X5's in the House

doggie · « **on:** 30 Jun 2021, 04:39 pm »

Landed yesterday. Only had time to listen for a few minutes. Break-in required!

Be sure to get a friend to help you unpack them...

System:

Roon Server: Streacom FC5 fanless chassis with Gigabyte H87m-ITX + Intel i3 board with Apacer DDR3 ram and HDPlex 200w external LPS. HDPlex 400W DC-ATX converter. SSD for OS and SSD for music, both powered by LPS. Server running Windows Server 2019 + Roon Core + Audiophile Optimizer v3. JCAT NET Card FEMTO with ethernet out to EtherRegen "A" side. "B" side out to NUC Roon Endpoint.

Roon Endpoint: NUC in fanless chassis and no internal SSDs. Powered by HDPlex LPS. Running Audiolinux headless in ramroot with Apacer DDR3 ram. USB out to Lampizator Baltic 3.

DAC: Lampizator Baltic 3.

Amp: Linear Tube Audio Ultralinear Integrated

Speakers: Spatial Audio X5 - Open Baffle with integrated Hypex powered woofers.

Cable: Final Touch Audio Callisto USB, Duelund ICs and speaker cables.

Power Conditioning: Topaz isolation transformer to single unfiltered power strip shared by all audio devices.

Control: iPhone or iPad running Roon Remote with Qobuz

Desertpilot · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Jun 2021, 06:36 pm »

They look beautiful! Congratulations!!! Now, the fun begins. Every now and then, sit back and enjoy music. That will keep you motivated to continue getting them dialed in.

Marcus

geerock · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Jun 2021, 06:45 pm »

Congrats on the X5's. You've got some nice equipment there to go with it. The Spatial lineup really likes tubes and that LTA 10 and DAC Orchid should really give you huge 3D sound. I've got the el34 based LTA REF 40 and a modified Musical Paradise tube DAC fed by Small Green Computer sonicTransporter Roon core into opticalRendu. Power conditioning is a pair of High Fidelity Cable's MC1 Pro Helix.
You are in for a treat when those X5's break in. Trust me....have patience. I was going to send mine back but everyone was just saying hang on. I'm glad I did.

glynnw · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Jun 2021, 06:53 pm »

Congrats. I am running an LTA 10 watt amp into my X-5s and it is a great combination.

doggie · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Jun 2021, 07:42 pm »

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.

I listened for a bit this afternoon and I can already sense greatness in the sound.

Question. I received two different sets of spikes for each speaker. Are they for dialing in the height?

franSSS · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Jul 2021, 07:05 am »

Lovely gear! makes me drool!

Give us an update ever so often.

mrotino332 · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Jul 2021, 01:48 pm »

YEs the spikes are for dialing in the height. In my room setup I preferred the taller spikes on the X5s and my ears at the bottom or just below the tweeters. I know many prefer the sound with their ears at the middle of the tweeters which is what I did for some time but when I raised the height of the speakers and changed my listening chair vocals and instruments really locked into place and the focus was better in my opinion.

Most likely the distance between the speakers, distance to listening position, toe in, distance to side and back walls would influence this.

doggie · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Jul 2021, 02:09 pm »

Quote from: mrotino332 on 1 Jul 2021, 01:48 pm

YEs the spikes are for dialing in the height. In my room setup I preferred the taller spikes on the X5s and my ears at the bottom or just below the tweeters. I know many prefer the sound with their ears at the middle of the tweeters which is what I did for some time but when I raised the height of the speakers and changed my listening chair vocals and instruments really locked into place and the focus was better in my opinion.

Most likely the distance between the speakers, distance to listening position, toe in, distance to side and back walls would influence this.

Thanks. Much appreciated. Today playing Ray Brown "Super Bass" to break them in

Desertpilot · « **Reply #8 on:** 4 Jul 2021, 04:40 pm »

LOL! Patiently waiting for your feedback.

Marcus

sockpit · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Jul 2021, 04:11 am »

Would love to here your views on the Orchid vs. Pontus someday when you’ve had time to break it all in and form an opinion. I have your LTA amp and M5s.

doggie · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Jul 2021, 11:27 am »

Quote from: sockpit on 6 Jul 2021, 04:11 am

Would love to here your views on the Orchid vs. Pontus someday when you’ve had time to break it all in and form an opinion. I have your LTA amp and M5s.

Glad to. Too many moving parts right now as my speakers only have a few hours on them. They seem to change by the hour but in a good overall direction...

sockpit · « **Reply #11 on:** 7 Jul 2021, 12:44 am »

Take your time. I’ve had my M5s for a year and a half and I’m still finding placement improvements!

doggie · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Jul 2021, 04:23 pm »

I thought that I would give an update.

I currently have the speakers about 3.5 feet from the front wall with GIK 244 Bass Traps behind them positioned as close to the wall as I can manage for now. Toe-in points the tweeters to my shoulders.

As others have noted at first the treble is a bit bright and the bass is a bit light. They have changed a lot already after about 20-30 hours . The speakers are beginning to disappear, soundstage has deepened and localization is getting spooky. The treble has calmed down and the bass has come out of hiding. Bass is increasingly taught and realistic. You will probably not need subs with these unless you are playing subsonic notes for digestive therapy. Marcus had asked about organ music. The lowest notes sound like they are coming from a subterranean hiding place beneath my basement. Yup, they do organ. Choral music is especially good as you can really hear individual localized voices.

In a couple of days I will receive a Denefrips Extreme which I was able to exchange my Pontus for. The Pontus was so good that I decided to go all-in.

I am hoping that this will be an endgame system for me. (I can already hear you laughing out there...)

More to follow...

Desertpilot · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Jul 2021, 05:05 pm »

Quote from: doggie on 26 Jul 2021, 04:23 pm

I thought that I would give an update.

Thanks. I was really looking forward to your update!

Quote from: doggie on 26 Jul 2021, 04:23 pm

In a couple of days I will receive a Denefrips Extreme which I was able to exchange my Pontus for. The Pontus was so good that I decided to go all-in.

Yep. These speakers make you hungry to feed them as pure and bit perfect an audio signal. I upgraded my DAC as well!

Thanks for the update!
Marcus

Mr. Big · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Jul 2021, 12:53 pm »

To take a jump up in sound quality add a bit of weight on top of your source DAC or CD player. Not heavyweight but just enough to damp the top of the unit, on my CD player I put the weight where the center of the CD loader is, I also have a nice Luxman remote for my C800-F preamp. It weighs a bit more than plastic ones do and that works great also. With great speakers Like the X or M Sapphires, you will hear the overall improvement with ease. Quite, more definition, bass through the highs become more present and with more natural detail. My Cost? Zero dollars. Mine is a brass cat with rubber on the bottom, works great laying my Luxman more behind the Cat really added to a lower noise floor and detail. Chassis noise impacts front-end digital greatly, and I look at it like having a better turntable mat which also damps better and thus gives you better Vinyl sound.

doggie · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Jul 2021, 01:36 pm »

Good idea. I have been using various mass-loading devices for a while, either made to purpose audiophool stuff or some bargain but effective dampers like this "door stop" from Amzn. Right now I am considering some absorbent feet for my Denefrips...

Sorry for the size. AC does not seem to allow resizing in the editor.

Mr. Big · « **Reply #16 on:** 27 Jul 2021, 02:41 pm »

Nice one in a wood-like finish. I think I'll try one.

doggie · « **Reply #17 on:** 27 Jul 2021, 02:43 pm »

Very nice. Where did you find it?

Mr. Big · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Jul 2021, 07:32 pm »

Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WPS14MB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

doggie · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Jul 2021, 12:08 pm »

Time for an update.

With about 50 hours on the speakers I am starting to notice an unsettling phenomena. With each passing day I am having more difficulty determining where the speakers are but the music is becoming more visible, floating in the space between where the speakers formerly sat. I am pretty sure that they are where I initially placed them but the only way to tell now is to play music and guess that they are where the music is not!

Instruments are increasingly fleshed out and stabilized in space with both side to side accuracy and layering from front to back. There is also an increasing sense of movement as instruments and players pass musical themes across the sound stage.

In a few more weeks I will have spent a good money for speakers that have dissolved into thin air. What kind of magic was that?

Very spooky...