It’s been over 14 years since I heard about Danny Richie and his work. It started with AV123 which sold the X-Series and others designed by Danny. When I heard the X-Statiks I immediately became a fan. My first speakers by Danny were a barely used pair of X-SLS. ( Only paid $330 for the pair!) Reading the forum gave me the confidence to try upgrading the already impressive crossovers. I added Sonicaps and bypassed them with Sonicap Platinums. I also added No Rez to the cabinet behind the drivers. The former cleaned up the slightly grainy sounding factory caps and the No Rez opened up the mids more.
I lived with these for a few years before finally getting those amazing X-Statiks. I also ended up getting the X-Voce, a pair of X-CS which I used as stand monitors as well as a couple pairs of X-LS. I traded a Dynaco ST70 for a pair of X-Omnis. I also built a custom sealed servo sub which is a beast.
Suffice to say, I’m a fan. I’ve upgraded other brands of speakers as well as all of those mentioned above. I can safely say that upgrading crossover parts works. Danny is no joke. He knows his stuff! And even his entry level stuff is highly competitive with more expensive products.
Finally, my main point of this post is to again emphasize how great the X-series speakers are. Not the best I’ve heard but some of the best for under $2K. After many years on the sidelines I recently broke out my original pair of X-SLS and put them in my living room. Driving them with a Marantz NR1711 they have once again stunned me! I was watching a show the other night and there was a club scene with pounding bass. I’m just running them full range with no sub and the tightness and tautness of the bass was mind boggling. With past amplifiers I don’t recall them sounding this good. Maybe it took a lot longer than I imagined for those Platinums to break in. I don’t know.
X-LS are great for a “small” speaker but really shine with the larger cabinet. I used to favor the X-CS which had better power handling and tighter bass. The X-Statiks remain on another level. But damn! If you’re considering the X-LS then I would strongly recommend building the SLS towers. They too are giant killers.
