New x5's a bargain at twice the price.

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mrotino332

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 79
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #80 on: 18 Nov 2020, 02:01 pm »
I have mine 4 1/2 feet from the front wall and toed in so they are about 2 inches firing outside my ears.  I also sit with my ears slightly below the mid point of the tweeter which I found I like the best soundwise.  I have at least 150 hours on mine and it does seem the mid woofer takes a long time to open up and it is still slightly improving.

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #81 on: 18 Nov 2020, 03:27 pm »
I have mine 4 1/2 feet from the front wall and toed in so they are about 2 inches firing outside my ears.  I also sit with my ears slightly below the mid point of the tweeter which I found I like the best soundwise.  I have at least 150 hours on mine and it does seem the mid woofer takes a long time to open up and it is still slightly improving.

It was interesting that in some tracks the sound was sublime and the notes just floated in the air. And with some others a few screechy notes here and there ruined the whole track for me. I may throw a blanket over them and crank them up hours at a time.

I was pleasantly surprised by flute, piano, stand-up bass, and acoustic guitar. But for some reason horns were not as lifelike as I know them to be. I did turn the woofers up to about 75% and it was nice but I may turn them up even higher in my decent size space.

VistaBlue

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  • Posts: 27
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #82 on: 19 Nov 2020, 02:28 pm »
It was interesting that in some tracks the sound was sublime and the notes just floated in the air. And with some others a few screechy notes here and there ruined the whole track for me.
Not judging you here at all...however, in my system over twenty years, and half a dozen speaker/system changes, your comment aligns with recording quality flaws rather than speaker faults.

Have the recordings with "a few screechy notes here and there" sounded this way (allowing for a matter of degrees better or worse) on other speaker/amplifier combinations in your system?

Is it possible the Spatial Audio loudspeakers are revealing flaws in recordings that other loudspeakers did not reveal to such a degree?

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #83 on: 19 Nov 2020, 02:47 pm »
So last night was a total disaster and would ruin audiophiledom for us all.

For the 2nd night in a row I could not get my right side to play with the Fidelium SC's. I had to resort to Blue Jeans cables. Not sure why I am having an issue there.

I had a heavy soundstage shift to the right so I used the balance function of the preamp to push the sound back to center. Maybe it is a tube issue. Drove me nuts because I know how these tracks are supposed to lay out across the stage and the right speaker was predominate.

The worst sound I have experienced in the midrange (only day 2) and it was depressing how some tracks were just hissy while others were decent.

I did try and crank up the volume some more and I felt like the amp was struggling. It made the above item worse.

Started me considering options.

So tonight I'll pop the top and reseat tubes and set the amp up all over again. Maybe that is shifting the soundstage.

Funny how day one was so promising and day two was a crap show. Tonight should be a winner then!

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #84 on: 19 Nov 2020, 02:49 pm »
Not judging you here at all...however, in my system over twenty years, and half a dozen speaker/system changes, your comment aligns with recording quality flaws rather than speaker faults.

Have the recordings with "a few screechy notes here and there" sounded this way (allowing for a matter of degrees better or worse) on other speaker/amplifier combinations in your system?

Is it possible the Spatial Audio loudspeakers are revealing flaws in recordings that other loudspeakers did not reveal to such a degree?

I vote no because these are tracks I always use and play repeatedly on the previous system and enjoyed them immensely. I am sure with progressing the break-in process this will come and go. There was a window of wonderfulness I could see glimpses of. Last night there were 10% of those and 90% aggravation. ha

VistaBlue

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 27
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #85 on: 19 Nov 2020, 03:05 pm »
I vote no because these are tracks I always use and play repeatedly on the previous system and enjoyed them immensely.

Earlier this year, I purchased a new source component because I was hearing distortion in my system that I believed was caused by an existing source component. I heard this distortion particularly on a few tracks I use for reference.

When I installed the new source component and played the reference tracks, I still heard distortion on one of them. I was perplexed, and a little pissed because I thought the new component would eliminate the distortion. Then, upon a second listen, I realized the distortion was in the recording, coming from an instrument, and was intentional!

I had never heard the track clearly enough, with such exceptional resolution, to discern the distortion was from an instrument. The new source component revealed this for the first time.

It was quite a moment.


Jean-Paul

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 48
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #86 on: 20 Nov 2020, 12:57 am »
Not judging you here at all...however, in my system over twenty years, and half a dozen speaker/system changes, your comment aligns with recording quality flaws rather than speaker faults.

Have the recordings with "a few screechy notes here and there" sounded this way (allowing for a matter of degrees better or worse) on other speaker/amplifier combinations in your system?

Is it possible the Spatial Audio loudspeakers are revealing flaws in recordings that other loudspeakers did not reveal to such a degree?

I have to admit SA speakers make me question some of my presuppositions regarding the quality of recordings. Are they exaggerating some aspects and thus making some recordings sound better than they really are and others worse? Or are they simply so transparent that you're hearing an unalloyed reproduction of the original? At the moment, I'm in two minds. One thing I've always found very dubious in audiophile circles is the double standard they often use in evaluating gear. If a recording sounds terrible played through expensive, highly-regarded gear, that's because the gear is so revealing it's showing up all the flaws in the recording; if a recording sounds terrible through cheap, poorly-regarded gear, that's because the gear is so bad that it's messing up the recording.

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #87 on: 21 Nov 2020, 12:31 am »
Okay, so I have all my mechanical and electronics issues resolved now. Soundstage is decent.

I'm starting some 24/7 run time but right now things will need to drastically change for me to keep these (and the Ultralinear amp).

There are some wonderful moments on some of my favorite tracks. And then there are some elements of OB drivers I am not thrilled about.

I'll give them all time to align and see if the wonderful's outpace the not-so w's.

VistaBlue

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 27
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #88 on: 21 Nov 2020, 12:51 am »
...right now things will need to drastically change for me to keep these (and the Ultralinear amp).
I have discussed this previously, but I bought an LTA Ultralinear amplifier for audition and returned it. Many folks love it, and it has certainly received rave reviews. I thought it created music that was rather clinical and emotionless.

The Zotl40 Reference was more engaging in my system.

Have you considered auditioning an Atma-Sphere amplifier? Way more musical in my opinion than LTA. Contact Ralph directly. He'll hook you up.

The take-away is you might try other amplifiers on the Spatial loudspeakers, although I imagine you already have done so.


morganc

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #89 on: 21 Nov 2020, 01:03 am »
So last night was a total disaster and would ruin audiophiledom for us all.

For the 2nd night in a row I could not get my right side to play with the Fidelium SC's. I had to resort to Blue Jeans cables. Not sure why I am having an issue there.

I had a heavy soundstage shift to the right so I used the balance function of the preamp to push the sound back to center. Maybe it is a tube issue. Drove me nuts because I know how these tracks are supposed to lay out across the stage and the right speaker was predominate.

The worst sound I have experienced in the midrange (only day 2) and it was depressing how some tracks were just hissy while others were decent.

I did try and crank up the volume some more and I felt like the amp was struggling. It made the above item worse.

Started me considering options.

So tonight I'll pop the top and reseat tubes and set the amp up all over again. Maybe that is shifting the soundstage.

Funny how day one was so promising and day two was a crap show. Tonight should be a winner then!

How far are your speakers out into the room? 

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #90 on: 21 Nov 2020, 01:31 am »
I have discussed this previously, but I bought an LTA Ultralinear amplifier for audition and returned it. Many folks love it, and it has certainly received rave reviews. I thought it created music that was rather clinical and emotionless.

The Zotl40 Reference was more engaging in my system.

Have you considered auditioning an Atma-Sphere amplifier? Way more musical in my opinion than LTA. Contact Ralph directly. He'll hook you up.

The take-away is you might try other amplifiers on the Spatial loudspeakers, although I imagine you already have done so.

No way I'll ever own another Atmosphere. I has some SA30's once and they lasted less than a month. I'd go back to a solid state amp.

I'm not so sure this is clinical. There are frequencies my ears are sensitive to since I damaged them at the gun range by accident this fall. I may just roll the Wilsons back in and keep them.

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #91 on: 21 Nov 2020, 01:36 am »
How far are your speakers out into the room?

4 feet.  I turned the bass up until they clipped and then backed them off a smidge. The bass is decent. The soundstage is pretty good.

TomS

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #92 on: 21 Nov 2020, 02:21 am »
Just a couple thoughts. I'm listening to the LTA UltraLinear on the X5's as we speak and it is glorious, nothing clinical about it here, and the sense of intimacy is fantastic. Not a harsh note uttered. I didn't have a 40 Ref to audition, but this one meets my needs just fine in a modest size room. I do agree with you BRM, on the AtmaSphere amps, as I had M60 MKIII's as well. They're definitely not for everyone nor every speaker, but in certain situations (e.g. Duke's) very nice.

I've always had mixed emotions about the extent of break in effects, at least with electronics and cables. That said, I've had the X5's for about 6 weeks now. I try to listen 2-3 hrs every evening, can't really let them play in the background at other times, in our living situation with my wife still working from home in a smaller space. Mine have maybe 100 hours now max. During that time, these speakers have gone through a lot of gyrations, very inconsistent too, like nothing I've ever heard. At first, I thought, "what have I done?", but as you know, I stuck with it. The more they played, they just got better and better, with fewer and fewer sprinkles of despair mixed in. Finally, I refined the placement in the past couple weeks, which cleaned up the mids some more and locked in the image, slightly backed the bass off as well. Now, the combination does everything I want, no downer moments at all. Listening is not a tense technical activity, rather a pleasure every time, very consistent, and most enjoyable.

VistaBlue

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 27
Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #93 on: 22 Nov 2020, 01:01 am »
So...moving away from LTA and Atma-Sphere amplifiers...LOL.

@BigRedMachine have you tried other amplifiers on your Spatial loudspeakers, and regardless, are things improving?

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #94 on: 22 Nov 2020, 03:31 am »
So...moving away from LTA and Atma-Sphere amplifiers...LOL.

@BigRedMachine have you tried other amplifiers on your Spatial loudspeakers, and regardless, are things improving?

I had none to try. Sold my Luxman very quickly and out the door to Canada it went. I see lot of folks are using solid state and liking them.

tdangelo

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #95 on: 22 Nov 2020, 03:51 am »
Pete, you should borrow an SS amp to try out. With my X2 and previous M3TM I found SS better for my ears. I tried 3 different tube amps with the SA and like SS better. The X2 are passive so your MMV. Right now I have an Esoteric and an April Music SS integrated. I didn't care for the X2 with the tube amps I tried.

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #96 on: 22 Nov 2020, 04:00 am »
Pete, you should borrow an SS amp to try out. With my X2 and previous M3TM I found SS better for my ears. I tried 3 different tube amps with the SA and like SS better. The X2 are passive so your MMV. Right now I have an Esoteric and an April Music SS integrated. I didn't care for the X2 with the tube amps I tried.

How much juice in the Esoteric? Seems like anything over 100 wpc would be enough.

tdangelo

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #97 on: 22 Nov 2020, 04:09 am »
It’s 100 at 8 and 160 at 4 - my room is small but it never runs out of steam before my ears do. The tone controls are killer - sounds better with them on than bypassed.

Big Red Machine

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #98 on: 22 Nov 2020, 04:42 am »
F-07?

Looks alot like a Luxman inside. Well planned and executed build.

tdangelo

Re: New x5's a bargain at twice the price.
« Reply #99 on: 22 Nov 2020, 02:16 pm »
Yes 07. I agree about the Luxman. Many years ago I had the Lux 600a monos which remind me of the Esoteric sound in a Japanese kind of way.