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Borresen X1 & X2

I recently demoed these speakers and thought they were great, but I heard strange imaging on the X1. The soundstage was absolutely huge, but the vocals were on the ceiling above my head on the demo tracks the dealer played. On some other tracks, it wasn't as pronounced, but they were still very high, maybe 10ft above the speakers. The room we were in was large and had very high ceilings. 


Then we switched to the X2, and they didn't do that. The image was still huge, but down to a normal height maybe 6ft off the floor. 

At first I assumed it was something to do with the room acoustics, but it was different with the different models. 

Anyone hear these speakers and notice what I did? 

traudio
traudio OP
102 posts
 

Erik, 

Maybe. Maybe it was the demo music? Tunes that I picked out had less of that effect. 
In any case I'm probably going with the X2 and Axxess Forté 1 package they offer, if I can get my Magnepan 3.7i sold. 

erik_squires
16,121 posts
 

OP:

Could be, could also be they had tweaked the player via DSP and ended up with some weird EQ curve. Whenever a store won’t let me play a CD directly I always suspect this, or it could be odd room reflections / interactions.

Research on Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) has shown how the right/wrong EQ can trick your ears into surround like effects as well. It’s the basis for many virtual surround features.

 

Best,

 

Erik

erik_squires
16,121 posts
 

Oh, and let us not forget the possibility the speakers were wired out of phase at the amp or internally.  That's another curious coincidence I've run into at dealers. 

mbmi's avatar
mbmi
572 posts
 

Yes...Sounds like an out of phase wiring issue. I have the X-3's and they are spot on imaging....definitely go for the X-2's if you can.....

traudio OP
102 posts
 

Could be, could also be they had tweaked the player via DSP and ended up with some weird EQ curve. Whenever a store won’t let me play a CD directly I always suspect this, or it could be odd room reflections / interactions.

Uh, no. They were using the Axxiss Forte 1 amp and you can't do DSP on it. 

It's very possible he had +and - swapped. Would be the first time I heard that at a dealer.

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