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My Caladan Impressons

Ron Brenay’s video that introduced the Caladan speakers (by Clayton Shaw Audio Labs) created a lot of buzz and a lot of orders, but actual reviews have not yet come out. Since many are curious to know what they sound like, I thought I would share my impressions of the Caladans, which I’ve now had for over a month.

In a word: The Caladans are one of the most detailed and revealing speakers I have ever heard, and they do this without sounding analytical or harsh. And because they are an open baffle design, the sound is free of the resonances and aberrations of cabinets – a sound that’s hard to describe, but it has a clarity that can often be startling. These are truly special speakers at any price, but especially at their current low price-point.  

In terms of the overall sound, the Caladans are natural sounding, with very good tonality and imaging. I think I can safely say that these speakers add very little in the way of coloration. They will quickly reveal the personality of your amplifiers and upstream components.

They are honest in their presentation and very musical. In many ways they are reminiscent of a good electrostatic speaker (think Quad 57). The music completely detaches from the speakers and floats in the air with holographic images and excellent tonality. The soundstage is very wide and tall, as well as very deep and layered. The sound is also very quick and nimble – even the bass.  

The bass is certainly one of the best characteristics of the Caladans. It is full (not lean) yet still very detailed and textured. And it goes surprisingly deep. I have a pair of subs in my room, but didn’t give a moment’s consideration to using them, because I felt the quality and depth of the bass was so good, the subs weren’t needed and would probably even diminish the quality of the bass.

The mids are clean, detailed and very engaging. For me, the sweet spot of the Caladans is male vocals. I hear detail, nuance, and spot-on tonality, with zero artifacts or coloration. These qualities seem to be easier for most speakers to achieve in the higher frequencies with female vocals. The Caladans deliver brilliantly on female vocals as well. But unlike some speakers that seem to have a touch more coloration or less definition in the lower male frequencies, with the Caladans the male vocals are stunning, and don’t take a backseat to female vocals in any way. Leonard Cohen’s deepest rumblings are just as precisely defined and finely etched as any of the notes sung by Diana Krall two octaves higher. Male vocals are scary good.

The highs are lively and airy, but never harsh. Drums and cymbals sound real and resonant. They pop, snap, and sizzle with excellent dynamics.

In terms of flaws or weaknesses, I’m having a hard time coming up with anything. If you like a warm, richly colored sound, these may not be your cup of tea. But if you want to hear deep into the recording, with detail and resolution that is hard to match, you’ll love these speakers.

Be advised that these speakers benefit from some break-in time. They sound even better at 100 hours than they do out of the box. I especially like how they sound with tubes.

I am more than pleased with the sound of my Caladans, and on top of that, they are beautiful to look at (I went with the cherry wood). I apologize if this report sounds almost too good to be true, but I don’t know what else to say. I’m very impressed with the Caladans. I expect the reviewers will be as well.

wester17
vthokie83
877 posts
 

Moonwatcher

Some thoughts on your questions, I've had my Caladans 3 months now. You can read my full review on the "Anyone else order Caladans from Clayton Shaw?" Agon thread back in February.

(1) Placement - I have played around with positioning quite a bit, and have found them best at least 2 feet from the front wall, and at least 18 inches from the side wall. I'm building a dedicated listening room, where I will have more flexibility and will have them a little further into the room (2.5 feet) and a little further from the side walls (2 feet)

(2) Warm or detailed sound - I previously drove the Caladans with a Denafrips Hades SS preamp and Denafrips Thallo amp, and they sounded neutral.....not overly warm, but never sterile. I now drive them with CODA class A SS amp, and Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" tube amp; both being driven with an Aric Audio Motherlode XL tube preamp. I do prefer them with the tube front end, but I think it's the tube preamp that adds that extra warmth. Not sure what you have for equipment, I didn't see you have a virtual system loaded

(3) Clayton retiring - Not sure if he is, or even if it matters. Yes Clayton left Spatial, but still has a great relationship with them (they even do final assembly of the Caladans).....some have suggested he had some health concerns that influenced that decision. Someone correct me if I am wrong there

(4) Speaker driver alignment - I have found the Caladans to be well integrated. When he designed the Caladan Clayton moved the tweeter closer to the mid bass driver (than his Spatial speakers) and I do find them to be cohesive. To me music sounds as though it is presented from a "stage" of movement between the speakers. If I close my eyes, I cannot pick out their exact location.....even of course I know where they are.

(5) Low level listening - These speakers are great at that. I never listen at loud levels, and the Caladans are the best speakers I've had for low level. Most of my other speakers needed to be pushed for their best sound (many Thiel models), Infinty Reference Kappa 7 and 9s, and even my recently purchased Buchardt Audio S400 MKIIs. I do think high current (not high wattage) amps do help with low level listening

bigkidz
3,386 posts
 

The Caladans are one of the most detailed and revealing speakers I have ever heard

OK compared to what other speakers you have heard?

Just curious.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,834 posts
 

Be advised that these speakers benefit from some break-in time. They sound even better at 100 hours than they do out of the box. I especially like how they sound with tubes.

@wester17 Clayton Shaw Acoustic Lab showed with us at the recent AXPONA show. The speakers were pretty new- when we set them up the bass was a bit disappointing. So we ran them all night before and throughout the show. By the 2nd day of the show they were starting to come around- the bass was showing up and the speakers were far more lucid.

So break-in is pretty important (as it is with many speakers). I liked how they easily cast a 3D space. They were also easy to drive (despite being 4 Ohms); our class Ds were loafing.

moonwatcher
464 posts
 

@vthokie83 thank you, your thoughts and those of Wes above are great to contemplate regarding these. Thank you for taking the time to answer many of my questions. I also see that Steve Guttenberg just posted his Caladan review a few hours ago.
 

 

ricevs
1,543 posts
 

Thank you, Steve for some perspective. Some have been saying that the Caladan is the best speaker Clayton has designed. This never made sense to me since the Spatial X4 uses a big dipole AMT tweeter crossed over around the same frequency, much better xover parts, much better baffle, much better base and the same two woofs as in the Caladan. Of course, the X4 is $9800.....not $3300.

Steve says the Pure Audio Project trio with the ESS AMT ($6K) is more transparent and punches harder......says the Magnepan 1.7 ($4K) is more coherant and less colored, says it does not sound all the great at low volume. However, as he said, it is the cheapest open baffle speaker he has reviewed and thought it was great....for the money. Which is good news for those waiting for their speakers to be finished.

However, you can build your own Caladan clone for $1500 or better yet do what I just did and build a speaker using the same woofers but use a time aligned $50 planar tweeter on top with hardly (or no) crossover on it that goes down to 400hz The woofs just have a 2 mh coil on them.....I will be starting a thread on this speaker and will have pictures of my speaker on my website and mucho information by the end of the week. This IS NOT a commercial product. This is for myself and for anyone who wants to make their own speaker.....I don’t make money sharing this information. If in the bay area, I will be (in a month or so) inviting people to come over and hear what I have done. The fun is in sharing.

For many, the Caladan will be a great buy and a speaker they will keep for a long time. But, for those with more refined tastes and can build their own (very few....even though it is easy)......or have more money....there are better options. My definition of an audiophile...."Someone who is not happy with their stereo".....I mean, why buy a new speaker.....wasn’t your last one satisfying?......he he. We have the ability to enjoy the ride......so please enjoy the speaker ride. None of this is serious.....just guys playing with toys.

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