I've listened to the Raidho C3.1 with Absolare mono-amps and their preamp. I almost bought my friend's C3.1, but my room is too big to take advantage of what they do well. At low to medium volume, in a medium to smaller room the C3.1s sound great. They tend to fall apart when turned up.
I had a Chord SPM600 (and a Chord pre) powering Raidho D3s. It had all the power I needed but it lacked an element of timing and separation/detail of individual percussion instruments were somewhat "blurred".
I have since upgraded to an Aavik U-300. This captured all the timing and separation of instruments was now very much clearer. The only downside was that it does not have the power of the Chord (the "slam" for want of a better word). I often find myself using the Aavik to the upper-end of the volume dial while the Chord was at only 60% or so. But the detail from Aavik is so much greater.
I auditioned the Nagra Classic mono blocks also. These certainly have the power and "slam" I like and provided an excellent soundstage with wonderful resolution and detail -- however, due to complaints by the neighbors (philistines) I am now compelled to play at moderate volume (until such time I move house). Thus the Aavik does the trick perfectly.
I also upgraded the cables from Nordost Valhalla to Ansuz D-TC and the noise floor simply disappeared and I hear so much more detail than ever before, certainly from vinyl playback.
Lastly, I have just bought a pair of Raidho D4.1s ... while they've not arrived yet I expect to get even more detail and finesse at normal volume.
I use Raidho D2 in a smaller room. Presently using Maker Audio Ref 2a amp (formerly Edge), which provides lots of current in a very refined manner. I love the speakers. I was going back and forth between more detailed speakers and warmer speakers (YG and Peak Consult were my last two speakers) and the Raidho speakers give me the benefits of both in a very natural way.
I love the ribbon tweeter. I had previously owned Genesis, Piega, ADAM and Selah line arrays with ribbons and had missed the detailed yet sweet sound of ribbon tweeters, but the Raidho is the best I've heard. My front end (DAC and Pre) are tubed, and I'm considering trying a tube amp, but really can find no fault with the Maker...
I have D2.1's driven by an Aavik U300. Before I had the U300 I had D2's powered by an Octave V110 integrated tube amp. The Octave was really good until you pushed it. The lows just fell apart. Then I got the Aavik.
@cronoglidesky As far as the U300 turning the volume quite high that is a design feature per Mike and Lars. I asked them about that and they wanted to make sure some with extra high efficient speakers would have some volume control. When you push the volume way up the power goes very high quite quickly. BTW congrats on the D4.1's. IMO they are better than D5's but not the D5.1's with the exception of scaling. The U300 should be just fine. I was at my local dealer and we went from the U300 with the 4.1's and switched to the pre and monos. WOW!!! Who knew an amp could sound so good LOL. /s
Last if you have any non DTC cables Ansuz should be releasing their new Version 2 cables very soon. Lars replaced my original Ceramic PC with an Aluminum V2 in my home and the A2 just killed it. Then he put in the C2. Much better yet. These were prototypes and he didn't have the D2 yet. But rest assured they aren't touching the DTC (yet)?? They to me sound warmer and more open than the originals. I too have a DTC PC feeding the MainzD8 and a DTC digital with power box. The DTC just wipes out so much floor noise. Who knew wire could sound so good LOL. /s
Very interesting your comments @cronoglidesky regarding the U300 volume management . I had a listening Session with u300 with c3. Same issue with the high volume. High and voices were loveliest but bass are poor compare to higher frequencies. d4 with u300 same issues. D4 With aavik double mono and preamp much much better. i have mix feelings about Raidho and u300. Raidho LS have issues with wooden cabinet and the u300 didn’t meet my (maybe too high) expectations. ’Don’t get me wrong. I love the design and the music played with it. But something still missing regarding the financials. There’s other options... lucky guy @xti16 you have the Engineer at your door to tweak your system.
i am a raidho distributor in nyc and have heard a good portion of the line.
i recently (less than a month back) took delivery of a custom amp from odyssey audio and it is making my little c1.1's sing. however, the raidho line as a whole is really something special. When I first heard raidhos (c1.1 and D1.1) I couldn't stop thinking about them and pulled the trigger shortly after. These monitors play huge. I have heard their top of the line floor stander and it's jaw dropping. Every one of their speakers has the same tonality and soundstaging - but bigger and more resolution as you move up the line.
i listen to alot of bass heavy music and the c1.1 can pressurize my small room just fine. however, non audio friends and audio friends alike say the that the real magic happens on vocals and soundstage. the tweeter is simply the best i've heard...only the magico m3 has reached the same level.
at this price range, its all about preferences but if you like one raidho you will almost certainly like any of the other ones
To be honest... Not easy to set and level the D1.1 on their stands... I bought adjustable diamond feet and now adjustable d-tc darktz... finally the little Raidho sing as they can...
@kin Funny you mention diamond feet. I was never a believer until my local dealer brought over a pair of D2.1’s w/diamond feet for me to demo and break in. I currently had D2’s. After a couple of weeks I asked him to bring over the standard feet and it turned out he needed them for another customer. I could not believe how much clarity and sound stage was lost. Needless to say I had him order another pair for once I decided to keep them and let the D2’s go.
I have D3 V2's with a pair of McIntosh MC2301 tube power amplifiers, a GSPre preamplifier, Auralic Vega DAC and Ansuz cables. Interconnects are balanced C, speaker D and one C power cable to the preamp. Digital cable is a Transparent Ultra from my old system.
I built this system using Transparent cables from my old Martin Logan system but the Ultra interconnect and speaker cables did nothing for the Raidho's. These speakers need really good cables if you want to bring out the best in them.
Its a work in progress, I have excellent sound so far but need to upgrade to Ansuz DTC speaker cables and upgrade the DAC, digital cable, add Ansuz power cables to the remaining components and a Ansuz power distribution unit.
I downgraded from Raidho to a speaker a third of the C1.1 price.
Had a tweeter blow and Raidho sent out a replacement no problem that I installed myself. The C1 pushes the bass forward to give the impression of a greater lower frequency response.
I wanted to to upgrade to the current C1.2 version. Raidho referred me back to distributor in my country. Distributor never got back to me even though I had cash waiting. Funny game this high end audio.
Something has to be wrong with Raidho? Their speakers have the worst resale value I’ve seen on the used market. At the minimum, I see them going for 1/4 their retail price. I’m talking about speakers that are less than 3 years old.
saw a pair of D5 that listed for stupid money sell on a forum for $12,700. I think thats 5% after 4 years. I had the cash but didn’t want to get stuck with them. I think the upgrades are done in person by the owners and in themselves cost as much as a new 4x4. Raidho is for the folk that spend 5 figures on a wristwatch.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
