[Hobbsmeerkat]

I'm curious how they'll sound after 200-ish hours when the Sonicaps reach their burn-in period, especially if the first 50 Hours really helped to relax and balance out the speakers sound.
I Think it took my x-statiks about 40-50 hours for the lower woofers to fully break in and start filling out the low end, as I already had put 250 hours on the Mid-woofers and tweeters outside of the cabinet.

Glad to hear that they've improved tho! 

[Rock Ball]

I disliked them so much that I was seriously considering calling Danny and canceling my order for the 2 sets of NX-Treme's that I've been waiting for since May. I spoke with my relative in Vietnam (for whom the 2nd pair is for) about the experience and to be honest, we were both pretty rattled by what I was hearing - especially since each NX-Treme utilizes 8 of the same drivers that the X-Statik uses for it's midrange and bass drivers.

I am anxious to hear what your initial impressions of the NX-Tremes will be after you build them.  Mine sounded incredible the very first minute I played them.  They did sound even better over time, but I didn't track the hours.

Please keep us updated.  I hope you will create a build thread for your NX-Tremes similar to this thread.  You did a very good job.

[subsonic1050]

Absolutely - I'll make sure to make an update after they have completely finished breaking in. I'll also do a build on the NX-Treme's once I get the stuff! Rock Ball - it doesn't surprise me that you loved your NX-Treme's right off the bat. As I said, I couldn't find anyone else who had similar issues with their X-Statics, and also I wonder if the planar magnetic tweeter helped in that regard.

I'm just so thankful that these things evened out!

[subsonic1050]

I just had to come back and make another listening impressions update. These things are absolutely amazing! I have continued to let them break in - I'm guessing they have about 100 hours on them now. Tonight I sat down and they sounded so fantastic I decided to revisit the Magnepan's and do some AB testing to see how they stacked up. To my utter shock and amazement - to my ears - the X-Statik's now sound better than the Magnepan 1.7i's. To reach this point from where things started is a complete revelation to me regarding break in. In 25 years of being an audiophile I have never witnessed this kind of transformation before - it's like they are a completely different speaker.

The highs are now sweet without being overly harsh. They are still *slightly* brighter than the Maggie's, but not so much that I'm getting listening fatigue. The midrange has blossomed into a beautiful, rich sound that is every bit as intoxicating as the Maggie's, while delivering more detail and speed. The bass remains excellent - very fast and tight. The soundstage is interesting - when listening to the Maggie's, a singer can often sound like they are coming from all around you - whereas with the X-Statik they are generally more centrally located. That initially made me feel like the midrange was distant, but it's not - it's just different. It's actually more realistic sounding than the maggie's - which leads to the imaging. Imaging is superior on the X-Statik for sure. The singer can be precisely located as can nearly every instrument with great separation. The X-Statik's are also very noticeably faster and more detailed than the maggie's which I found a bit surprising. Lastly, that open and airy "holographic" quality is now in full swing as well. Truly, the X-Statik's are doing it all. I went from hating them to loving them in around 100 hours of break-in.

To do the AB testing I had the Maggie's hooked up to my Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 integrated amp and the X-Statik was hooked up to my Primaluna Evo 300 integrated amp which is paired with an RME ADI-2 FS DAC.  This allowed me to simply mute one amp and unmute the other to quickly switch back and forth. As such, it isn't a direct comparison, but I know the Maggie's sounded significantly better in this same arrangement before extended break in.

There were also several other new components in the mix - I had some new power cables, I just built some new speaker cables, and I had a new DigiBuss line conditioner that all needed break in as well. Still, all of these things were used with the Maggie's apart from the speaker cables - so the changes were primarily due to the X-Statik's breaking in.

All I can say is that I am thrilled with them!

[hawkeyejw]

That’s great to hear, glad they’ve grown to be what you hoped when you started the process! Your experience with the highs is interesting to me. I’ve been really impressed by the T26, it’s probably the most detailed soft dome tweeter I have heard, but I was surprised you found it fatiguing. It’s cool that they’ve transformed for you and you’re able to enjoy them now.

[subsonic1050]

That’s great to hear, glad they’ve grown to be what you hoped when you started the process! Your experience with the highs is interesting to me. I’ve been really impressed by the T26, it’s probably the most detailed soft dome tweeter I have heard, but I was surprised you found it fatiguing. It’s cool that they’ve transformed for you and you’re able to enjoy them now.

Thanks Hawkeye - to be clear - NOW I don't find the highs fatiguing. That problem has disappeared after break in. I think mlundy hit the nail on the head in a different thread where I was discussing my initial listening impressions. I believe the midrange was so thin that I was turning up the volume to achieve a midrange SPL that I liked. Because of that the highs were extremely shouty and shrill. Once the midrange filled out, I noticed that I wasn't listening to them as loud (on the amp) but was achieving similar SPL. That's my theory anyway. In any case, they are a beautiful sounding speaker now. I wanted to document this though for anyone who might experience these issues in the future so they won't be discouraged.

Now I just need my NX-Treme stuff, which I'm even more excited about now!

[Answer2No1]

@Subsonic1050- Did your build include any upgrades?  Can anyone comment on how the particular upgrades might have contributed to this dramatic experience?
Very interesting insight about the lack of full midrange possibly inducing you to listen louder and make you more susceptible to fatigue from the new tweeters.  Thanks for your posts!

[subsonic1050]

Answer2No1 - The original order for the X-Statik's was for full upgrades. I actually received the kit without the copper bypass caps - but still with the full sonicaps upgrade. I just decided to build it without the copper bypass caps and GR Research promptly refunded me the difference.

I don't know if anything specific about the upgrades had anything to do with the huge improvement after break in. I'm assuming it was driver break in as well as capacitor break in, and to a lesser extent the rest of the electronics.

In any case, they sound absolutely fantastic now!