CCA CA16 Review (2) And Second Opinion – More Is Less
The CCA CA16, the company’s 16-driver flagship (nominally $80, though it seems to have been marked down to $60) looks and feels like a cheaper piece, with plastic housings and visible seams. Bulbous, protruding shells are light and reasonably comfortable, though seal and isolation are average at best. I found these fairly inefficient and hard to power from my LG.
The CCA CA16 seem to be going for a laid-back, balanced stage monitor type of sound, but miss by a wide mark. Tonality is on the warm side of neutral, with an overall lack of sizzle and drive; soundstage is wide but shallow; like most KZ products there’s sufficient space between instruments but placement is odd, as if the performers are all several feet behind the front stage.
Dialed-down, amorphous low end lacks depth, punch and definition; mids are recessed but have good texture and are smooth, but tend to be veiled by the blobby bass, and resolution is substandard. Treble is likewise smooth, but rolls off sharply; details and extension are lacking. Drumheads, in particular, are muted and sound more like cardboard than canvas; sparkle is missing from guitar strings and piano keys. The CCA CA16 is coherent overall, other than a conspicuous dip in the 80-200hz region, but it’s hard to gauge just what all those drivers are doing.
These seem to have been tuned for maximum inoffensiveness, but simply sound off; like Bose speakers, they’re mostly midrange, without visceral highs and lows. Especially coming off the unexpectedly amazin’, $23 TRN-STM, not to mention CCA’s own well-tuned, refined $40 C10, this one seems rushed off the lab bench.
MY VERDICT
DISCLAIMER
Borrowed and swiftly returned.
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