As of Feb 7th, I'm at 400 hours but will continue to add updates as the hours increase.
People have posted their concerns with the sound of the M Sapphires, right out of the box up to a couple hundred hours, being somewhat thin or bright or not quite what they expected. Others have posted that these concerns will fade away as the hours tick away to something approaching 500.
I think its also important to remind new owners that how the speakers interact with the room, meaning the distance from the front wall, side walls and tilt angle are factors...meaning these all need to be tweaked but probably not until at least 250 hours and then tweaked again at 500 hours. Then and only then should you consider changing your source, preamp, power amp, tubes, wires, etc.
With the above in mind, let me say a word about how I’m finding the sound on my M3 Sapphires at something just beyond the 400 hour mark.
My system: Oppo 205 player/DAC analog into a Belles 22a tube hybrid preamp into a Digital Amplifier Company 2Cherry into the Sapphires (the tubes are nothing special, Electro-Harmonix gold pins).
My source material: CDs, no streaming, no analog, with a wide variety of music taste from Blues to Jazz to Rock to Classical to Big Band to Country and probably a few things I missed.
My room: open concept, 30’x40’x10’ tile on concrete with rugs, furniture and glass door walls. I’d describe it as a somewhat live room, no treatments. The speakers are 41” out from the front wall and as you can see from the photos, side walls and rear walls are not an issue. As you will see in my system photos, I have tile floors and the sliders under the front plus the felt pads under the rear give me a tilt angle about equal, or maybe a little greater, than using the longer spikes for those on carpet. I’ve tried different angles and at this point, where I have them now sounds the best.
The Sapphires do a pretty convincing job of bringing music alive with a degree of realism that I’ve rarely experienced with home audio. More importantly, they go a long way toward providing the emotional and physical experience you get when listening to live music. They don’t just sound good, they “feel” good as well.
What do I mean by realism? Pluck a guitar string, there should be attack, there should be some bite, there should be crispness not brightness. The Sapphires do this beautifully.
Stand near a piano being played, there should be tone, there should be body and there should be scale. The Sapphires do great piano,
Saxophone, trumpets, other horns; they should be brassy and powerful but not bright, yep, the Sapphires do these beautifully as well.
And voices, holographic, powerful but never sibilant; again the Sapphires excel.
They are impressive loudspeakers. They can play soft and they can play loud. They can play small and they can play big. They can be subtle and can also be powerful, but they are always captivating.
Their sound is nuanced, layered, detailed and clear but not so much as to be harsh or analytical. The bass is strong and deep and when appropriate, you can feel it. The top end is extended. The midrange never overwhelms your ears.
They completely fade away and all that is left is a three dimensional soundstage that often extends far beyond the speakers with height and depth and easy to locate instruments within the stage. The sound is enveloping and they are very holographic! Sometimes you look up, just a bit shocked, that there isn’t actually a person with an instrument standing right there.
They may take a while to break in, but they are definitely worth the wait.
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=39068
