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Raidho D1 audition


Two weeks ago I have heard the Raidho D1 speakers in a hi-end shop in Amsterdam (A10 audio). Surprisingly, but luckily for me, I was the only one attending the "morning" demonstration. I could listen all the CD that I brought with me sitting in the sweet spot and without any disturbances.

The D1 where driven by the Jeff Rowland Corus preamp and the 625 power amp. There were two CD players hooked up, i.e. the dCS Vivaldy and an EMM labs single box retailing at roughly 30k euros (I did not asked which model it was). The dealer told me that the system was optimized for the dCS player, meaning he has used his most expensive cables costing around 30K euros. He did not mention which brand of cables he used and I did not bother asking as I find it silly to use cables that cost as much as the pre-power combo (we all have our prejudice in this regard).

The D1s sounded certainly nice, very detailed and fast but also with a very full midrange. Resolution-wise, one would have a rather hard time to find speakers that are more transparent in the midrange and highs (IMO of course). Speed-wise, while very fast, the D1s are not as fast as horns or electrostatics. The stereo image and soundstage were quite good (given the fact that the listen room was filled with other electronics and speakers) and together with the very detail and full midrange made for a rather impressive presence of the speaker in the room. That is, voices and most instruments where rendered with full body and size with a confidence typically associated to large speakers (at least in my experience).

I could not really judge the bass output of the D1s, as the room was quite large (given the D1s' size), plus the position of the speakers in the room was not chosen to give the best bass response but rather a good stereo image and soundstage. Nonetheless, it seemed decent. However, given the level of performance in the midrange and high departments, it would be a pity to not add one or two top of the line subwoofers (in fact as many as necessary) to achieve a world class performance also in this department.

I have quite a bit of experience with moderately high priced monitors like Dynaudio C1 (mk 1&2), Focal Micro Be & Diablo, Wilson Duette and Vivid Audio V1.5. Among these monitors, the Focal Diablo sounds the closest to the D1s, i.e. fast and detailed. The Vivid V1.5 has also a similar presentation. While the D1s sounded much better than any of these monitors, I find it hard to say how much better it really is. Not only I have listen these speakers in different system and room and at very different times, but one should not underestimate the effect made by the dCS Vivaldi in the D1 demo I had. (The Vivaldi was a marvelous cd player to say the least, though at 90K euros ones should not be surprised.) Maybe I should also mention here that the dealer told me that in his opinion the D1s are above the Magico Q1 (while being cheaper here in Europe). Since I have never listened the Q1s, I can not make any comment in this regard, but the dealer carries Magico speakers for a long time and has first hand experience with the Q1s.

I would conclude by saying that I was quite impress with the Raidho D1 speakers. 17k euros (including stands) is certainly a lot of money for a monitor with limited bass, but the reality is that 17K represents only a fraction of the price of other expensive monitors, e.g. TAD CR1. (I would be really interested to hear from people who have listen the TAD CR1 monitor and also the Raidho D1s).

Finally, I should acknowledging A10 audio in Amsterdam (www.a10audio.nl) for putting together a very nice demo.
nvp
usermanual
104 posts
 
Michaelkingdom,
You touched an important point here. Our auditory memory is very short. Our brain will adjust to just about anything. People “preferences” is mainly what they are used to, not necessarily what is good. When I A/B a products, I usually keep it short, so my brain does not have much chance to interfere and “color” my judgment.
sidekick_i's avatar
sidekick_i
59 posts
 
I'm breaking in a pair of Raidho D1 at the moment, driven by Aesthetix electronics (Romulus/Callisto/Atlas) and Nordost Valhalla all through in a medium sized living room with modest acoustical treatment.

My findings after about 10 hours of listening (the time needed for suitable break-in is stated at about 250 hours by Raidho) is close to what Dracule1 describes above. If you value a natural, open and truly homogenic musical experience you owe it to yourself to audition this speaker. Raidho is not about the dissection and/or the exaggeration of individual parts of the frequency spectrum (which makes a lot of modern speakers academical, clinical and uninvolving to these ears). Instead, they're all about the delivery of music in a way that relaxes your brain in favour of the completeness of the musical experience.

I hope that makes sense.
usermanual
104 posts
 
Dracule1 - I can handle anything, don't you worry. Your comments are indeed subjective and quite imaginative. It started with the "I know a dealer who..." and now claiming that Magico sound is "dynamic as hell... and have chest thumping bass". I bet you never heard a Magico, you are the first person who ever described their sound that way (Oops, I forgot, it is all subjective, you can say anything...). Hope that was not too condescending for you, it is the best a douchebag can do
stereotaipei
56 posts
 
After 4.5 years with a pair of Evolution Acoustics MM3 (2 12" woofers, 2 ceramic mids, 1 ribbon tweeter), I went for new speaker hunting a bit more than one year ago. I have heard probably 150 speakers, and the best ones (Magico, TAD, Vivid, Raidho...) in different set up. I ended up buying a pair of Magico Q1. With all the buzz from JV, I went of course to hear the different Raidhos. They are good speakers, with a sweet sound, but would have been a lateral move compared to my MM3, not a real upgrade. Ribbon tweeter are very pleasing at the beginning (light, airy), but my experience is that they never fully integrate with the medium, probably because of the very different dispersion pattern. Compared to the beryllium of magico tweeter, it lacks to my ears a bit of weight and sound density. Also, after several years with ceramic mids, I realized that there is always a "ceramic coloration" that you find back on different brands (Marten, Tidal, EA, Raidho...). Last, the Q1 are much more dynamic and transparent. Level of realism on female voices gives me goose bumps. Not sure how much is coming from the driver vs. the cabinet construction (rigidity of a braced aluminum cabinet is of course not the same as MDF.... but cost to produce is also not the same). At least to my humble ears, they are in a different league. Actually, after 10 mths with them, I realize that I am listening to much more music than with the MM3, which is a good sign (my tastes are mainly baroque music and jazz). One remark however: given the very high transparency of magico speakers, they behave like "real chameleon" on different amps. They don't have a sound by themselves. I find for example the sound cold and analytical on Spectral. But gorgeous on my Dartzeel (or with Vitus or Gryphon). SO you cannot judge them based on a single audition, upstream sources are key.
Talking about other good speaker brands I encountered in my upgrade journey, I would personally prefer a pair of small Vivid than the Raidho monitors. The Vivid would have been my second choice after the Q1. The TAD and Raidho would come after that.
Hope it helps- just my opinion...
michaelkingdom's avatar
michaelkingdom
153 posts
 
Keeping auditions short is a good way of hearing what you will continue to hear each time you turn on your system. The initial impression will always remain the same in my experience. However, after sitting and listening to the same speakers for a while I find that my brain begins to adapt the sound, effectively changing what I hear. I have a set of Focal Utopia Micro Be monitors that do exactly this. When I turn them on I like them but after five minutes, I love them. It is another interesting part of this hobby - that patience is rewarded.
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