Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions

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gmat

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 13
Hello all,

First post to Audio Circle. Been lurking here for a while and liked the generally positive vibe so thought I'd dive in with some questions.

I just received a pair of Spatial Audio Triode Master M3's and have been running them in for a few days and am ready to start to seriously setting them up. Unless I completely rearrange my living room (probably not going to happen), they're going to have to live fairly close to a front wall. I've got them about 30" out and about 8.5' feet apart and slightly toed in. Sitting distance is about 7.5' from the speakers.  Curious how that compares to what others have tried, especially the toe-in and width.

In terms of break-in, I've been running them pretty hard (loud) for 48 hours. I know that there is a lot of opinions on breaking in speakers but I know Clayton stresses it and it seems like these may need more than your average. Again, curious what others have experienced,  how they broke them in (what kind of music, what volumes, etc.) and a what points they noticed a difference. They already sound pretty (especially loud!) good but a bit tight. Hoping they open up more with time.

FYI, Driving them with Cronos Magnum II.

Thanks in advance for any advice, Gary

mick wolfe

  • Full Member
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Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #1 on: 29 Apr 2017, 06:00 pm »
I can only speak from experience with the Spatial M2 Turbo, but you're pretty much on track in regard to break-in from my experience. Sound decent from the start, but only open up and get better 100 hours and beyond.  My M2's sit roughly 30" from the front wall as well. Probably the minimal distance, but certainly acceptable in my experience.  BTW, what amp are you using? 

jseymour

Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #2 on: 29 Apr 2017, 07:35 pm »
I have the M3 Turbo S and I totally agree with Mick Wolfe's timeline.  Your placement is similar to mine except for the distance from the back wall.  I improved the sound stage depth when I increased the distance from 36" to 55".  But if your room doesn't allow it, it still is going to sound great.

When I went to work for the first couple weeks I cranked hi-res Steely Dan's Gaucho for break-in.  Great bass on that album.

gmat

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 13
Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #3 on: 29 Apr 2017, 09:22 pm »
Thanks for the feedback. Curious what changed most when you went from 36" to 55" from the front wall?

jseymour

Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #4 on: 29 Apr 2017, 09:36 pm »
The soundstage depth.  It adds to the 3D effect.  My way of exampling it is the  horizontal and vertical sound placement is the x and y.  The depth is the z.  At 30 some inches the depth was pretty shallow.  Bringing the speakers out another 2 feet about doubled the z. 

Also, I did the Verastarr Stage 3 mod which replaces the wiring and the bypass capacitor and that made another big difference in high end detail and sound stage depth.  My comments on the mod are here: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=149290.msg1604711#new

gmat

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 13
Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #5 on: 29 Apr 2017, 10:34 pm »
Interesting about the Verastarr mod. Not sure I am brave enough to start messing with the wiring. I know the Triode Masters have upgrade cabling and clarity cap capacitors. Not sure if that's equivalent or a completely unrelated type of upgrade.

jseymour

Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #6 on: 29 Apr 2017, 10:42 pm »
I would think the cabling and capacitor upgrades are somewhat equivalent.  It's the new M35 driver that is different. I am interested in knowing if the driver is that much better than the M3 Turbo S driver or is it more that a different driver was required to achieve the 16 ohm rating.

Manolo

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 170
  • Consulting Structural Engineer
Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #7 on: 29 Apr 2017, 10:49 pm »
Certainly in the right track. You can bring them forward during yout listening sessions and movevthem back again when you finish, I guess that obeys the WAF. And if you move them forward you should also move them closer a little bit. The setup should be an equilateral triangle in theory, or close to that. For my M4's I use a slight toe-in about....10 degrees. My burn-in took in the order of 200 hours... And those Verastarr cables are the bomb...

sumoking

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Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #8 on: 26 May 2017, 04:47 am »
I was told to play 70's disco music as loud and long as you can. 
The new compression driver is going to break in faster than the last version.
Had you heard the most recent generation? Would be nice to read a comparison between the two...

gmat

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 13
Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #9 on: 29 May 2017, 11:20 pm »
Ha. I've been playing the first track on Massive Attack's Mezzanine on repeat when I leave the house. It seems to get the speakers bouncing nicely. :-) I have not heard the regular M3 Turbos. I'd love to hear from someone who has heard both.

undertowogt1

Re: Hello / Spatial Audio M3 Run-in and placement suggestions
« Reply #10 on: 30 May 2017, 12:54 am »
Ha. I've been playing the first track on Massive Attack's Mezzanine on repeat when I leave the house. It seems to get the speakers bouncing nicely. :-) I have not heard the regular M3 Turbos. I'd love to hear from someone who has heard both.

I played that Album for hours and hours on break in with my M3 Turbo S as well, really nice bass.