[Desertpilot]

Got the X3s today.  Just finished installing the isoAcoustics GAIA II with spikes.  Color is Satin Red and they are breathtaking.  I thought a few photos would be a nice start.  Speakers are a bit more than 4 feet from front wall and 3 feet from left side wall.  Toed-in.  Now the listening begins.  350 hours of listening (LOL) until they are fully broken in.

Marcus

[Aoleon]

Congratulations! I like the crimson color.  It looks like you have a nice sized listening room there. It should sound great. You may need to add some plush furniture and maybe a carpet under your speakers to eliminate some of the reflections depending on how reflective the room is acoustically. The great thing about the Spatials is they adapt really well to most acoustical environments, and because they are open baffle it eliminates most room boom by design.

[Audiosaurusrex]

Wow, just wow. I have the M3 Sapphires and love them but those are super sexy! Congratulations and enjoy!

[sockpit]

I think the fern to the right of the right speaker will mess everything up . . . 

Congrats!

[Desertpilot]

After a few hours of listening:

Jazz:  I put on some jazz with lots of bass (Stanley Clarke stuff).  Turned the bass volume up to max.  Way too much bass.  Good to know I have extra bass capacity.  Lowered bass volume and it all sounded great.

Classical:  Whoa, blown away.  Soundstage is DEEP.  Male vocals were excellent (just what I was looking for).  Choirs were all over the front of my living room.  Female vocals sounded as if they were standing right in front of me.

Lots more listening to go.  I have a 24/7 playlist and will leave the system running 24/7 for burn in.  Temporarily, I put the speakers on sliders so I can move them around.  Bottom line.  Someone told me going from a bookshelf speaker to the X3 would cause me to shit myself.  Well, yeah, that happened.  Very pleased so far.  Oh yeah, I tried some low volume listening.  Impressed.  No need to crank up the volume to get delicious sound.

Enough for now.  Back to more listening.

Marcus

[sockpit]

Give this a try, if you can stream it.  https://open.spotify.com/album/1q0BkQ7BiFUDcPtK0mhAJv?si=JarN6YNcSNqPm_MqP_h04w

Will give you a sense of what’s ahead.

[jtwrace]

Someone told me going from a bookshelf speaker to the X3 would cause me to shit myself.  Well, yeah, that happened. 

Glad to hear it! 

[Desertpilot]

Thought I would add side and rear view photos.  Listening continues.  What was astonishing today was male vocal presence.  I played FAUST, a recent LSO release with Rattle as conductor.  Christopher Purves (baritone) plays Mephistopheles (the Devil's agent).  He sounds as if he is right in my living room.  Truly a "sit up and take notice" moment.  So far, so good.

Marcus

[rfluongo]

OK, now I'm ready for my X3's to ship. Not red, but should sound as good  .

[Desertpilot]

OK, now I'm ready for my X3's to ship. Not red, but should sound as good  .

If you are getting the X3s painted, give Clayton a call.  He spoke with me a few weeks ago and explained that painting the Ultralam is very difficult.  The paint shop ends up putting "filler" all over.  Instead, he told me that he highly recommended I go with his "highly compressed" MDF.  The MDF is made to his specifications.  He assured me it is every bit as dense and neutral as Ultralam.  I agreed and Voila, the X3s are in my Livingroom.  I don't know if this will match your situation but the change worked for me.

Marcus

[rfluongo]

No paint on mine - I went with the honey Ultralam. My build was 3rd on the list with all parts in-house about 10 days ago so I'd imagine we're getting close.

Ron

[Desertpilot]

More listening today.  I have an understanding wife (who wears headsets to listen to her shows while I play classical music - LOL).

Yesterday, as a test, I played a track with a deep baritone and a tenor.  Using the X3s in stereo mode, their voices were excellent.  Tenor slightly to the left of center and the baritone slightly to the right.  Vocals were large and robust.  It was a "sit up and take notice" moment, as if they were in the room with me.  Then I switched to the 5.0 multichannel version of the recording using my SVS Ultra Center speaker.  Terrible!  The center stage collapsed.  The singers went from 6 feet tall and robust to 6 inches tall and lackluster.  I could not believe the magnitude of the difference.  No knock on the SVS speakers.  They have served me well over the years.  I also played a movie last night.  The center channel was weak but not as bad since it was all dialog instead of singing.  Will I get a third X3 as a center channel?  Probably.  Blasphemy, I'm sure to all 2 channel enthusiasts.

Today, I am still fussing a bit over speaker placement.  Left and right placement is pretty much set.  Distance from the front wall is where I am concentrating.  I'm simply trying to get the best depth to the soundstage.  Somewhere between 3.5 to 4.5 feet is going to be the final location.  Toe-in is a few inches to the left and right of the MLP.  I may try extreme toe-in to cover three recliners.  The MLP is between 11.5 and 12.5 feet from each speaker.

A couple days in to this process and I am very impressed with the X3s.  For the music I enjoy, the speakers are producing a fantastic sound.  I do have the three GIK diffusor/absorption panels.  Right now they are directly behind the X3 mid-range driver.  I will at least experiment with turning them vertical so they cover both mid range and the AMT drivers.  The subwoofer driver is getting the job done.  I have the volume set 2 dots below maximum.  My two SVS subs are off and I have not felt the need to use them.

Now back to listening.

Marcus

[radarnyc]

Marcus
Not that I'm the super expert, but I do feel like you're on the right track! I had mentioned early on your journey that I was a bit worried about your mixed components. So the mix of the X3s with your center channel is expected IMO. I would say, get that DAC in-place and listen to movies with just the two X3s. You may find like you like it; a lot. --and if you do, then a new amp is also a consideration...esp tubes. LTA, Don Sachs, many others of course.
Where do you have the speakers imaginarily cross (at your head, in front by x feet, behind your head x feet)?

[Randy]

More listening today.  I have an understanding wife (who wears headsets to listen to her shows while I play classical music - LOL).

Yesterday, as a test, I played a track with a deep baritone and a tenor.  Using the X3s in stereo mode, their voices were excellent.  Tenor slightly to the left of center and the baritone slightly to the right.  Vocals were large and robust.  It was a "sit up and take notice" moment, as if they were in the room with me.  Then I switched to the 5.0 multichannel version of the recording using my SVS Ultra Center speaker.  Terrible!  The center stage collapsed.  The singers went from 6 feet tall and robust to 6 inches tall and lackluster.  I could not believe the magnitude of the difference.  No knock on the SVS speakers.  They have served me well over the years.  I also played a movie last night.  The center channel was weak but not as bad since it was all dialog instead of singing.  Will I get a third X3 as a center channel?  Probably.  Blasphemy, I'm sure to all 2 channel enthusiasts.

Today, I am still fussing a bit over speaker placement.  Left and right placement is pretty much set.  Distance from the front wall is where I am concentrating.  I'm simply trying to get the best depth to the soundstage.  Somewhere between 3.5 to 4.5 feet is going to be the final location.  Toe-in is a few inches to the left and right of the MLP.  I may try extreme toe-in to cover three recliners.  The MLP is between 11.5 and 12.5 feet from each speaker.

A couple days in to this process and I am very impressed with the X3s.  For the music I enjoy, the speakers are producing a fantastic sound.  I do have the three GIK diffusor/absorption panels.  Right now they are directly behind the X3 mid-range driver.  I will at least experiment with turning them vertical so they cover both mid range and the AMT drivers.  The subwoofer driver is getting the job done.  I have the volume set 2 dots below maximum.  My two SVS subs are off and I have not felt the need to use them.

Now back to listening.

Marcus

Stop screwing around, put them where you want them and end it.  Too much fussing, and you'll never be satisfied.

[Desertpilot]

Marcus
Not that I'm the super expert, but I do feel like you're on the right track! I had mentioned early on your journey that I was a bit worried about your mixed components. So the mix of the X3s with your center channel is expected IMO. I would say, get that DAC in-place and listen to movies with just the two X3s. You may find like you like it; a lot. --and if you do, then a new amp is also a consideration...esp tubes. LTA, Don Sachs, many others of course.
Where do you have the speakers imaginarily cross (at your head, in front by x feet, behind your head x feet)?

Thanks for the feedback!  DAC arrives tomorrow.  Can't wait to get it working.  You are correct, mixing the X3s with the SVS speakers does not work.  I need to evaluate the X3s with the new DAC.  It will be a fun evaluation.

Marcus

[Desertpilot]

Stop screwing around, put them where you want them and end it.  Too much fussing, and you'll never be satisfied.

Hahaha.  You sound like my wife.  Seriously, I am 90% there with positioning.  Just need to incorporate my new DAC tomorrow and after some listening, I will certainly make a speaker position decision and be done with it.

Marcus

[morganc]

I run mine as 2 channel for movies with a phantom center and it is great as long as I am not off axis then I do a struggle a bit following dialogue.....

Running mine now with a Don Sachs Pre, Digital Amplifer Company Amp, Audio Mirror DAC, and it just keeps getting better and better......I recently added diffusion behind the speakers and a new Audio Sensibility Statement Speaker Cable and I am confident I am just about as good as I could possibly get in my space! 

I disagree with posters above, I take my time with positioning, cables, etc and pick one and try it out a while, then make adjustments, etc. slowly over time.  Mostly because I am not Mr. Golden Ears!  I know what I like, but it takes me a while to decide if I really love it or not....

Regardless, love the speakers in Red!  Gorgeous!

If you do ever wanna use subs, go for the Gr Research Dual servos....but you better brace the cabinets! and tie up the dog

[Desertpilot]

@morganc,

Thank you.  I watched a TV show this evening in 2 channel stereo.  It worked fine.  I super appreciate your encouragement.

Marcus

[Desertpilot]

Nearing the end of my posts about the new speakers (I'm sure some of you are happy about that - LOL).

Today, third full day of listening, I am experimenting with extreme toe-in.  These speakers have wave guides which are ideal for extreme toe-in.  I have three recliners, the MLP and one to the left and one to the right.  Left speaker is pointing to the middle of the right recliner.  Right speaker pointing to the middle of the left recliner.  Results so far, phantom center image is rock steady, between the speakers, across all three recliners.  Soundstage is still broad, deep and robust.  My only question, as I play more music, will I begin to notice sound coming from the speakers.  At the moment, all is good.  Why extreme toe-in?  Both of my sons are coming for a visit this holiday weekend and they are classical music lovers (they also love heavy metal for some strange reason).  So, I would like all three of us to hear what these speakers can do.

New DAC arrives today.  Who knows when, only FedEx knows.

Marcus

[Delta77]

Even though it's rather early, I'm guessing the X3's are blowing away your other speakers..??