[Teenage diplomat]

I bought my M4 Sapphires direct in June.  Out of the box they impressed with lifelike vocals, but seemed a bit edgy in the treble and a mite reticent in the bass.  After 50 hours, the treble started smoothing and bass got deeper.  At 75 hours, they sounded almost perfect, just the slightest bit of edge up-top.  Now, at 150 hours, almost every listening session has moments where I'm startled by the realism of what I'm hearing.  The speakers have been (and are) powered by a VAC Phi170 IQ tube amp (85watts/ch) and the bass has become both deep, tight, and impactful.  Vocals are even better than before, and high frequencies no longer have even a hint of edge.  Details have emerged that I didn't hear at the start, and the soundstage has become both broader and deeper.  The speaker they replaced, PSB Imagine T3s, were no slouch - they were Stereophile A-rated.  The M4 Sapphires trounced them in my room, particularly in the bass (I never could get bass that was both deep and tight with them) and in sound staging.  I'm a very happy camper.

[musicdre]

cool.  nice review.  spatials definitely need at least a hundred hours to break in.   on my M3s all of the imperfections went away once they broke in.

[DaveWin88]

I bought my M4 Sapphires direct in June.  Out of the box they impressed with lifelike vocals, but seemed a bit edgy in the treble and a mite reticent in the bass.  After 50 hours, the treble started smoothing and bass got deeper.  At 75 hours, they sounded almost perfect, just the slightest bit of edge up-top.  Now, at 150 hours, almost every listening session has moments where I'm startled by the realism of what I'm hearing.  The speakers have been (and are) powered by a VAC Phi170 IQ tube amp (85watts/ch) and the bass has become both deep, tight, and impactful.  Vocals are even better than before, and high frequencies no longer have even a hint of edge.  Details have emerged that I didn't hear at the start, and the soundstage has become both broader and deeper.  The speaker they replaced, PSB Imagine T3s, were no slouch - they were Stereophile A-rated.  The M4 Sapphires trounced them in my room, particularly in the bass (I never could get bass that was both deep and tight with them) and in sound staging.  I'm a very happy camper.

Great review. I can say many of your experiences mimic my own thoughts on the speakers. Glad you're enjoying them.

[franSSS]

Welcome to the Club.

Always good when an upgrade is a marked improvement.

[mvalentiner]

I, too, received my M4 Sapphires last June. They are amazing and I enjoy what they do everyday!

[AllanS]

Welcome aboard!
Coming up on a year with my M4 with a similar experience.  What I noticed most over the first 100 hours or so was image tightening.  Among many other qualities I appreciate I love their ability to produce realistic bass with texture at relatively low volume.

[minatophase3]

I have had my M4 Sapphires for about 1 1/2 years and love them.  I think they are one of the best values in speakers and punch much higher than their price point.  I have a friend that loves to add tweaks to everything in his hi-fi system and he convinced me to try adding some silver bypass caps to my M4 crossover.  He did this for me about 2 months ago and I was floored with how much they improved the sound!  Sound stage became wider, taller and deeper, music had better clarity, better instrument separation, bass tightened up and was better.  I had always been afraid making modifications like this and wouldn't have done it myself but it was very easy.  Hardest part was melting off the glue from caps in the crossover box to get access to the wires.  If you are looking for a relatively cheap way to get more from the M4's I would highly recommend this.  Here is a link tot he bypass caps he put on, we used 2 per speaker for a total of 4.  Probably the best $250 upgrade I have done to my system.

https://www.partsconnexion.com/JUPITER-89579.html

[CSI]

Been in the hobby forever (since the 60's). Until I got my M4's, the longest I kept any speakers was 5 years (my old Acoustic Research AR3a's). I'm into my 6th year with my Spatials and have yet to feel the urge to change. Pretty sure this is my final set of speakers. Happy camper.

[Teenage diplomat]

I have kept my last two pairs of main-system speakers, (the T3s and PSB Synchrony Ones) for about 7 years each.  Before that I went through several phases (Spendors, Maggies) fairly quickly.  Back in the day, though, I ran original DCM Timewindows for over 20 years.  I recently got another pair of them to try out in my vintage system (ran them against my AR3a speakers).  They weren't as good as I remembered, and the ARs stayed.  Anyway, I hope the M4s will prove to be my destination speaker. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I owned a pair of T3's and thought they were dull and flat sounding.  They sounded great on acoustic music and that was it.  I sold them to a friend.  My Magnepan 1.6's trounced them.  I also own a pair of Synchrony Ones which I still own. 

I would love to hear a current pair of spatial's.  I had an in home audition of an early pair of Turbo's and my Magnepans sounded much better.  I had several friends over who also agreed that the Maggies sounded much better.

My amp is a Pass Labs X250 and preamp a BAT VK51se.

[RonN5]

I.Greyhound

I own the M3 Sapphires and a buddy has the Maggie 3.7i.  Both are great sounding speakers with a few differences that I believe would probably influence who will prefer one vs the other.  He is driving his Maggies with a Sanders Magtech Stereo amp and I'm driving the Spatials with a Wells Audio amp.

If you need the last iota of detail, the Maggies have it...but only for the midrange and only very slightly... 10 vs 9

If you need the last inch of depth and don't care so much about width...again, maybe the  Maggies....but call it 10 vs 9.7

If you need soundstage width...then the Spatials by a bigger margin....10 vs 6

If you height....pretty even...both are realistic

If you need deep low end...then the Spatials...10 vs 7

If you need explosive dynamics...then the Spatials 10 vs 7

If you play both with augmentation from subs, then the gap gets a lot closer with the Spatials a 10 and Maggies a 9

If you need tone....then pretty equal

If you need "sounds like real music"...then both do, depending on the type of music being played

If you need the room filled with sound so that the room sounds good...then definitely the Spatials.

As far as placement...his maggies are 51" out from the rear wall and I have the Spatials at 41"

At the Florida audio show, I spent time with the Volti Razz and Rival....they do something that neither the maggies nor spatials do as well...Often when we talk about sound pressure we are referring to bass....but listen to a trumpet or an acoustic guitar being played live...10' away from you...there is sound pressure that your body can sense...the Volti speakers do that really well and like the Maggies and Spatials....zero harshness....I suspect it is their midrange horns.

I could live happily with any of the three...all are very musical...all have their little quirks....but so far, nothing has compelled me to move on from the Sapphires...they sound great and do so many things so well.

Just for the fun of it....I have a pair of LRS+ on order but I've told them I don't want the speakers to ship without the optional stands....which are being cranked out at a much slower pace than the speakers themselves.  No way they will sound as good as the 3.7i or the Sapphires but they may surprise me and if I have to resell them, the depreciation won't be too bad.

[Daryl Zero]

RonN5, I think that is a pretty fair statement with my experience with Maggies which is limited to the LRS and the .7s. It might be different with the huge top end of the Magnepans but then you are paying a ton of money for the speakers and the proper amplification. That is something to add though, much cheaper to get great sound out of the Spatials than the Maggies.

[RonN5]

Daryl

Any time I’ve heard Maggie’s of any size they always sounded good… but I couldn’t live with them… not even the 3.7i without a couple good subs…for the Spatials or Voltis… subs aren’t really needed in any reasonable sized room.

Now if only I had a 10 room house with three 600 sq ft 12’ ceiling listing rooms!

[I.Greyhound Fan]

RonN5, I think that is a pretty fair statement with my experience with Maggies which is limited to the LRS and the .7s. It might be different with the huge top end of the Magnepans but then you are paying a ton of money for the speakers and the proper amplification. That is something to add though, much cheaper to get great sound out of the Spatials than the Maggies.

Magnepans are cheaper than the Spatials for the most part.  You can pick up the 1.7i's for around $2300pr. and the 0.7's and LRS for much less.  And a 200 wpc amp with a good power supply will do well with them.

[Daryl Zero]

Magnepans are cheaper than the Spatials for the most part.  You can pick up the 1.7i's for around $2300pr. and the 0.7's and LRS for much less.  And a 200 wpc amp with a good power supply will do well with them.

I was actually thinking about the 20.7s ($20k) and the 30.7s ($40k) when I discussed the huge ones. Those do sound magnificent but they are huge, cost a ton and need really good amplification. 

[Mr. Big]

Maggies, sound very good but like any panel, you are going to have limitations just as you do with Electrostatics. Spatial gives you much of either, but you gain real dynamics without loss or fear of damaging their panels of either, the bass is no contest, but that does not take away from the things I like about stats or panels having owned them both. Would I go back I doubt it with the spatial I have my needs met with only a little loss of the things I liked about my stats but these were more than made up for by the other benefits of Clayton's designs. I owned a lot and I know when good is good, and I stop chasing my tail. Now if I wanted to just change the sound for the sake of it that is a different story but then I could go with the X series. 3.6R not only do you need a powerful amp but it better be a very good amp with a ton of current, and you better be ready to pay the price, cheap power does them an injustice. The smaller models are good for acoustic music and jazz.

[Tyson]

The AMT tweeter on the X series really closes the gap on what the Maggies do well.  Midrange is still different, the Maggies are more pure, the Spatials are more meaty and real sounding, IMO.

[RonN5]

My experience… Maggie’s start to sound good around 80db and really good around 85 db.  Below that they seem flat and lifeless on a lot of music.

The Spatials still sound really good… and dynamic at 70db which may be important to a lot of people who can’t or won’t listen at 85db.

At 80 db… many of the differences between Spatials and Maggie’s are very small… but the dynamic are not… the Spatials convey more of the realism of live music.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

My experience… Maggie’s start to sound good around 80db and really good around 85 db.  Below that they seem flat and lifeless on a lot of music.

The Spatials still sound really good… and dynamic at 70db which may be important to a lot of people who can’t or won’t listen at 85db.

At 80 db… many of the differences between Spatials and Maggie’s are very small… but the dynamic are not… the Spatials convey more of the realism of live music.

With some gear, Maggies sound good at low volumes.  As far as dynamics, have you ever heard Maggies with a 500 wpc Pass amp?  Or a BAT preamp?

[RonN5]

Igreyhound… I have not. My buddy with the 3.7i… I’ve heard them with five amps… the best was the Sanders.

Overall, though, his system the way it is set up most of the time is either analog or digital into a Lyngdorf 2170 functioning as a preamp and running Room Perfect then into the Sanders into the Maggie’s…. which only run from 80 hz up because everything below is handled by a 4 subwoofer Audio Kinesis swarm bass system. Not much issue with low level dynamics here….

But seriously, if you ever get the chance to hear the Spatial X or Sapphire models… they are hard not to like.