I now have > 600 hours on my Spatial X5s. They have improved to my ears even beyond 500 hours of play. These speakers throw a beautiful, detailed sounscape that exceeds what I have gotten out of even excellent box speakers. Their liquidity is just about perfect. To my ears, too much liquidity is artificial and thus undesirable. Superb speakers.
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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@jaymark you are driving these with your LSA amplifier no?
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I hope it doesn’t deteriorate, too My Voyager is driving Emerald Physics 3.4s, also Open Baffle. My first OBs were Accoustat 2 + 2s, then Maggie 3.5Rs before EP KC IIs, followed by the 3.4s. I’ve owned a few really good box speakers, too; Genesis Vs, Usher 6550s, Nearfield Pipedream entry level prototype (~$10k), but there’s something magical with Open Baffles FYI, Since getting the V, all my listening was via my moded Oppo 105, with Linear Power Supply, Furutech IEC with silver wire to the LPS board, and a silver jumper bypassing the 110/220 switch. I play both red book and SACDs. About a week ago I decided to reinsert my Marantz HD-CD 1, purchased to use as a transport and possible backup player, when/if the Oppo dies. It was fuller sounding, with more bass, but sadly developed scratching issues in the magnetic clamp. The entire mechanism needs replacing @ $150+ shipping, and I didn't want to spend that much to repair (it's available for anyone who provides a pickup slip). Anyway, I scored a great deal on a Audiolab 6000 CDT, which I won't have until late next week, but based on the reviews and owner comments, it should be a huge upgrade |
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