I’ve been using the Harman Kardon Soundsticks for over 10 years now, and they’ve been fantastic. Sound quality is amazing and they’re pretty much the perfect desktop speakers for less than $250. However mine were falling apart and I think the design is becoming outdated. It was time for an upgrade. So I went for the Kanto YU2s.
Check out my video above on setting them up and sharing my experience with them.
When unboxing them I was surprised at how small and compact they were. They’re smaller than they look in videos and pictures, almost cute. The design of them is awesome. I went for the matte black version but they do them in other colours too. They finish on them is super high quality and they feel very premium.
On the back of the left speaker you’ll find all of the connection points and volume dial which also acts as the on/off switch. There’s a USB DAC built-in but unfortunately it uses a USB Type-B connection, would have been nice to see USB-C.
When connecting them up I was amazed by the sound quality. Best way to explain it is that they’re tight. When using larger speakers sometimes they can feel and sound too big when using them in a workspace setup. These are just right. But naturally, without a subwoofer, they lack depth in the low end.
Due to the lack of bass, I also purchased the SUB6 to go with the setup. Instantly it brought the bass that I wanted. I love my bass and enjoy feeling the lows in the music I listen to — I listen to a lot of Alt R&B, Hip Hop and Rap.
The subwoofer has the usual expected connection points as well as a level dial and crossover frequency dial. I would have kept my Harman Kardon subwoofer but it uses proprietary ports so you can’t use it with other speakers other than the Soundsticks.
I’m very happy with this setup. It matches the rest of my workspace much better too. I expect these speakers to last me a good while like my Soundsticks did. If you’re looking for a higher-end speaker setup for your workspace, these are some of the best around.