[TKonrad.NOLA]

This is what I am going for; am I going in the right direction?  I listen to mostly Jazz and R&B; lots of female vocals and I am looking for something that sounds bigger, more alive, and with more bass.  Something that sounds better at low volume. Presently using Dynaudio Heritage Specials and they sound great but they sound like they are coming from a box and I want more bottom end and refuse to add a sub.  I have 11' ceilings and an open floor plan in my home.  I want room filling sound.  Was thinking about Klipsch Forte IV or Cornwall IV but came across these open baffles.   Thoughts?

[rockyboris]

I think you are on the right track with the M4s. Bass response? I took my Rel subs out of my room I just didn't need them. Jazz if you have a tt the Denon 103 sounds great with the m4's. I've had my M4s for about 6 months and for the money WOW, they've played every genre of music I played. You mentioned DYNAMICS, you'll know when you have the speaker placement right because you'll notice how dynamic they are. As far as low volume listening goes they sound good at what I consider low volume but when you turn them up they kick butt. Just follow the rules...4 Ohms, in the neighborhood of 3 feet or more from the front wall and a minimum of a 20 watt amp. For more info see the Steve Gutenberg video on YouTube.

I hope this helps

Mike

[ric]

Just a few comments, room acoustics are a big part of bass response--boominess or lack thereof seem to be THE biggest problem of listener satisfaction. My understanding is that open baffle speakers work better in this area, but still, if the room is bad, the sound will be bad, once speaker placement has been optimized, so it might be good to investigate how your room is acoustically.

If you say where you are located, you might be able to find someone that already owns Spatials near you. It's always best to audition if possible.

My older M3 Turbo's sound good on all types of music and I also really enjoy "oneness of juju" type of 70's style funk, with big fat bass lines. Classical I prefer over vinyl, streaming is good, but not nearly as good as a well recorded vinyl album.
   Another plus for the Spatials is that they are fairly easy to drive, not sure how they compare to Cornwalls, good luck!

[RonN5]

what is the total square footage of your open concept area as this is a key factor...my suggestion, call Clayton at Spatial to discuss.

[TKonrad.NOLA]

what is the total square footage of your open concept area as this is a key factor...my suggestion, call Clayton at Spatial to discuss.

It's about about 300 Sq Ft with hardwood floors and 11 ft ceilings.

[minatophase3]

I have had my Spatial M4's for about 4 months now.  Hands down one of the best decisions I have made with my system.  They sound amazing on all types of music and sound really good at lower volumes, which I have to play at quite often.  Prior to getting the M4's I was using Dynaudio Special 40's.  I really enjoyed those speakers and still have them, just moved them to my 5.2 family room system.  Before upgrading the the M4's my dealer wanted me to try the Heritage Special speakers, so I put them in my system for about 3 weeks.  They were an improvement over the SP40's but I wasn't blown away with them and they needed the subs to sound their best, plus they were expensive.  I came across the Spatial line and happened to have a business trip to Salt Lake City over the summer so I met with Clayton and heard a demo of the M3's and loved what I heard. The M4's were so new they were not listed on his site yet but I did get to see them in his shop.  When it came time to order I gave Clayton my room size and he recommended the M4's over the M3's which saved me some money . 

My room is a formal living room that opens to the main entry way at the back left and opens to the formal dining room on the right.  The dimensions are approximately 13.5' x 17' for the main room portion but when you consider it is open on 2 sides the total length of the room is 29' x 24'.  Ceilings are 8.5' high.

I have the M4's about 3.5' from the front wall and I sit approx 10' from the speakers.  The speakers completely disappear in the room and produce a huge soundstage compared to the Dynaudios.  I sold my dual subs as there was no need for them.  The bass the M4's put out is extremely good, fast and accurate.  It won't shake the room like my dual subs could, but I am OK with that as it sounds so much better.

I was driving them with a Modwright KWA 150SE amplifier, which is an amazing amp (silver box on floor to the left) and a Lumin T2 as preamp.  I am moving to an integrated amplifier and am in the process of testing a couple.  Currently I am using a Hegel H390 and the sound is incredible!  The H390 has way more power than I need, but I really like the way it sounds.   In a couple of weeks I will demo an Accuphase e-380 and depending how that sounds I will either end up with it or the Hegel. 

Here is a picture of my setup, I am standing in the opening to the main entry way and the love seat you see on the right is against the wall and just to the left of that arm rest it opens to the entry way.  What I found with the M4's is that they are very easy to setup within the room PROVIDED you can get them at least several feet away from the wall.  I also have 2 of the absorption panels behind the love seat which you cannot see in the picture.  If you like the Heritage Special sound (I know I did) but want more of everything at a lower price without subs you cannot go wrong with the M4's!






 

[Tarheel]

Very nice set up.  Which spikes are you using?

[minatophase3]

Very nice set up.  Which spikes are you using?

Thank you.  I am using the longer front spikes and shorter rear.  Have them sitting on Herbies Cone/Spike decoupling gliders (Titanium). 

[TKonrad.NOLA]

I have had my Spatial M4's for about 4 months now.  Hands down one of the best decisions I have made with my system.  They sound amazing on all types of music and sound really good at lower volumes, which I have to play at quite often.  Prior to getting the M4's I was using Dynaudio Special 40's.  I really enjoyed those speakers and still have them, just moved them to my 5.2 family room system.  Before upgrading the the M4's my dealer wanted me to try the Heritage Special speakers, so I put them in my system for about 3 weeks.  They were an improvement over the SP40's but I wasn't blown away with them and they needed the subs to sound their best, plus they were expensive.  I came across the Spatial line and happened to have a business trip to Salt Lake City over the summer so I met with Clayton and heard a demo of the M3's and loved what I heard. The M4's were so new they were not listed on his site yet but I did get to see them in his shop.  When it came time to order I gave Clayton my room size and he recommended the M4's over the M3's which saved me some money . 

My room is a formal living room that opens to the main entry way at the back left and opens to the formal dining room on the right.  The dimensions are approximately 13.5' x 17' for the main room portion but when you consider it is open on 2 sides the total length of the room is 29' x 24'.  Ceilings are 8.5' high.

I have the M4's about 3.5' from the front wall and I sit approx 10' from the speakers.  The speakers completely disappear in the room and produce a huge soundstage compared to the Dynaudios.  I sold my dual subs as there was no need for them.  The bass the M4's put out is extremely good, fast and accurate.  It won't shake the room like my dual subs could, but I am OK with that as it sounds so much better.

I was driving them with a Modwright KWA 150SE amplifier, which is an amazing amp (silver box on floor to the left) and a Lumin T2 as preamp.  I am moving to an integrated amplifier and am in the process of testing a couple.  Currently I am using a Hegel H390 and the sound is incredible!  The H390 has way more power than I need, but I really like the way it sounds.   In a couple of weeks I will demo an Accuphase e-380 and depending how that sounds I will either end up with it or the Hegel. 

Here is a picture of my setup, I am standing in the opening to the main entry way and the love seat you see on the right is against the wall and just to the left of that arm rest it opens to the entry way.  What I found with the M4's is that they are very easy to setup within the room PROVIDED you can get them at least several feet away from the wall.  I also have 2 of the absorption panels behind the love seat which you cannot see in the picture.  If you like the Heritage Special sound (I know I did) but want more of everything at a lower price without subs you cannot go wrong with the M4's!

Thank you for this response.   A someone that has heard the Dynaudios, your impressions help a lot

[geerock]

I own both the Cornwall IV's and Spatial X5's.  Heres my take ......
First, the Cornwalls definitely beat the Fortes.  Especially since theres a nice dampening and crossover mod for the Cornwalls that produce another 15 to 20 percent to their performance.  Before I bought the Cornwalls late last year, I hadn't owned a box speaker in about 30 years.
The Spatials are in a downstairs basement listening room with 7 and a half foot ceilings and they sound great.  The Klipsh I have in a living room system with a high vaulted ceiling and a lot larger area.  I've swapped the speakers from room to room and the way I described where they are now are where they're staying.  I've swapped amps, DACs, pre's etc but the Klipsh perform better than the Spatials in the large area and vice versa.  Some things the X5's do slightly better, some things the Klipsh have a small leg up.  But when I want a good listening session to just enjoy the music, downstairs I go.  I just love the AMT tweeter on the X5's.  But the Cornwalls dont seem to have the classic box sound that I try to avoid.  And the bass is different between the 2.  You need to take a listen to see what suits you.

[Mr. Big]

I own both the Cornwall IV's and Spatial X5's.  Heres my take ......
First, the Cornwalls definitely beat the Fortes.  Especially since theres a nice dampening and crossover mod for the Cornwalls that produce another 15 to 20 percent to their performance.  Before I bought the Cornwalls late last year, I hadn't owned a box speaker in about 30 years.
The Spatials are in a downstairs basement listening room with 7 and a half foot ceilings and they sound great.  The Klipsh I have in a living room system with a high vaulted ceiling and a lot larger area.  I've swapped the speakers from room to room and the way I described where they are now are where they're staying.  I've swapped amps, DACs, pre's etc but the Klipsh perform better than the Spatials in the large area and vice versa.  Some things the X5's do slightly better, some things the Klipsh have a small leg up.  But when I want a good listening session to just enjoy the music, downstairs I go.  I just love the AMT tweeter on the X5's.  But the Cornwalls dont seem to have the classic box sound that I try to avoid.  And the bass is different between the 2.  You need to take a listen to see what suits you.

There is no perfect speaker, what we like is highly dependent on our ear and what we feel is right, not that it is right. We all have biases that are ingrained. For fun, I pulled my front end of the line conditioner and plugged them directly into the wall outlets after getting the AQ Firebirds cables throughout my front end and the Dragon for my amp which was also plugged directly into the wall. These power cords are so low noise, that I thought I would see if that was true, and I must say, for the money and improvement I could easily live without a line conditioner due to the design and quality of these power cords. Again the Sapphires M3 only tells you what you feed them. They are just superb in that way and you will hear any change in your system, and that is what a real, real good speaker should do. The KISS applies again, the more you add the more you color the sound, DSP corrections, and all the rest. This is not to say my front-end power conditioner does not make a change in the sound and improvement. but how much it does and what changes is now much smaller, yes it sounds a bit cleaner, bass sounds tighter, midrange more open, yet without the sound is more soulful and textured so a bit of a trade-off like all things. I would say that right out of the wall is how all gear is designed so in that way I am hearing the gear on how it was designed with no added tweaks. 

[TKonrad.NOLA]

After speaking with Cloud about my room and what I am looking to gain, I am thinking the X5.