[FreddieFerric]

I sometimes wonder that when Canton first envisioned developing a true reference line of speakers what engineering and production values where a priority for them aside from just making a great sounding speaker. Going now as I am on 4 years of ownership I feel pretty confidant that the answer has to be - make the piano sound real.

I'm saying this because a while back I picked up (on a Stereophile recommendation) a CD of the Helene Grimaud "Memory" (Deutsche Grammophon B0029051-02) title. It's all solo piano of classical music from the likes of Debussy, Satie, Chopin and others. I've listened to it many times and each and every time I cannot help but marvel at how pure and transparent the Ref 1 DC's portray her performances in my room. This especially at low listening volume. There's no veil, no scrim, nothing that stands between my ears and the purity of the struck piano chord. It's just brilliant.

I don't know anything about how an engineer/designer goes about voicing a speaker, but for some reason when I listen to this title it strikes me that the accurate and faithful reproduction of the piano had to be very high on their list of priorities.

In closing, I have to say this is the one time where the recommendation from both a five star rating for sonics and performance are spot on accurate.