Borresen Loudspeakers

Nothing special, seriously overpriced, terrible way to design drivers. They do not have a prayer in America were we have so many great speakers at way more reasonable prices. The British also do a much better job. 

mijostyn I guess you never heard them? Please listen then come back to post. 
love your setup and you definitely love music/audio so the only thing I can think

is you never heard them. Their X series are great value for an entry level high end speaker. I am sure is you looked at AGD group you would poo-poo they’re out of the box thinking. 

I am sure they sound great but I would never spend that kind of money on stand mounted speakers when there are so many floor-standing speakers with a very slim profile available. 

Congratulations on the purchase of the X1’s. I agree with you that the performance to price ratio is insane. When I got to the shop before people arrived I sat on the couch and thought I was listening to the x6s. Nope, it was the x1. I really don’t feel that there is anyone who can match the performance and value you get.

@mijostyn. Were you there last night? Considering the x1s just arrived at Next Level HiFi on Friday and they are the first pair in the world to be shown, how did you see and hear the system? I’m fine with each having their own opinion. That’s what makes this hobby great. I guess all the praise the x3 has received by just about every reputable reviewer is flawed? I’m confused how you make that assumption. But it’s fine. To each his own.

FYI, was told AGD along with Next Level will be in Florida for the audio show in a few weeks. Swing on by and listen to the x1s, x2s and M3s in person.

Congratulations @woots. 

Thanks @networkguy2010 

@stereo5 I didn't purchase the stands.  Mine will be on a credenza which is situated directly across from me on my office desk.  

@woots 

That's not a good idea.

I know the X3 very well they are very good but limited on low bass ,in room maybe a clean 38 hz , I can see using 4.5 inch drivers for mids but midBass low bass at least at minimum 6.5 inch driver to truly pressurize a room,  the mass of the bass driver does matter.a grand piano can go downto 28 HZ for example .

I was considering the x3 ,I would keep my SVS 4000SB subs from low 40s on down , the Bass is tight and good but lacks the impact that my subs can do .they are very tuneful though. that’s my only reservation with them , the X1 for sure a pair of Quality subs required.

then you have a very good set up ,the X2 are a smaller X3 and might be ideal for a medium room with subs. Having owned a Audio store for a decade I am useD to having the impact of a live performance ,and I have room treatments throughout the listening area. They are a very good value for the monies.

You don't actually describe what you lied about them to whatever you won today so while congrats on you buying something, the info provided does not make me want to go out of my way to have a listen.

Borresen is being hyped up right now on YouTube by Jay. I won’t be surprised if he becomes a dealer. It’s the new shiny thing.

Narrow cabinets, small drivers, low range down to 40hz, $11,000….and they outperform speakers selling for $25,000? I call 🐂 💩 

To the OP, I didn’t realize you bought a pair as I would have kept my view on stand mount speakers to myself.  Good luck with them, hope it works out for you.  

@roxy54 The X1 can be used as a bookshelf speaker. I will be placing mine on a credenza. Will be used in my office and I do have a REL T9X if necessary. 

@stereo5  I appreciate your opinion and thanks for sharing.  Maybe I wasn’t clear. The X1, which was just launched yesterday, is a 2 speaker enclosure.  Not sure if you go to any of the shows or not (I don’t) but you may want to give them a listen. At $5500 a pair they sound much better to a that price.  Anyway, thanks again for your post. 

A guy with not inconsiderable hifi experience goes to hear new speakers no one here has heard before, he is blown away to the point that he purchases the speakers. At $5500 they are not cheap either. Many comments boil down to "what an idiot". Even if the speakers turn out to be fool's gold, why rain on his parade? Chances are better than not that the speakers turn out to be awesome, at minimum for many people's tastes. The arrogance, spite and sheer paucity of spirit on display in some comments reminds me once again the hifi community is as toxic as the rest of internet culture. 😔 

I heard their big room and their small room with the small ones ( ? X1s) at CAF.  They certainly are impressive and incisive, but hurt my ears after a bit.  Maybe their electronics and their speakers together, but a bit too much for me.

I purchased the Borresen x3's. Have had them a week now. There just starting to open up a bit. The bass is actually pretty good considering the 4.5 bass drivers. I'm very happy with my purchase. 

I auditioned the Raidho's vs Magico and preferred the Raidho's.  I ended up buying the XT-2's.  They are fantastic.  Incredible bass for their size and the drivers size.  But the midrange and treble is incredible.  Playing early Beatles with an Oppo 105D has John Lennon singing in my room.  So lifelike.  No one can criticize Borresen without hearing the speakers first.

Thanks for sharing. I'm excited for you. I watched Jay's entire two and a half hour video. Jay has owned many speakers from some of the top brands - Magico, Wilson, Focal, among many others. He said the system at last night's event, featuring the flagship M6s, was the best he's ever heard. After you break in your X1s, please come back and share your impressions. (Btw, the rep from AGD said those 4.5" drivers require a lot of break-in time.)

Yep - Jay has said it is the best he’s heard and he currently owns a $360k Wilson Audio loudspeaker. How’s that for being unbiased ?

Stay tuned - a video will follow over the next few weeks about my time with the Borresen M6. 
ps - I can’t afford the m6 Borresen but I won’t hate on those of you who can buy it. 
I have to remain objective and tell it like it is. 
No - I won’t become a Borresen dealer today , tomorrow or next year but I also can’t predict where I’ll be 5 years from now. 
Thank you for the support guys!
Jay

Having heard the 'next big thing' more times than I can count in the last 50 years, I'm sure Borreson makes a fine product, but the Laws of Physics being what they are, a 5" driver is good for about 50-60Hz, with a max output of around 104-106dB(1M) above 100Hz on a good day. 

They are pushing into premium active speaker territory on price, even three-way actives. Nice to see the ribbon planar tweeter, but in a two-way, they should have gone with a Purifi woofer.

@deep_333 PM me, and I can share some pictures.  Essentially, a 4 1/2-inch drive and a ribbon-type tweeter that sit on a stand ($1100 per pair) or can be used as a bookshelf-type speaker.  I am actually putting mine on a credenza.

OP, thanks for the post.  I had a "ticket" but was unable to attend.  It was no doubt a good opportunity to hear the Borreson speakers in a well sorted-out room.  Any impressions of SQ would be appreciated.  I am especially interested in the X1's as I have a small room, and like to listen to vocals at lower volume.  Thanks.

.. @woots... no, they are $5500 pr. The X-3’s that I own are $11,000 pr. That is a floorstander, and what a floorstander they are! It took 500 hrs. to break in those woofers... They produce a tight deep room-filling bass that is perfect for MUSIC.. . it’s not for home theatre use dummies.... it’s for the accurate reproduction of 2 channel MUSIC.... The Audio Group Denmark is on the forefront of the latest cutting edge technology in the audio industry.... Their rooms in Tampa were among the 3 best sounding rooms at the Tampa show last year.... along with MBL and ATC.... 4 what it’s worth, Steve Huff picked them as the #1 company in the entire industry for innovation and being forward thinkers.... some people on this thread show there sheer lack of knowledge about this company and their products. There are alot of wooden boxes out there with bloated bass in the 11K arena.... audition these before you speak and embarrass yourselves..... Congrats on your beautiful new X-1’s. ps. The X-1's and X-3's use the same ribbon tweeter that's on their more expensive speakers...vocals sound like a real person is sitting between your speakers. ADVICE:  Don't knock them until you actually hear them...you'll change your tune.

Bookshelf speakers are deficient in the base area. Most people I know who bought these things end up buying subwoofers. Also the drivers are too narrow, I’ve never why drivers keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Their marketing hype is they fit anywhere that’s not right.

They are incredibly over priced for a bookshelf. What’s so special about this cabinet. So if you buy these speakers you reimbursing them for all the marketing costs and they’re marketing efforts don’t really speak about merits of the speaker.

They do look nice so I guess I'll buy some

My experience is , that  Audiovector is equal good for less $$$.

If I win Powerball, I’d love to try those $550K babies.  Even if they don’t sound all that great, they look great.

IMHO.

I have heard the Borresen X3 and they are phenomenal sounding very three-dimensional soundstage and I own the monitor audio platinum 200 ll which are very three-dimensional open and spacious sounding if I didn't own these I would definitely buy the X3 they're that good, and I have no doubt that they sound better than the $25,000 Focal.

ortodox,

which audio vector are you talking about?The Arrete version are more expensive than the X3.

They are very expensive but worth every dollar if you can afford them.  I picked up a used pair of Borresen 05 Silver Edition for a third of the price and they are simply amazing speakers and the last pair of speakers I will ever have to buy.  I could not be happier... they sound great for any type of music from rock to jazz but really shine with vocals. 

Are the Borresen loudspeakers made in Denmark or China?

I thought I heard China.

chenry,

They don't use other companies drivers they design and manufacture their own drivers they don't use other companies I thought you'd know that lol

aolmrd1241,

The X-Series cabinets are made in China everything else is made in Denmark, all the other higher-end models are all made in Denmark.

The cabinets are made in China but the Drivers and crossovers are all made in house in Denmark. They could never sell the X-3's "that beautiful work of art" for 11K if they made the cabinets in Denmark......the important stuff is ALL Borresen designed and manufactured in Denmark.

haha...we were all typing at the same time.....

@emergingsoul 

Congrats! Another grammatically deficient, senseless post.

@treepmeyer You are in for a treat if you listen to vocals.  The imaging on this were spectacular and there were the x3's literally right next to them occupy space.  They were toed in quite a bit and the vocals were right there like you could touch them in the soundstage.  Quite funny watching people walk up and look at the X3's while the x1 was playing and couldn't believe that they were able to get that sound from the x1's.  People were literally sticking their ears up to the x3 cones.  Hopefully that gives you an idea of the soundstage, imaging and quality of the build.  I sent you a pm.

@emergingsoul  Attempting to understand your comment about pricing and what it means to you; however, for my situation the X1's are an incredible value.  Usually, I try to be curious first about something new and different seeking to learn and understand, rather than paint broad brush strokes.  This is an experiential hobby for many so you may want to give these a listen.  At the end of the day your ears and only yours will determine if they sound great first, and then you can associate a $ value that makes them either worth your time and money or not.  I can confidently say the effort put forth developing this product and getting it out into the marketplace didn't happen by accident.   If you take the time to really understand the concept brought forth and understand the deeper technology and its application it will make better sense to you.  Happy listening and let your ears decide if these are right for you.

It was actually the X6 sitting right next to the X1’s, which made it even more impressive ($22,000 vs. $5,500). I agree many people were walking up to verify what they were hearing. I get people will be skeptical if they haven’t heard Borresen in person, but they do make good speakers and equipment.

I also get that physics can define what a small driver can do. However, the bass from the M6’s using similar sized drivers were pressurizing the room nicely, and I could feel the low bass quite well.

@woots. As @seminolead1 stated, the X3s were in the area to the right with the Naim 500 stack and the Sopra 3s. Indeed, next to the X1s were the X6 paired with the Forte series. 

@woots Congrats on the X1s! The X6s are on my short list but I need to hear them. They are the main reason I am going to AXPONA this year. Were the X6s demoed as well? If so, how did they compare? 

Bookshelf speakers are deficient in the base area. Most people I know who bought these things end up buying subwoofers. Also the drivers are too narrow, I’ve never why drivers keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Their marketing hype is they fit anywhere that’s not right.

They are incredibly over priced for a bookshelf. What’s so special about this cabinet. So if you buy these speakers you reimbursing them for all the marketing costs and they’re marketing efforts don’t really speak about merits of the speaker.

They are not overpriced...for a bookshelf that got the same homegrown high performance drivers trickled down from the higher end models. 

"Full range" floorstanders also need subs to sound right after they get dropped in a room. Considering the size of the Borresen driver, integrate a pair of something like the Kef Kc62 subs and you should be good to go.

I heard the X3's at the Capitol Audio Fest and I thought they were very good. If I were looking for speakers I would give them a serious consideration. I thought they sounded very good for the money but it was a short listen.

I heard the ø1 Silver Supreme Edition at AXPONA about 3 years ago. My jaw hit the floor. Simply astonishing. They filled a large room with full sound and a huge soundstage and even very low frequencies were there. But at $50k + a pair I will have to continue to love my Dynaudio Confidence C1 Platinums (an amazing stand mount in their own right).
Enjoy the X1’s! I look forward to a chance to hear them.

So Jay is the key is the new marketer of this new speaker. The speakers are nice looking but I'm family to understand why they are so good. They are very thin the drivers are very small and they make up for this by adding a couple drivers. That's not the way it should work you need larger diameter drivers to fill rooMs .

I'm failing to see anybody from this company speak about the merits of what they've created. It's all about spending marketing dollars to hype product a huge investment they may lose this Company money.

Basically the drivers are too small

I heard the X3 at last year's Axpona and thought they sounded very good. Maybe a tad light thru the midrange but overall one of the better sounding rooms. I got to talking with the rep and he showed me part of the magic. They were using a lot of their Ansuz noise reduction gizmos throughout the audio chain. He told me to go see their stand mount speakers across the hall and they would explain in more detail about these noise reduction "things". Come to find out these things cost more than the X3 combined. But we heard a difference when several were removed. Very impressive but very expensive. Go figure!

So you need a gizmo to make the speakers sound respectable. Why would they be using gizmos when they showcasing speakers that's a big red flag 

Do you "need" a gizmo to showcase the speakers? No but if you are looking to get their best sound portrayed then a manufacturer does what he thinks will show off the room. But it can and did make a difference from what I heard.