[Mr. Big]

Well, it's been going on for 2 years that I've owned my Spatial Audio speakers. I had to toe them in a lot and then out past my shoulder, and the best spot for my room was aiming them to hit my inner neck then playing with my sitting chair forward and back until I got the best dynamic and clean base. It was effortless to hear when you locked in. My thoughts now on the speakers, number one been in this hobby for 40 years and owned a lot more expensive speakers, and my love for Quad ESL speakers, I must say I am hanging on to the Spatial, they sound only better and better the more time you put into setup and room acoustics. Even when I put a floor lamp behind my amp that sits between my speakers to light up the listening room, with an ample round lamp shade the speaker's imaging snapped even more into place as well as detail and center fill. Go figure. That was a pleasant surprise indeed. Made all my cables Seltech double crown including power cords and gain an even more complete view of the speakers and their reproduction. Loved my power conditioners and regenerators (#1). But when I purchased my pure copper AC wall plates (not copper color finish) buy pure copper ones, my conditioners are now no longer needed as much due to the lower noise and blocking of RF/EMI in this digital age surrounding us with airborne noise. Though they still have a positive impact that only regenerators can do.

Today for the heck of it I pulled my conditioner and went system full into the wall with nothing between my gear and direct AC, no added power cord that changes the sound whenever a new one was added to power the conditioner. Brand X, Y, or z all changed the sound from thin to warmer. Tonight is very natural, I've been grabbing discs left and right because the sound has now become so balanced, full, and air for the highs, while not forward, laid back, or lacking color and tone, yes some of the detail is not as forward but now if in its place in balance with the music, a piano is now right in the room size weight and all, not just the hitting of the keys in the front the whole is together. The bottom end now has depth and detail while staying naturally dynamic. Saxophones reedy and burnish, and full. Joe Walsh from the album FM just tore through my room, and the bass impact that started that song hit me in the chest, and then the guitars kick in from both channels was a shock compared to how it sounded before. Queen's played next and the drums and claps from We Will Roch You were jaw-droppingly good. Folk, and Blues cuts were next and all the same, were so real and so different from before, just everything now sounds whole and right, not overly warm or detailed. Though I still enjoy the changes the regenerator does it is no longer as pronounced but when in the system it takes it up a notch. The copper AC cover wall plates are really good.

Clayton made a fantastic speaker and in the end, they give you what you send to them, any change in your system for good or bad they will let you know. Another thing they show so easily is if a recording is in absolute phase or not. Many recordings are not and with the spatial, you hear it is so easy, with a loss of bass impact, body, and imaging being less locked in, it spreads outside of the speakers. and with the gear plugged into the wall direct with no interference from any type of conditioner even easier to hear. I know we change gear for the thrill of it, but I can say as of now the one thing I won't change is the Spatial M3 Sapphires. As of today, I am enjoying them more than ever. These speakers will tell you anything you do to your system, I just changes to larger solid aluminum spikes under my audio rack, only because I have them in storage, thinking I put them to use, and played a Smithsonian Blues/Folk disc that I played before the spike switch and the sound was more solid and fuller with deeper bass and tighter, go figure, these speakers are only an open window to your room and system setup and even the racks or stands that support your gear that impacts the sound that these wonderful speaker putouts to you. 

[DaveWin88]

Mr Big. It is pretty crazy that even a lamp in the middle of your setup can change the imaging, but I do believe it 100%.  I've had the little brother to the M3's (M6) and have the proverbial 500+ hours on them. I'm constantly (not literally) tweaking my system with speaker placement, putting different cloth material on the scatter plates in the middle. Even if I get nowhere, it's a learning process. I was listening to my system last night and was very impressed. It didn't start out that way, but after maybe the 3 hour mark, she really came into her own. I'm betting that the 15's on the M3's are pretty killer. Much more information coming through than the 10's from the 6's. Not sure if you listen to any classical, but please do Joseph  Haydn, C.P.E Bach, Michael Haydn, Mozart, just to name a few of the heavy hitters Symphonies. Thank you for all the contribution to the forums. It's been a help to us newbies.

[Mr. Big]

Mr Big. It is pretty crazy that even a lamp in the middle of your setup can change the imaging, but I do believe it 100%.  I've had the little brother to the M3's (M6) and have the proverbial 500+ hours on them. I'm constantly (not literally) tweaking my system with speaker placement, putting different cloth material on the scatter plates in the middle. Even if I get nowhere, it's a learning process. I was listening to my system last night and was very impressed. It didn't start out that way, but after maybe the 3 hour mark, she really came into her own. I'm betting that the 15's on the M3's are pretty killer. Much more information coming through than the 10's from the 6's. Not sure if you listen to any classical, but please do Joseph  Haydn, C.P.E Bach, Michael Haydn, Mozart, just to name a few of the heavy hitters Symphonies. Thank you for all the contribution to the forums. It's been a help to us newbies.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I listen to classical music as well, my 1,500 CD collection goes from the 1930s through today. I own everything I ever wanted, before that, I had a large LP collection but sold that in the early 90s and never looked back. The lamp's shade is diffusion and it locks in the center image, this was not done for that, it was done because I wanted the light on that part of the room, but my jaw dropped when I played a Jazz track I had just played, it was a wow! moment and I had to sit there and think it over if I was hearing such an imaging improvement, so I got up took the lamp away hit play and got right back up, and put the lamp back in the dead center. A long time ago a dealer told me the room was the #1 fix if you wanted to hear how good your system was and hear the sound you paid for if not he said a bad room with no gear can fix and you will start going through gear to fix a problem that is not gear related. So I lived by that advice though I know I could make the loft area a touch better, I wanted to keep a balance for looks and not look like a recording studio like it was before. Great speakers deserve care, time to set them up right takes time as they burn in, and by you moving them back and for, toe-in in and out you will educate your ear to what happens when you do this or that and how you will then easily know by experience where they work the best in your room. My room is not wide, so I had to force myself to bring them closer together, and dam once I hear them working better and sounding better along with imaging, I started to open my mind on setup being closer together, because, in the end, all you trying to do is get the speaker to work with the room you got.
Old room acoustics.

[Tyson]

Beautiful setup.  That would make me want to just spend an entire afternoon there just chillin and listening to music.

[Tangram]

Two years of ownership is uncharted territory for some audiophiles! I’ve enjoyed reading all your enthusiastic comments along the way. My 2nd year “anniversary” is in July. I simply don’t think about other speakers. And I agree - for some reason they just seem to get better and better.

I’ve been running mine since new with a Pass Labs XA30.5 but just purchased an XA25 as a possible replacement (still evaluating the two.) Even though the specs are similar, the M3S’s bass character has changed with the XA25 to the point where in my room, adding subs would not help. The bass is more “full” without losing the surgical precision the Spatials are known for.

Yes, these are fantastic speakers. I am thrilled that I purchased the OG version.

[RonN5]

Tangram,

I'm just starting my second year with the M3 Sapphires and am interested in your experience with the two Pass Labs options as I've been thinking that trying a Sit3 might be fun....so please post your comparison of the two asap.

Also, has anyone tried the Sapphires with a Sit3?

[Tangram]

Hi Ron,

There's not much separating the two other than what I described with the fuller bass with the XA25. I bet if I did a blind A/B test I'd have trouble consistently picking either one out though. It would depend on the music. I think that the main difference, honestly, is that the XA30.5 had balanced inputs as well as RCAs, but if you are looking at a First Watt amp, that probably doesn't matter much. I also like the look and smaller size/weight of the XA25. The XA30.5 is looking a touch dated because of the horizontal cooling fins. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

With the First Watt amps, just remember that the M3S's are a 4-ohm speaker. I was looking at First Watt options as well but ultimately went the safe route and bought the XA25. But truth be told, I think it is hard to go wrong with any Pass Labs Class A amp when driving the Spatials.

[Audiosaurusrex]

I purchased my M3 Sapphires in Nov of 2019 taking delivery of them in Feb of 2020. So mine are the OG without the external crossovers. I have spent a lot of time reading this Spatial circle which has been a great help, asking questions about everything, electronics, room treatments, tweaks and finally placement and listening position. IMO the M3's are so resolving that "everything matters". I upgraded my front end and amp. I really wanted to experience tubes and that was factored into the equation. So down the rabbit hole I went and three years later I have stopped fussing. My room has 8 absorption panels 4 diffusion panels various natural treatments such as wooden levered shades on the windows, curtains etc. My listening occurs in a 14x16 room with speakers approximately 8 ft apart and 8 ft from my listening postion, toed in about 15 degrees just about to earshot. The depth and width of these speakers are deeper and wider than I ever experienced before, I was coming from Vandy 2ce's so you can only imagine the mids I was missing. I have a Class A amp now- Octave V70 which is colorless and gives me the music as it is, beatuifully.  I will keep this system hopefully for another 10 years and as I settle into retirement slowly begin to downsize. Not really sure where I'll be or if I'll still have my good hearing but I do smile ear to ear when I listen to amazing recordings on these Spatial M3 Sapphires, everyone else that owns them is really blessed too. Happy Listening

[Mr. Big]

I purchased my M3 Sapphires in Nov of 2019 taking delivery of them in Feb of 2020. So mine are the OG without the external crossovers. I have spent a lot of time reading this Spatial circle which has been a great help, asking questions about everything, electronics, room treatments, tweaks and finally placement and listening position. IMO the M3's are so resolving that "everything matters". I upgraded my front end and amp. I really wanted to experience tubes and that was factored into the equation. So down the rabbit hole I went and three years later I have stopped fussing. My room has 8 absorption panels 4 diffusion panels various natural treatments such as wooden levered shades on the windows, curtains etc. My listening occurs in a 14x16 room with speakers approximately 8 ft apart and 8 ft from my listening postion, toed in about 15 degrees just about to earshot. The depth and width of these speakers are deeper and wider than I ever experienced before, I was coming from Vandy 2ce's so you can only imagine the mids I was missing. I have a Class A amp now- Octave V70 which is colorless and gives me the music as it is, beatuifully.  I will keep this system hopefully for another 10 years and as I settle into retirement slowly begin to downsize. Not really sure where I'll be or if I'll still have my good hearing but I do smile ear to ear when I listen to amazing recordings on these Spatial M3 Sapphires, everyone else that owns them is really blessed too. Happy Listening

Age? Hang in and enjoy the life I'll be 72 this year and I still hear well, with windows closed i still hear the birds talking in the AM. Can hear the train rolling by that is 3 miles away or so. Any change I make with my system is very easy to hear, now my wife God Bless her is another story, have to talk directly to her, if she is around the corner in another room useless to ask her a question. I listened to Fred Astaire's RKO recordings this evening for the fun of it, started off thin and tinny, then warm and tubby as the years marched on, that how good the M3 is, they give you what the recordings sounded like and the ERA it was made.  I can say now if the speakers sound less then there is something lacking in the room's acoustics, setup, or gear and cables, it's not this brand of speakers, they morph into what ever you feed them, Quad ESL had the same ability.