensure that the tonality will match all around. The 1-inch soft-dome tweeter found in all the speakers employs a fabric dome, but this new-and-improved version also uses a finer silk material, as well as revised driver geometry, magnet structure, and front plate. And the satellites' midrange/bass drivers use the same aluminum cone material found in Canton's high-end speakers. Finally, the speakers sport a very gently curved front baffle that's said to improve both frequency-response linearity and driver efficiency in the crossover-frequency range.

The GLE speakers all feature attractive punched-metal grilles. And each cabinet's back panel is finished as nicely as the sides. These are particularly handsome-looking speakers - with their aluminum cones clearly visible behind the silvery metal grilles, they'll fit in with the décor of any contemporary listening room.

The GLE 490s - which take me back to the day when men were men, speakers were speakers, and no one had ever heard of an iPod - are classic three-way bass-reflex towers with a tweeter, a 7-inch midrange driver, and two 8-inch woofers. The GLE 420 compact speaker I used for surrounds, meanwhile, sports one tweeter and a single 61⁄4-inch midrange/bass driver. Since the 420's port is located around back, there's no built-in provision for wall mounting.