AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Spatial Audio => Topic started by: paolocaminiti on 1 Jul 2020, 07:46 pm
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Sadly the kit to upgrade the M3 from turbo s to triode master is out of sale. And I'm stuck with my beloved m3ts... and a psvane 300b amplifier that I cannot use :(
Had I know it was going to be discontinued I'd pull the trigger before but now I'm wondering if there is any side way solution.
I saw some kits for sale in the used market but they are all gone.
Also I was looking for a crossover upgrade regardless of the triode master and could find none available at the moment. So it came to my mind somebody may direct me to somebody able to make a triode maste upgrade kit as well as an upgraded crossover. This would be last hope before having to wait and buy the sapphires, which I would have probably done if spatial sold out of usa. Having these spekers shipped abroad is expensive, I bought my m3ts used from canada, real bargain, but shipping alone almost doubled the costs.
If anybody has any suggestions please chime in. I'd really like to have more choices of amplifiers, since I already have the 300b sitting here.
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Hi, I upgraded my crossovers (M3TS) but my question is, do you plan to keep them? Are you willing to void any warranty by upgrading non-stock parts? Do you have basic soldering skills? Is it critical to keep the upgraded crossover in the tiny area where they are now, or would you consider an "outboard" crossover? What is your budget?
Here's a link to a past post on the Spatial Board, (sorry, I have not had success with a clickable link)
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=150989.0
You can send me a pm if need be, good luck!
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Thanks for the answer, I saw your crossover, it's quite an achivement. I don't have any electrical skill or measuring gear, so I was looking for something more ready to go, I remember there was a website selling an upgrade with several levels but I can't find it anymore.
External/internal and warranty are not my primary concerns, I don't see a problem with both if I can gain in sound quality, but that said time and skills are a concern: I cannot do too much research/understanding risking to mess up these speakers (I love them enough as they are).
I hoped somebody would had a suggestion for a diy triode master upgrade path.
Otherwise I suppose I better wait and sell this one day for the sapphires or a pureaudioproject (their amt seems interesting and they sell to europe which is a big plus even being in uk).
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Just get a more powerful amp. I have owned the M3TS and then had them upgraded to TM. Very similar sound. Save your money and then go for one of his better speakers. I now have X5s and they are a step beyond the M3 series. But next year he'll probably come out with something that makes the X series look old. So it goes.
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Thanks for the information, perhaps the upgrade to TM is not that worthwhile as you said.
Thinking new speakers:
Two things I would love these speakers to do better:
1. be easier to drive
2. handle violins with more grace.
But perhaps there's no end game on both of these requests...
Next upgrade in line is gaia feet, hopefully they will clean up and improve strings, but still top registers not going dipole I think strings will always miss a sense o presence and space reverberation on the TS - and I'm wondering if that's the case with the sapphires too having a monopole fullrange. AMT series out of budget for a while, and I never listened to an AMT so risky upgrade there.
For the TS:
At the moment my main drive for them is a combo of freya+ and icepower edge: no problems there apart somewhat dry bass and not the best highs possible (icepower related I suppose, the psvane 6sn7 I put in the pre are amazing).
The 300b is just an amp I got and love and cannot use with the spatial: which is frustrating given the that the TM seems to solve this specific "impedance problem" in it's crossover.
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I think it was Triode wire labs that used to offer an upgrade kit for the M3's that included upgrading a capacitor and replacing the wire. I don't believe they offer that kit anymore.
If highs are important, if you can find someone who can solder, I recommend buying the 30ohm path audio resistors and having someone replace the existing (make sure they are 30ohms). If for some reason, you don't like what you hear, put the old one back and all you are out is the cost of the resistors (I think about $60) and whatever cost for the person to do the modification. good luck!
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You could split the crossover in two (between highs and lows), then use your IcePower for the bass, and 300B for the treble...
Your Freya as 3 sets of outputs (single ended x2 , differential x 1), so hooking two amps shouldn't be a problem, you just would have to attenuate the signal entering the Ice (I imagine it has a higher gain than your 300B) using, for instance, the inexpensive Schiit Sys.
Dry bass, but heavenly highs await...
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I have owned the M3TS and then had them upgraded to TM. Very similar sound. Save your money and then go for one of his better speakers. I now have X5s and they are a step beyond the M3 series. But next year he'll probably come out with something that makes the X series look old. So it goes.
The pace of upgrades and new-product introductions seems faster with Spatial than with any other brand I know. What does this mean? I'm intrigued with the offerings but it's hard to know where (or even if) to jump in.
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Whatever is new today will be old tomorrow. But, it will cost less (used). The question of whether to jump in depends on your pocketbook. Many people buy then sell--always wanting the latest. The question is what can you live with, in light of being bombarded by the latest/newest? It's kind of like the stock market--there are those who say just dive right in, don't try to time the market, and others who wait until the market is down. There is no right answer.
Usually when Clayton has a new speaker, it's more costly. He IS coming out with a desk top, cheaper pair for small listening. Good luck!
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One possible option is to sell your M3 Turbo S and buy a used M3 Triode Master.
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There's a pair of M3TM's listed on a Utah classified site for $2700:
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/61573676
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Yeah, I lost out on that one myself by waiting. But really I am running a Pass Labs x150.5 so not sure how it would have gone. The triode master setup was more for higher impedance tube amps and such.