Canyon Audio Series 310-TSC Loudspeakers Review

310-TSC Company Information

Editor's Note - DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $500 FOR THESE SPEAKERS!!!

* Originally these speakers were priced at an MSRP of $527 and received a higher value rating. Canyon Audio later raised the price to $987 which we felt dropped the value rating on this set considerably.

UPDATE: Still later, Canyon Audio raised the price to $1,397 for the set - which we feel is an absolute joke and makes us wonder if we weren't used for pull quotes in an effort to rip off unsuspecting consumers.

Because of this we DO NOT recommend consumers buy these speakers or Theater Research speakers (same basic Chinese design).

Introduction

Every once in a while we'll take in a set of speakers from a relatively unknown company in order to see what's available on the market and if some independent shops have some value products available for consumers. Canyon Audio is a manufacturer based in Nevada who works with some domestic designers to have custom modifications made to products which are then manufactured overseas to keep costs down. We received a 310-TSC 5.0 setup from Canyon Audio (a subwoofer is not yet available, but we understand one will be coming out towards the end of the year.) Just what can you get for $500 these days? We'll, we looked and your choices are pretty slim for full-sized systems at the large chain stores that funnel customers through the same cattle trough of manufacturers and products. As a result, when comparing Canyon Audio to some of the more well-known manufacturers in terms of looks and style, it's likely that people will compromise and just get a system in a box that sports a plastic enclosure or plain black cabinet. If you are forced into a space-saving design, then people could also come home with tiny black boxes that yield mediocre sound out of 2" paper cone drivers. All things considered, if you want nice-looking, inexpensive full-size speakers, your selections are pretty limited.

310-TSC Fit and Finish, Build Quality and Setup

Canyon Audio's speakers are quite stunning to look at. With aluminum bullet plug speakers and grill covers reminiscent of Krell's Resolution line, from a distance you might wonder how these speakers can be sold for a retail price of just $529. While the fit and finish is just fine for this price point, there are a few cut corners that allow such a product to be possible. The aluminum drivers are not dampened, so some ringing is noticeable during playback. In addition, the silk dome tweeter is fairly non-linear and was a bit fatiguing over time. The grills, which are comprised of elastic bands that are tensioned across the front of the speakers, are extremely attractive. Unfortunately, they also dramatically influence the sound as they cover nearly 40% of the entire surface area in front of the drivers. Stick your head in front of the speaker and pull aside the bands and you'll hear an immediate difference.

With that all said, Canyon Audio's President, Don Arnold informed us that several revisions will be taking place in the coming months and a new model will be released by the end of the year. It will include, among other things, a new tweeter, a removable, redesigned grill cover and some other minor alterations.

Build Quality

 When the 310-TSC system came I nearly had a heart attack. There were a total of 4 boxes for the speakers and each was double-boxed with plenty of bubble wrap protecting the inner carton. While I won't guarantee that no shipping damage will ever occur (I know better than to try Murphy on this one) these speakers are packaged quite well and should arrive anywhere unscathed.

We peered into the guts of the 310-T towers and 310-S surround speakers to take a look at the drivers, cabinet interior and crossover. What we found were real phase plugs on the drivers (believe it or not some companies have glued on bullet-shaped dust caps to simulate the look of bullet phase plugs!) and what looked to be some very basic crossover components. In the tower, a 3-way system is employed by way of a 2nd order crossover network that splits signal to the 1" silk dome tweeter, 6.5" mid-range driver, and 10" paper cone woofer. The crossover points are at 400Hz and 2kHz respectively. The cabinet interior was well-braced and we noticed that the 10" woofer had an extra M DF back plate to reinforce the speaker where it met the cabinet. Damping material was fairly plentiful (we could always stand to see more) and thick gauge wiring was used for all internal connections.

The exterior finish of the cabinet was an average grade simulated wood veneer. It had a slight texture to it and looks fantastic from a couple feet away. The rear of the units were assembled using a lap butt joint which doesn't allow for the veneer to be completely wrapped around the back of the speaker. Instead the very back wall of the cabinet looks to be indented about 1/16 of an inch all the way around. M inor, but something that could be improved. We recently reviewed a Brookstone Wafer Thin CD system whose subwoofer had the exact same construction.

All speakers come with binding posts that can handle spades, banana connectors, or even bare wire. I checked out some mass-market speakers you can buy in the local chain stores and found more than a few with spring clips at this price point. Of the speakers in the 310-TSC system, only the 310-T tower loudspeakers can be bi-wired and have two sets of binding posts.

Setup and Configuration

When you set these speakers up, be sure to give them enough separation and also toe them in towards the listening position. They play better on-axis than off and the sound is pretty directional - something common to many speakers in this price range. Be sure to angle the center channel so that the drivers are pointed down or up at you, depending upon whether the speaker is mounted above or below your display device. Canyon Audio supplied a suite of M IT cables and 30" speaker stands for this review. The 30" stands put the surrounds right at ear level which was excellent for multi-channel music. For home theater use you may want to try and elevate them a bit. In addition, if you're really on a budget, the 310-S speakers could be used for main channels if coupled with a decent subwoofer.

For bass management, I'd recommend setting the tower speakers to Large and the rest of the speakers to Small. If you have a subwoofer in your system, then set the tower speakers to Small as well. Try a crossover of 80Hz to start. Though the surrounds are only rated down to 100Hz, this is a 2nd order crossover and the drivers are comfortable dropping into the lower frequencies as they roll off. Setting the crossover higher than 80Hz with this system may yield a muddier sound. Overall, these speakers were a breeze to set up so have at it and be sure to experiment with the placement of the towers, especially if you aren't planning on using a subwoofer.

310-TSC Listening Tests & Conclusion

We put in several different movies, CDs and multi-channel DVD-Audio and SACD discs to listen too. The sound was pleasing and I found the speaker to be comparable in sound quality to other speakers I've heard in this price range. Dialogue was intelligible and music was robust and could play loud. Bass was present but was often a bit muddy and the treble could be fatiguing over long periods of time. The center channel suffered from lobing where the frequency response would shift horizontally across the speaker depending upon where you sat. As I mentioned earlier, the speakers are also very directional, so off-axis performance could be improved. Guess what? I've possibly just described nearly every $500 speaker system available in the giant retail monopolies people shop at every day.

Conclusion

These speakers win by being beautiful to look at and matching the price/performance ratio of other speakers in their class. I enjoyed listening to them and felt that they could take up residence in a home and provide many years of satisfying home theater enjoyment - especially if coupled with a nice subwoofer. These speakers will not make you reach new heights of audio nirvana, nor will they suddenly cause your spouse to say as she's passing by the room, "Hey, those are the best -sounding speakers I've ever heard!" One thing they will do is make your wife very happy, especially if you're a cherry furniture nut like me.

Editor's Note

* Originally these speakers were priced at an MSRP of $527 and received a higher value rating. Canyon Audio later raised the price to $987 which we felt dropped the value rating on this set considerably.

UPDATE: Still later, Canyon Audio raised the price to $1,397 for the set - which we feel is an absolute joke and makes us wonder if we weren't used for pull quotes in an effort to rip off unsuspecting consumers.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Performance
Value