Hi All,
Newbie here. I have been researching open baffle speakers and come to learn about Spatial OB Speakers which are very interesting. I am particularly interested in the X5 which has high efficiency and can go deep as well. As I do not have the chance to audition them, I would like to seek members' advices on a few things.
First, my listening room is about 12 ft x 26 ft, speakers are on the short wall. I wonder how far the speakers must be placed from the sidewall? Is close placement to sidewall a no go? Also, my room is asymmetric where the left side opens up to some more space, meaning that the left speaker will be far from a side wall. Would that be a problem?
Second, I'd really like to return to tubes, SET in particular. However those only make a few watts so even at 97dB/W (X5) I am afraid it is still not sufficient. I wonder if the ribbon unit in the X5 is padded-down to match the efficiency of the 12" woofer? If so, then would it be possible to bi-amp the speaker by driving the ribbon with SET amp, and in so doing, bypassing the padding resistor to run it at full efficiency, and drive the woofer separately using SS amp?
I currently uses Focal Sopra N2 driven by Dartzeel CTH-8550 integrated amp. In case any member heard both please share how the X5 would sound compare to the N2.
Many thanks!