Even though you would think the X series speakers would be great with a low powered tube amp, the Decware Torii I had at the time would not drive the speakers sufficiently in my room. This amp had sounded wonderful with a pair of khorns, but sounded anemic with the X3s. A Carver Crimson 275 and a Music Reference RM9 were much better matches.
Spatial X5 speakers
Just got mine, with upgraded crossovers, a couple of weeks ago. I now have about 250 hours on them - mostly driven by the Voyager Gan 350 wpc class D amp and most recently by Don Sachs 65 wpc tube amp. Speaker Cables are Griver Huffman Pharoah's and the preamp is Don Sachs tube preamp. They are easy to set up as they come fully assembled. Right out of the box they sound promising but the bass is cardboard like and the tweeter can sound harsh. Nevertheless, after about 175 hours, these babies developed a pleasing midrange liquidity and nice open baffle bass. They throw an expansive soundscape that extends beyond the width of the toed in speakers that is also deep front to back. I mean, these speakers truly disappear as in my listening spot nothing localizes to the speaker itself. Both amps drive these speakers nicely. The Sachs amp defitely sounds better using the 8 not 4 ohm speaker posts. I am now getting air with very nice detail and tonal colors.
These speakers are just awesome. They are worth every penny I paid for them. Clayton warned me about the prolonged break in time and he was dead on the money. I just love the OB box less sound. These speakers are awesome.
I hope this thread does not degenerate into a toxic pussing contest like my Voyager Gan amplifier thread.
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@tyray I had a pair of Revel F208s that were modded by Doug Jesse of ASi Teknology. They were awesome speakers. However, being an audiophile that is just not enough.... |
Congrats jaymark, enjoy. I had a pair of Emerald Physics 2.3 in the system for a short time. Took a while to get them dialed in. They did a lot of things right but just didn't like the tweeter/mid setup. No matter what I did it was always a little shouty to my ears. Looks like the Spatials are a somewhat different animal. I would really like to hear them some day. |
Jaymark, I have had the X5's for a year and a half now and they are truly amazing sounding now that I've had over 500 hours on them. You mention you had the upgraded crossover in your speakers, are you saying that you ordered them with the VH odam capacitors? Mine came with the Clarity Cap capacitor so it seems Clayton now uses the VH Odam capacitor or offers it as an upgrade. I believe he did as well when I had ordered but I don't know much about capacitors and if the difference between them is significant or not. I know I can easily bypass the Clarity cap and insert a different capacitor outboard if I want to experiment, who knows maybe I'll try that but the speakers sound so good right now I don't know if I want to even experiment. I'm running low powered tubes with them. |
Once you go Open Baffle, it's hard to go back to a box speaker.
Just sayin'. I hear the X5's last year at a friends home and while I can't afford a pair right now, I DIY'd a pair based on the Infinity RS1 form 40 years ago (three 5.25" midwoofs and a Planar Tweeter with stacked 12" H-Frame Subs under it (instead of a sealed box like the original). |
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