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

"Strange. I find him to be really really excited in almost every video."

Yeah, I’m not a fan of Steve at all for just the reason you mentioned. So this video does not impress or influence me. That being said, my above comments stand. We already have several reviews from Audiogon members; I take their opinions 100% over SG, good or bad.

Bigkidz: Fair question I suppose. Here’s a list of most of the speakers I have actually owned over the years: Klipschorns, Harbeth SHL5plus, the original Spatial Audio M3s, Tekton Impact Monitors, Magnepan 1.7i, Spatial Audio M3 Sapphires, SVS Ultras, Goldenear Aeon II, Klipsch RP 600 M, and Sound Artist LS3/5A. I’ve also spent time with a good friend’s Quad 57s and Thiel CS3.5s. Plus I’ve been to a few audio shows.  I thought I was finally through with new speakers (the Harbeths have been my speaker for five years now) but I couldn’t resist trying another of Clayton’s designs. I’m glad I did. I'm planning to keep both the Caladans and the Harbeths. They sound very different from each other, but both are outstanding. Variety is the spice of life!

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I have had the Caladans for a while now (sn0001}. They take a loooong time to fully break in. Like a couple of months unless you play them really loud.

Sonically the only criticism I have is they can be a tad sharp if the source material has hard peaks in the 2-4k range. But that is just reflective of the source. And I must admit to having become very sensitive to aggression in this region. Good recordings are wonderful. Superb detail and texture throughout the bass region. Well, make that throughout the full range. No bloat at all.

I had a pair of Spatial X-5 a few speakers ago. They were excellent but required being in a limited sweet spot for the magic to happen. And if you stood up you lost the high frequencies. The Caladans do not have these problems.

I am driving them with an AGD amp and a Backert Labs tube linestage. My CODA S5.5 is due here this week. Then the AGD will go in for an upgrade.

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