Help Choosing Speakers

@audiotroy thanks for the feedback, I agree, same with the Vandersteen 2Ce, too big for the room.

Also after talking with Clayton, he really outlined that the room nodes wouldn’t let a speaker play much below 40 Hz anyway.

I have just unboxed the Spatial M4 Turbo S’s, fantastic build quality. Great looking speakers too. Threw on some Jazz and the imaging blew me away. Put on some Pink Floyd and Neil Young and I was unimpressed... the bass was anemic and the treble was scratchy.

Initial quick run done, I am being true to the recommendation, don't really make any decisions before the first 24 hours. Ok, it was time to go pick up the Vandersteen 1Cis from the local shop to compare. While I was at the local shop, I also grabbed a Ayre AX7 (60W) to test with both pairs of speakers.

I put the Vandersteen 1Ci’s on my MiniTorii and honestly, I was much happier, they didn’t image as well, but they were more even, had much more bass, and overall easier to listen to.

This is where it get interesting... when I put the Ayre amp on the Spatials I got knocked out of my chair, again! The bass was there in full force, it was smooth and even, the highs weren’t nearly as bright (in a good way).

I have many more hours to put on the Spatials. I have high hopes, but it seems like I will have to be getting a new amp regardless of my speaker choice.

I have emailed Steve @ Decware to see if he has something that would match the more agressive load required by the Spatials.

Based on my room size and realistic price target (I don't know what I was thinking spending $6k on speakers) it is going to be down to the Spatial M4's and the Vandersteen 1Ci. They fit in the room well, and both have the potential to sound incredible.

Thats all for now, much more listening ahead.

Ciao,
Ron

@nakamaye and @wester17 what amps are you using to power the Spatials?

Thanks,
Ron

I don't have a high end system and a lot of vintage equipment.   Initially I used my Exposure XI/XIV preamp with the Exposure XII power supply, hooked up to a New York Audio Labs Moscode 300 (150 wpc).  These were very sweet with the Spatial's but like others have said, if the amplifier isn't dead quite, the efficiency of the Spatial's will show that up, and I got a slight hum with this amp.  Got a great deal on an Anthem 225i solid state integrated amp (225 wpc) which has an amazingly dark floor and it really makes the Spatial's sing for me.  A tube set up is probably a great match up, but I'm a very happy camper as it is currently set up.  BTW.  I did insert another vintage amp in place of the NYAL amp, Marantz 140 (75 wpc), which is all solid state unlike the moscode NYAL and it actually seemed a bit warm to me, a shock actually.  

In my view you have three big-picture choices to make:

Super high efficiency horns/TLs

Powered subs/integrated woofer plus very high efficiency mains/integrated top ends

A new amp.

Thanks for the response @nakamaye  ! I am going to be doing some research on amps this evening for sure.

@martykl  -- yep, and I have opted to keep the Spatials and look for a new amp. They are just incredible and worth focusing on replacing the amp with something that has more power but still just as musical as my Mini Torii.

Thanks for the input. I agree 100% with your observations.

Ciao,
Ron