About the Kanto YU Passive 4"
Easy on the eyes, ears, and bottom line
Easy on the eyes, ears, and bottom line
Pair these value-priced speakers with high-quality amp and stands, and you'll be surprised how great they sound in your home.
Kanto's YU Passive 4" is a non-amplified version of their popular YU4 powered speakers. This pair features the same 4" Kevlar® woofer and 1" silk dome tweeter, but with a passive design for driving them with the amplifier of your choice.
Enclosed in a modern-yet-classic bass reflex cabinet, the exposed drivers deliver lifelike, transparent sound. You get smooth high frequencies from the silk dome tweeter, and fast, articulate bass and midrange from the Kevlar woofer.
My hands-on experience with Kanto YU passive bookshelf speakers
I've got a compact, symmetrical listening area off my kitchen. The sweet spot is on the loveseat that faces a fireplace flanked with deep shelves. I swapped the YU Passive 4s, then the larger 5.25" pair, for my usual bookshelf speakers. I drove them with a Sprout 100 integrated amp that can deliver 100 watts into 4 ohms, putting both Kanto models through the same paces.
Unsurprisingly, the 5.25" version delivered a bigger soundstage with more low end, but both handled bass and dispersed high frequencies in a similar way. I noticed impressive detail and distinct instrumental separation, particularly when I listened to the Brazilian-inflected jazz quartet on Paul Desmond's Bossa Antigua. The speakers delivered an articulate rendering of Desmond's breathy sax and Jim Hall's nuanced guitar work. Connie Kay's rimshots had a warm timbre, and the nimble bass had surprising ballast.
And I really had fun listening to Little Feat's first album — a Stones-y/Faces-y rock'n'roll rollick — through the YU passives. I missed this album on my first go-round with Little Feat in the '80s, so this was my first time hearing it — and we kept it in rotation all weekend. The speakers deftly handled the album's energetic gear-shifting — from full-on raunchy rock to plaintive piano and voice. The songs really came to life when I pushed the volume, and the speakers barely broke a sweat. In fact, these speakers sound most inviting when cranked.
The speakers have a classic look and sound, with exciting midrange, and non-fatiguing high frequencies. They would be a great choice for near-field listening, but the dispersion is good enough that they sound great in my modest-sized kitchen area, even when I'm cooking instead of sitting in the sweet spot. You might want to add a subwoofer, but on my deep, open shelves bass was definitely there — a reminder that placement really affects rear-ported cabs.
Stands put your sweet spot on the level
Arranging your speakers so that the drivers fire toward your ears makes a huge difference.
These solid MDF cabinets are tailor-made to work with a variety of Kanto speaker stands. You have a choice of angled desktop stands and four different pedestal stand heights that work perfectly for getting the speakers positioned at ear level, whether you're listening to them as a stereo pair, or as part of a surround system.
Kudos to Kanto for offering you a lot of options for straightforward speaker and stand combinations, with great quality and value.
Got wire?
The YU passive 4" doesn't include any speaker wire. Read our article about choosing and installing speaker wire.
Shop our selection of speaker wire.
Product highlights:
- each speaker features:
- 1" silk dome tweeter
- 4" Kevlar® woofer
- rear-firing bass-reflex port
- frequency response: 60-20,000 Hz
- sensitivity: 86 dB
- handles up to 70 watts
- nominal impedance: 4 ohms
- bottom-mounted 1/4"-20 threaded hole attaches to compatible Kanto speaker stands (sold separately)
- gold-plated binding post speaker terminals
- 5-9-16"W x 8-3/4"H x 7-9/16"D
- weight: 5.5 lbs. each
- warranty: 2 years
- MFR # YUP4W
What's in the box:
Kanto YU Passive 4" owner's manual
- 2 Bookshelf loudspeakers
- 8 Self-adhesive rubber feet
- User Manual
Customer reviews for Kanto YU Passive 4"
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More details on the Kanto YU Passive 4"
Features & specs
| Enclosure | Ported | |
| Finish | MDF/Vinyl | |
| Color | White | |
| Tweeter Type | Soft-Dome | |
| Tweeter Size (inches) | 1 | |
| Midrange Size (inches) | N/A | |
| Woofer Size (inches) | 4 | |
| Woofer Composition | Kevlar | |
| Woofer Surround | Rubber | |
| Power Range | up to 70 | |
| Sensitivity | 86 dB | |
| Impedance (Ohms) | 4 | |
| Frequency Response | 60-20k Hz | |
| Connector Type | 5-Way post | |
| Bi-amp Inputs | No | |
| Height (inches) | 8-3/4 | |
| Width (inches) | 5-9/16 | |
| Depth (inches) | 7-9/16 | |
| Weight (pounds) | 5.5 | |
| Wall-mountable | No | |
| Bracket Included | No | |
| Recommended Stand Height (inches) | 26-32 | |
| Parts Warranty | 2 Years | |
| Labor Warranty | 2 Years | |
Product Research
Features
Two-Way Driver Design: The Kanto YU Passive 4" (YUP4) bookshelf loudspeaker features a two-way driver design with a 1" silk dome tweeter and 4" kevlar cone woofer for clear high and detailed midrange/midbass frequencies.
- 1" Silk Dome Tweeter: The 1" tweeter is made from silk to deliver a high-frequency range that's bright and refined. The tweeter's dome shape improves sound dispersion to ensure your ears capture every sound, regardless of where you are in the room.
- 4" Kevlar Cone Woofer: The 4" woofer cone is made of a kevlar material and features a rubber surround for long-lasting performance. The woofer provides surprisingly controlled and accurate low frequency response.
Bass Reflex Cabinet: The Kanto YU Passive 4" (YUP4) bookshelf loudspeaker utilizes a bass reflex enclosure design with a rear-firing port for greater efficiency and bigger bass response. The speaker cabinet is available in black or white vinyl finish.
Note: The Kanto YU Passive 4" (YUP4) bookshelf speaker does not come with grilles.
Mounting & Placement Options: The YU Passive 4" (YUP4) loudspeaker is designed for either bookshelf or stand mounting (see Accessories Tab for desktop and floor stands - sold separately). The speaker comes with self-adhesive rubber feet to protect your furniture (the feet add approximately 0.125" to the overall height of the speaker). The space between a pair of YU Passive 4" (YUP4) speakers and the distance from the listener is important. If the speakers are positioned too close or too far apart, stereo imaging will not be fully developed. Room characteristics and positioning also have a profound effect on the performance of the speakers, so time and effort devoted to achieving the optimum positions will be rewarded.
- The YU Passive 4" (YUP4) is designed to perform optimally at ear level and positioned at least 8" from the rear wall in an average listening room. However, it may not be possible to install the speakers in this position since rooms vary in shape, size, and furnishing. A certain amount of experimentation may be necessary to determine the most suitable position.
- Moving the speakers very close to the rear wall will enhance the bass frequencies, but will tend to reduce soundstage depth, while moving the speakers away from the rear wall will tend to have the opposite effect. Avoid positioning the speakers close to or in the corners of the room, as this will excite undesirable room coupling in the low and middle frequencies. If the width of the rear wall is limited then toe-in the speakers slightly to reduce reflections.
Note: The Kanto YU Passive 4" (YUP4) does not offer brackets, threaded inserts, or key-hole slots to wall-mount the speaker.
Binding Post Terminals: The Kanto YU Passive 4" (YUP4) is outfitted with a set of binding post terminals that will accept bare wire (up to 12AWG), pin-connectors, spade-lugs, and banana plugs (single or dual). The binding posts are gold-plated for excellent signal transfer and resistance to corrosion.
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Customer Q&A
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Good build and simple. Also was looking for the smallest passive speakers I could find. Really clean setup especially cuz I don't have enough space. I wouldn't recommend it for a large room or living room. But in your bed room it's amazing.
Joshua from Chino Hills, CA