[aniwolfe]

The tweeter height on the M3 looks about 44"?
My ear height is about 38"...should I consider the M5 only, which looks to have a tweeter height about 38-39" high?

[SnowPuppy77]

The tweeter height on the M3 looks about 44"?
My ear height is about 38"...should I consider the M5 only, which looks to have a tweeter height about 38-39" high?

The tweeter is about 43.5" above the carpet in my room.  I personally would not let tweeter height be the determining factor.  I find the tweeter height of the M3 provides an immersive image.  Still images to your ear level like the M3TM images up to the ear level.  That said stage height of the M3 Sapphire is much improved over the M3TM.

[jazzman463]

Get that production machine rolling ! This thread has put me into a frenzy.

[SnowPuppy77]

Check out this Stereophile write up of the LTA, Anticable, Lampizator, and Spatial room:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/spatial-m3-sapphire-loudspeakers-linear-tube-audio-z10-integrated-amplifier-lampizator-amber

[abd1]

Check out this Stereophile write up of the LTA, Anticable, Lampizator, and Spatial room:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/spatial-m3-sapphire-loudspeakers-linear-tube-audio-z10-integrated-amplifier-lampizator-amber

Great write up, and these are the m series! Looking forward to more reviews of the X series.

[Spatial Audio]

Check out this Stereophile write up of the LTA, Anticable, Lampizator, and Spatial room:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/spatial-m3-sapphire-loudspeakers-linear-tube-audio-z10-integrated-amplifier-lampizator-amber

That was the first time I really talked with Herb - such a nice guy.

Clayton
Spatial Audio Lab

[SnowPuppy77]

That was the first time I really talked with Herb - such a nice guy.

Clayton
Spatial Audio Lab

By the way Clayton my Dad saw this article on his flipboard app on his phone:

http://flip.it/Ku7.NN

He then texted it to me.  I met Herb two years ago at RMAF and I also thought he was a really nice guy.

[timing3435]

That was the first time I really talked with Herb - such a nice guy.

Clayton
Spatial Audio Lab

Glad mine are on order........ I am not sure best in the show is official but I listen to allot rooms and Herb is correct. The music is just present with these speakers vs being a force projected at you.

[Tyson]

Glad mine are on order........ I am not sure best in the show is official but I listen to allot rooms and Herb is correct. The music is just present with these speakers vs being a force projected at you.

Welcome to the world of high end OB sound! 

[Paul Speltz]

I'm glad I got my M3 Sapphires on order ahead of the CAF show too.

When the CAF show ended on Saturday, most of the rooms were closed and locked and people were heading down to the bar /restaurant to have a drink and listen to live jazz.  Since AntiCables was spread out in 5 different demo locations, I didn't get back to the Spatial / LTA / LampizatOr / AntiCables room until about 10 minutes after the show ended, and this is what I walked into...




 
...a packed room.  Every seat was taken.

In the front center seat (wearing the dak leather coat) is Herb from Stereophile. There was actually a second reviewer in there at that time as well. Clayton may remember who that was.

Got to run.  When I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in that room to help those who were not able to be there.

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[SFDude]

Paul/Clayton, what panels were placed behind the M3 Sapphires?

Looks like a pretty great show for Spatial, LTA and Anticables!

-dave

[Spatial Audio]

Paul/Clayton, what panels were placed behind the M3 Sapphires?

Looks like a pretty great show for Spatial, LTA and Anticables!

-dave

LTA brought 2 bass traps and a few absorbing panels, some of which went behind the M3s.

Clayton

[Spatial Audio]

Paul/Clayton, what panels were placed behind the M3 Sapphires?

Looks like a pretty great show for Spatial, LTA and Anticables!

-dave

Don't forget the new Lampizator Amber 3 we used - great product and affordable at $2750.

Clayton

[Paul Speltz]

I mentioned a few days ago that, when I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in Room 526 at Capital AudioFest.





The digital source (Innuos server to Lampizator Amber 3 DAC), was good enough that I didn't pick up on any sonic signatures. Kind of like the AntiCables interconnects & Speaker Wires in that they did their job and got out of the way for the music to flow. It was a digital source that I could easily live with for many years.

The LTA Z10 Integrated amp was typical of the Linear Tube Audio's offerings, in that it combines the best aspects of tubes (palatable presence, great harmonic structure, sweet highs), with the best aspects of SS (low distortion, firm control). The 10 watt per channel was enough power for typical audiophile listening levels.

The new M3 Sapphire speakers were a bit unreal in their two strongest abilities, which I think were midrange resolution and bass:

1) Bass: These OB speakers had the bass weight of a ported box speaker (which usually requires a powered woofer with eq with OB designs), yet did so passively, and of course with no box sound. Usually with a passive OB speaker, one is willing to forgive not getting the bottom end bass weight, for acquiring open tuneful bass. With these you get both. Quite amazing.

2) Midrange: The very first thing that came to mind to me when I first heard the M3 Sapphire speakers, was horn like resolution. Chuck Bottemiller is one of AntiCables design partners. He is a highly talented engineer with skill sets in many aspects of audio, including speaker design. For years, Chuck's system has been my place to go for a sanity check. His system is so resolving, I often go there to take a second listen of what ever I working on. His speakers use the TAD TD-2001 beryllium compression driver into a constant directionality horn from 1kHz on up. I have a hard time thinking of another speaker I've heard that is able to resolve low level information in the midrange better than these. I have to say the M3 Sapphire speakers sounded closer in the midrange to the horn loaded TAD than any other I can think of. Very nice!

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[abd1]

I mentioned a few days ago that, when I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in Room 526 at Capital AudioFest.

The digital source (Innuos server to Lampizator Amber 3 DAC), was good enough that I didn't pick up on any sonic signatures. Kind of like the AntiCables interconnects & Speaker Wires in that they did their job and got out of the way for the music to flow. It was a digital source that I could easily live with for many years.

The LTA Z10 Integrated amp was typical of the Linear Tube Audio's offerings, in that it combines the best aspects of tubes (palatable presence, great harmonic structure, sweet highs), with the best aspects of SS (low distortion, firm control). The 10 watt per channel was enough power for typical audiophile listening levels.

The new M3 Sapphire speakers were a bit unreal in their two strongest abilities, which I think were midrange resolution and bass:

1) Bass: These OB speakers had the bass weight of a ported box speaker (which usually requires a powered woofer with eq with OB designs), yet did so passively, and of course with no box sound. Usually with a passive OB speaker, one is willing to forgive not getting the bottom end bass weight, for acquiring open tuneful bass. With these you get both. Quite amazing.

2) Midrange: The very first thing that came to mind to me when I first heard the M3 Sapphire speakers, was horn like resolution. Chuck Bottemiller is one of AntiCables design partners. He is a highly talented engineer with skill sets in many aspects of audio, including speaker design. For years, Chuck's system has been my place to go for a sanity check. His system is so resolving, I often go there to take a second listen of what ever I working on. His speakers use the TAD TD-2001 beryllium compression driver into a constant directionality horn from 1kHz on up. I have a hard time thinking of another speaker I've heard that is able to resolve low level information in the midrange better than these. I have to say the M3 Sapphire speakers sounded closer in the midrange to the horn loaded TAD than any other I can think of. Very nice!

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

Thanks for the review. It looks like the room was narrow-ish and the speakers fairly close together and close to side walls. This is close to my setup as my room isn't huge, but it opens up to about 1200sq ft. I'm wondering how the imaging and soundstage was in this room? Did the speakers disappear and was there depth in the soundstage? I'm interested in the X5's since they're a bit more narrow and have the powered sub, so I imagine anything you say positive with the M's will only improve with the X's. Thanks again.

[timing3435]

I mentioned a few days ago that, when I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in Room 526 at Capital AudioFest.





The digital source (Innuos server to Lampizator Amber 3 DAC), was good enough that I didn't pick up on any sonic signatures. Kind of like the AntiCables interconnects & Speaker Wires in that they did their job and got out of the way for the music to flow. It was a digital source that I could easily live with for many years.

The LTA Z10 Integrated amp was typical of the Linear Tube Audio's offerings, in that it combines the best aspects of tubes (palatable presence, great harmonic structure, sweet highs), with the best aspects of SS (low distortion, firm control). The 10 watt per channel was enough power for typical audiophile listening levels.

The new M3 Sapphire speakers were a bit unreal in their two strongest abilities, which I think were midrange resolution and bass:

1) Bass: These OB speakers had the bass weight of a ported box speaker (which usually requires a powered woofer with eq with OB designs), yet did so passively, and of course with no box sound. Usually with a passive OB speaker, one is willing to forgive not getting the bottom end bass weight, for acquiring open tuneful bass. With these you get both. Quite amazing.

2) Midrange: The very first thing that came to mind to me when I first heard the M3 Sapphire speakers, was horn like resolution. Chuck Bottemiller is one of AntiCables design partners. He is a highly talented engineer with skill sets in many aspects of audio, including speaker design. For years, Chuck's system has been my place to go for a sanity check. His system is so resolving, I often go there to take a second listen of what ever I working on. His speakers use the TAD TD-2001 beryllium compression driver into a constant directionality horn from 1kHz on up. I have a hard time thinking of another speaker I've heard that is able to resolve low level information in the midrange better than these. I have to say the M3 Sapphire speakers sounded closer in the midrange to the horn loaded TAD than any other I can think of. Very nice!

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

Do you feel the high end needed more of something? The sound is full and well balanced in my mind. The highs were not sharpe but had definition.  If you are looking for a horn high end these are not those speakers.

[Paul Speltz]

Thanks for the review. It looks like the room was narrow-ish and the speakers fairly close together and close to side walls. This is close to my setup as my room isn't huge, but it opens up to about 1200sq ft. I'm wondering how the imaging and soundstage was in this room? Did the speakers disappear and was there depth in the soundstage? I'm interested in the X5's since they're a bit more narrow and have the powered sub, so I imagine anything you say positive with the M's will only improve with the X's. Thanks again.

abd1,

The photos make the room look narrower than it actually was. Although you can see from the above two photos, that the speaker placement changed from one photo to the other. The photo with the 3 of us standing in front was taken opening day. The speakers were set up semertic in the room (even distance from the back wall).

Saturday morning Clayton and Mark for LTA set up the system at a diagonal, which you can see in the previous photo. One of the advantages of the diagonal positioning is that when people walked into the room, even if all the seats were taken, they were still in a decent position to hear the system when standing in the left side entrance hallway (where I was standing when I took the photo). Again, the lens distortion makes the speakers look much closer together than actual.

From my 16 years of experience with OB speakers, I am thinking, if the 1200 feet of open space is behind you, either the passive M series or powered X series will work well. But, if the 1200 feet of open spade is off to the side of the speakers, some bass energy will be lost in that space (something I experienced in my listening room at a previous house). If that is the case, I'd recommend going for the X series. You can simply dial up the bass level on the integrated woofer amp to adjust for the open space off to the side.

The other difference I hear between the M series and the X series is dispersion. The new M-Sapphire series has a wider dispersion pattern, (wider than the previous M series offerings), where as the X series has a tighter controlled dispersion pattern. If needing to minimise side wall reflections, or sitting a further distance away from the speakers, the X series has advantages. If you need to get any deeper into specifics of this topic, I highly recommend you simply give Clayton a call. I'm sure he will help steer you into the best option for your specific needs.

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[xo3k]

Interesting picture! I am sitting to the left of Herb and my friend Berk to his right. We met up in another room with Herb featuring the new Wharfedale Lintons (which he had reviewed) and struck up a conversation, in passing I mentioned that I had heard the Spatial M3 and really liked what I was hearing and was interested in giving them another listen. So we went to the listen to the Spatials after a stop in the LKV Research room.

Herb blogged his reaction so he speaks for himself. I was very impressed and am seriously thinking of ordering a pair as a contrast to my Harbeth SHL5, it seems to me the M3's have that open OB midrange and bass while retaining much of the Harbeth tonality, an excellent result. If I get them, I can drive them with my Flatte 50 amplifier (special reference for Clayton Shaw...)

BTW, the LTA amplifier and the cables were quite interesting and impressive themselves. Overall, a great sounding room.

Best, Kevin

I'm glad I got my M3 Sapphires on order ahead of the CAF show too.

When the CAF show ended on Saturday, most of the rooms were closed and locked and people were heading down to the bar /restaurant to have a drink and listen to live jazz.  Since AntiCables was spread out in 5 different demo locations, I didn't get back to the Spatial / LTA / LampizatOr / AntiCables room until about 10 minutes after the show ended, and this is what I walked into...




 
...a packed room.  Every seat was taken.

In the front center seat (wearing the dak leather coat) is Herb from Stereophile. There was actually a second reviewer in there at that time as well. Clayton may remember who that was.

Got to run.  When I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in that room to help those who were not able to be there.

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

[abd1]

abd1,

The photos make the room look narrower than it actually was. Although you can see from the above two photos, that the speaker placement changed from one photo to the other. The photo with the 3 of us standing in front was taken opening day. The speakers were set up semertic in the room (even distance from the back wall).

Saturday morning Clayton and Mark for LTA set up the system at a diagonal, which you can see in the previous photo. One of the advantages of the diagonal positioning is that when people walked into the room, even if all the seats were taken, they were still in a decent position to hear the system when standing in the left side entrance hallway (where I was standing when I took the photo). Again, the lens distortion makes the speakers look much closer together than actual.

From my 16 years of experience with OB speakers, I am thinking, if the 1200 feet of open space is behind you, either the passive M series or powered X series will work well. But, if the 1200 feet of open spade is off to the side of the speakers, some bass energy will be lost in that space (something I experienced in my listening room at a previous house). If that is the case, I'd recommend going for the X series. You can simply dial up the bass level on the integrated woofer amp to adjust for the open space off to the side.

The other difference I hear between the M series and the X series is dispersion. The new M-Sapphire series has a wider dispersion pattern, (wider than the previous M series offerings), where as the X series has a tighter controlled dispersion pattern. If needing to minimise side wall reflections, or sitting a further distance away from the speakers, the X series has advantages. If you need to get any deeper into specifics of this topic, I highly recommend you simply give Clayton a call. I'm sure he will help steer you into the best option for your specific needs.

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

Paul, thanks for the detailed description -- makes total sense. I'm probably about 6 months to a year out on my next speakers so I have some time. Not to hijack this thread, but I finally just got my Line Magnetic LM-508 integrated back yesterday and hooked up the custom "4.1" speaker cables I had you put together. AMAZING!! Now that I finally have my system back together I'm going to spend some time with it before any more changes, but the X-series is highest on my radar right now.

[SnowPuppy77]

I mentioned a few days ago that, when I have time later this week, I'll do my best to describe the sound we were getting in Room 526 at Capital AudioFest.





The digital source (Innuos server to Lampizator Amber 3 DAC), was good enough that I didn't pick up on any sonic signatures. Kind of like the AntiCables interconnects & Speaker Wires in that they did their job and got out of the way for the music to flow. It was a digital source that I could easily live with for many years.

The LTA Z10 Integrated amp was typical of the Linear Tube Audio's offerings, in that it combines the best aspects of tubes (palatable presence, great harmonic structure, sweet highs), with the best aspects of SS (low distortion, firm control). The 10 watt per channel was enough power for typical audiophile listening levels.

The new M3 Sapphire speakers were a bit unreal in their two strongest abilities, which I think were midrange resolution and bass:

1) Bass: These OB speakers had the bass weight of a ported box speaker (which usually requires a powered woofer with eq with OB designs), yet did so passively, and of course with no box sound. Usually with a passive OB speaker, one is willing to forgive not getting the bottom end bass weight, for acquiring open tuneful bass. With these you get both. Quite amazing.

2) Midrange: The very first thing that came to mind to me when I first heard the M3 Sapphire speakers, was horn like resolution. Chuck Bottemiller is one of AntiCables design partners. He is a highly talented engineer with skill sets in many aspects of audio, including speaker design. For years, Chuck's system has been my place to go for a sanity check. His system is so resolving, I often go there to take a second listen of what ever I working on. His speakers use the TAD TD-2001 beryllium compression driver into a constant directionality horn from 1kHz on up. I have a hard time thinking of another speaker I've heard that is able to resolve low level information in the midrange better than these. I have to say the M3 Sapphire speakers sounded closer in the midrange to the horn loaded TAD than any other I can think of. Very nice!

Thanks!

Paul Speltz
(AntiCables)

It is interesting that before you posted this on the same day I was on the phone with Clayton and said the same thing to him about the M3 Sapphire bass.  It has the same weight or punch of a good box speaker but without the box distortions.  It can be warm, full, voluptuous, enveloping, chest thumping, or tight and detailed.  Whatever the music calls for.