[catluck]

For those who have had an opportunity to seriously audition both the M100 and AMT units, can you offer any thoughts on the sonic differences?  Although I tremble to go down this path... your thoughts would be informative. Are we "lowly" M100 owners missing something musically essential?  Although that's difficult to imagine (having listened to my M3's every morning for several hours for months), having not heard the AMT in Clayton's application knowledgeable and experienced opinions would be useful. 

[Desertpilot]

For those who have had an opportunity to seriously audition both the M100 and AMT units, can you offer any thoughts on the sonic differences?

The best resource for you to answer this question is "New Record Day" on YouTube.  Ron has extensive videos about the Sapphire and the X5.  In fact, he did a musical comparison between the two (along with a few other speakers) using a binaural recording (use headsets to get maximum fidelity).  He was very enamored with the X5 and the AMT/Waveguide.  But, his conclusion is that most folks would be happier with the Sapphire.

Marcus

[Daryl Zero]

The best resource for you to answer this question is "New Record Day" on YouTube.  Ron has extensive videos about the Sapphire and the X5.  In fact, he did a musical comparison between the two (along with a few other speakers) using a binaural recording (use headsets to get maximum fidelity).  He was very enamored with the X5 and the AMT/Waveguide.  But, his conclusion is that most folks would be happier with the Sapphire.

Marcus

Having listened to that video recently, Ron's opinion was that the Sapphire reproduced the bass better than the X premium (powered woofer now that there is a passive one for the X4) but that the X5 reproduced a piano better than the Sapphire and all of the other speakers. He prefers the Sapphires to the X line because of the tweeter and he thinks the AMT would cause listening fatigue.

[Desertpilot]

Yes, that's what he said.  No listening fatigue for me with my X3s.  But, the important point is that listeners will have a decided preference for either the dome tweeter or the AMT/Waveguide driver.

[geerock]

Having listened to that video recently, Ron's opinion was that the Sapphire reproduced the bass better than the X premium (powered woofer now that there is a passive one for the X4) but that the X5 reproduced a piano better than the Sapphire and all of the other speakers. He prefers the Sapphires to the X line because of the tweeter and he thinks the AMT would cause listening fatigue.

Good for Ron.  But for someone to guess what other listeners are going to hear, or what drivers are going to give them listening fatigue is just plain.....well I'll just leave it at that.  For me, that incredible AMT reproduces piano, horns, acoustic string instruments, female voice, just about everything more realistically that anything I've heard.  No fatigue here.  It's actually what brings me to listen more often than I ever have.

[Mr. Big]

Really there is no answer to which is better or brighter if that was the case. Your room, your gear, your cables, all work together to make the sound you hear at home. I've heard my M3's sound bright to balanced and then to the warmer side of things, how? by switching power cords around. Nothing else was changed, just flipping powers cords from one unit to another, each power cord different, AQ Huirrcane-3, Firebird, and then a Dragon. Audio is like cooking, the food your like is the spice you add to it, to your taste. Get your room right, then work on setup and toe-in, and depending on the room and its size toe-in will highly vary.

[Daryl Zero]

Good for Ron.  But for someone to guess what other listeners are going to hear, or what drivers are going to give them listening fatigue is just plain.....well I'll just leave it at that.  For me, that incredible AMT reproduces piano, horns, acoustic string instruments, female voice, just about everything more realistically that anything I've heard.  No fatigue here.  It's actually what brings me to listen more often than I ever have.

I'm with you on this plus I'm used to AMT tweeters. I also didn't agree with Ron about the bass. I thought the X5s bass was, if not equal, was better but just my opinion.

[Tyson]

The AMT is a higher resolution (and much lower distortion) device than any dome tweeter on the market.  By a LOT.  And looking at the measured in-room frequency response I am getting with my X3's, the tweeter is NOT tipped up in this design.  If anything, it's a bit relaxed.  So I'd say the issue Ron had with the X series is not the tweeter. 

I will say this, the M100 interacts with a room in a way that is more typical of a normal speaker.  Looking at the dispersion patterns of the M series vs the X series, it's clear that the M series is designed to interact with a room in a more typical pattern (broad dispersion), while still giving you the advantages of an OB design.  It's quite a genius design, IMO. 

The X series on the other hand has a more controlled directivity type of design, which has it's own type of sound and a different way of interacting with the room, while also still giving you the advantages of full OB speakers.  If you are outside the sweet spot with the X series, it sounds like most other speakers.  But when you are IN the sweet spot, there's this extra level of focused intensity you get that is quite unlike the sound of a 'regular' speaker.  It does such a good job of removing the room from the sound, that it's almost like listening to a pair of giant, super high end headphones.  It takes some getting used to, but once you have had it in a well implemented design, man it's hard to go back to broad dispersion speakers.  At least for me.  Clearly Ron feels otherwise

[StefanS]

Totally agree with Tyson ! And i have some difficulty to understand why the M3 would have better bass since it is active and adjustable with the X3 and X5... For me anyway no choice, my huge room is, as Clayton once said, a sound killer, and i had to have higher sensitivity, active subwoofer and controlled directivity (and Lyngdorf's TDAI 3400 room perfect room correction). Just no choice at all. Besides all their well known qualities, for the first time in my life i can enjoy music anywhere in the room without fatigue, that had never been possible until now. My X3 are definitely my last speaker purchase. That good are they. Not purchasing them back in spring 2020 as planned made me loose 18 months of pleasure. But since october 2021, what a revelation.