Canton has a good reputation when it comes to soundbases – this DM75 won our pricier soundbase Award category in 2014, while the smaller DM50 scored an easy five stars and remains an excellent buy.
The DM75 is simply a bigger version of the DM50 – either for those people with TVs too big for the dinky DM50, or for those with the space to go bigger.
MORE: Awards 2014 - Best soundbars and soundbases
Build and design
While the DM 50 is best suited to 40in or smaller tellies, the 73cm-wide DM75 is less restricted and can cater for almost any size. TV weight won’t be a deciding factor either – Canton claims both models can take up to 40kg, which should allow you plenty of choice.
Canton also allows you colour options of black, silver or white, which is refreshing in a sea of black boxes. It’s a smart, if modest, design with a textured matt chassis and a metal front grille that hides two 5cm midrange drivers and two 25mm tweeters.
Underneath the unit you’ll find four 10cm woofers, double that on the DM50, while on the front panel there’s a welcome blue LED display that’ll only light up when you use the remote.
It displays basic information, such as volume level and input, and makes controlling the DM75 quick and easy.
Speaking of the remote, Canton’s effort is better than many of its competitors, suitably chunky and well made, plus the buttons are well labelled and nicely laid out for ease of use.
All good news then, but if there’s anything we’d like more from at this price, it’s inputs. You’ll get optical and coaxial inputs alongside a pair of analogues, but there are no HDMIs for those who need them.
There is a subwoofer output to add more bass to proceedings, but we wouldn’t have thought you’d need it, plus there’s aptX Bluetooth on board for streaming music to the DM75.
Performance
We fire up After Earth to put the DM75 through its paces, and that Canton family sound is immediately evident – it’s rich, balanced and full of insight.
It’s a big, room-filling sound that’s also open and airy, offering more space to a movie soundtrack than the Bose Solo 15 would allow.
This brings with it both strengths and weaknesses, delivering a more expressive midrange that’s great for insight, but at the expense of a little solidity.
That’s not to say the bass isn’t impressive – it is. Take the skydive scene in After Earth, and there’s a satisfyingly weighty rumble as Kitai swoops past rock edges, with plenty of punch to it when required too.
When Kitai dives into the waterfall to avoid becoming eagle prey, the sound of falling water is crisp and enveloping, with plenty of fine detail to give it depth and texture rather than being one mass of sound.
Highs are clear and sharp, but amid new competition can teeter on the edge of brightness at volume. It’s not uncomfortable, but it does add to the slight feeling of fragility when compared to the likes of the Solo 15 and Geneva Model Cinema.
Action movies are most at home on the DM75, with plenty of attack and expression here to deliver excitement and pace in spades.
It’s a masterclass in dynamics, making sense of any soundtrack you throw at it, and dialogue proves just as successful, cutting through action-packed scenes with plenty of clarity – if not as richly as the Geneva.
Verdict
There’s no doubting the Canton DM75 is an excellent soundbase – we gave it an Award after all – but with the introduction of some fresh new rivals, there are now some things that put its fifth star on shaky ground.
While we love its open and expressive nature, the sense of fragility it brings to the midrange as a result makes us crave the solidity of the Geneva Model Cinema, which is available, alongside other improvements, for £100 more.
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