[morganc]

Yes I love the tone of the guitar on Sea Change as well as the orchestra. I find the spatials do Tone very well! 

And Tyson, I almost played the same Billie Eilish album.  Honestly I love them all and on spatials the certainly rock !  PS I owe you a message, ie caps:  I'm looking for them!

[mrotino332]

I appreciate all the recommendations and will definitely give all of them a listen.

I've had the X5s for two years now and they are the most live sounding speaker I've owned and I've been an audiophile for at least 30 years now.

My system comprises of two integrated amplifiers, the Pathos Twin Towers and Tsakiridis Aeolos both about 35 watts channel.  The Pathos is definitely the better sounding and my reference for 20 years now but costs a lot more.  I'm using a Metrum acoustics ambre streamer via I2S to an upgraded Metrum Acoustics Onyx (latest DAC 3 chips) and have just replaced my older PS audio P300 regenerator with the new PS Audio Stellar 3 regenerator and only use it for my digital stuff.  I stream from both Tidal and Qobuz.
Room is 25 X 11 with only 7 foot ceilings but dedicated with lots of treatments.





I recommend Dave's True Story CD.  Was recorded in the 90's but very well recorded with excellent quirky vocals and impressive imaging, instrumental layering, etc.  You can really hear the acoustics of the recording studio.  Not a very well known group but take a listen.  Favorite songs are Like a Rock, Crazy Eyes and Marisa

[Tangram]

Great thread idea! But time for a bit more analog representation!

13X20X6.5' room. Diffusers on front wall, heavy carpet on floor over vinyl, absorption on first side reflection and ceiling cloud. Quasi-bass trap tucked away in cavity behind home theater screen. My equipment rack is on the other side of the wall behind the speakers.

TW Acustic Raven One/Graham Phantom II/Kiseki Purple Heart > Allnic H3000 phono pre > EAR 868pl pre > Pass Labs XA30.5 amp > M3 Sapphires




I've chosen Dexter Gordon's One Flight Up as an album that really lets my system shine. But it could be any of the all-analog Blue Note reissues - almost all of them are spectacular.
The song "Tanya" was composed by Donald Byrd, who plays trumpet on One Flight Up. It takes up all of Side One. The sound is very much "in your room". Horns are so tonally on point that it's scary. They never get harsh. The drumming is superb. It propels the song with tasteful vigour. Cymbal hits are, again, tonally right on the money.

I've got quite a few rock and indie albums that bring out the best in the Spatials but if I ever want someone to have a WOW! reaction, the Tone Poet and other Blue Note reissues from the late 50s and early 60s are the ones I reach for, especially One Flight Up.

[Desertpilot]

Lately, I have listened to a lot of music by Sibelius.  I really enjoy how his compositions "tell a story".  A recent addition to my collection is Sibelius: Orchestral Works.  Edward Gardner, conductor, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Lise Davidsen.  Chandos (CHSA 5217), recorded in the Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway, in 2018 & 2021.  From Graham Williams review: "Arguably, the most compelling reason for acquiring this excellent Chandos all Sibelius SACD from Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is their gripping performance of Luonnotar, the composer’s Tone Poem for Soprano and Orchestra, with the phenomenal Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as the soloist."

The entire album is wonderful.  It pulls you in to the story.  But, the reason I am posting this is to highlight how great the X3s reproduce a soprano's voice.  She appears in two of the tracks and in each one her voice shimmers with beauty.  Graham describes her voice, "...Davidsen has a voice of amazing power and range yet she uses it with great sensitivity. Her top notes are projected with an apparently effortless laser accuracy and she brings an other-worldly vocal quality to this haunting work..."  And this is precisely the point.  Her voice is not strident or screechy.  It flows from the X3s in a beautiful melody.  Of course, Gardner and the orchestra do a fine job complimenting Ms. Davidsen.

Marcus
14wx30lx11-14h vaulted
Music server via USB to exaSound S88 DAC
XLR to Parasound A52+ amplifier

[Tyson]

Soprano voice is a brutal test for any system.

[Desertpilot]

I absolutely adore choir music.  I have plenty of examples, but one stands out to demonstrate the power of the X3s.  Hector Berlioz: 'Grande Messe des morts', Requiem, Op. 5.  (Berlioz, after he was commissioned to write a Requiem) per the liner notes: "He set to work (on it) at once like a man possessed:  'The text of the Requiem was a quarry that I had long coveted. Now at last it was mine, and I fell upon it with a kind of fury. My brain felt as though it would explode with the pressure of ideas. The outline of one piece was barely sketched before the next formed itself in my mind. It was impossible to write fast enough, and I devised a sort of musical shorthand which... was a great help to me.'"  So taken with it was Berlioz "At the end of his life the Requiem held a special place in his work, as we know from a letter to his friend Humbert Ferrand from 1867: 'If I was threatened with the destruction of all my scores save one, it is the Requiem I would ask to be spared.'"

The music is orchestral.  The X3s give it all to you.  Very wide and deep soundstage.  Female choir in the left rear.  Bass male choir slightly off center to the right.  Tenor male choir off to the right.  Instruments are forward and easily distinguished.  Track two is especially noteworthy.  Plucking of deep double bass notes give a driving tempo.  All three sections of the choir sing individually and together.  Nothing is out of balance.  As the brass bands come in (there are four of them) you will hear them loudly and distinctly.  Two bands in the rear of the stage and two forward.

There are two to recommend.  One is by Edward Gardner conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, 2018 performance.  Chandos (CHSA 5219).  The other, conducted by Antonio Pappano with the Concertgebouworkest Orchestra, 2019 performance.  RCO Live (RCO 19006).  Both are great (and I own both in surround SACD) but I prefer the Pappano version.

Marcus
14wx30lx11-14h vaulted
Music server via USB to exaSound S88 DAC
XLR to Parasound A52+ amplifier

[abomwell]

As the brass bands come in (there are four of them) you will hear them loudly and distinctly.  Two bands in the rear of the stage and two forward.


[/quote]

I heard the rehearsals and performance of this at The Eastman Theater in Rochester, NY. I sat dead center in the theater and when the four antiphonal brass choirs came in, from front, left, right and behind, the sound was glorious! I had
 goose bumps on top of goosebumps and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This must be a hoot to hear on your surround sound system, Marcus!

[Desertpilot]

I heard the rehearsals and performance of this at The Eastman Theater in Rochester, NY. I sat dead center in the theater and when the four antiphonal brass choirs came in, from front, left, right and behind, the sound was glorious! I had
 goose bumps on top of goosebumps and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This must be a hoot to hear on your surround sound system, Marcus!

Hi Al, Yes, goosebumps.

-- The Gardner version: the brass bands are in the four corners of the theater (similar to the performance you heard).  Thus, when the bands come in, they are played through my FL & FR & SL rear & SR rear speakers.  It fills my entire room with sound.  Quite an experience.
-- The Pappano version: the theater was space limited.  Therefore, the conductor placed the front brass bands in the rear of the stage and the rear bands were placed near the front of the stage.  Thus, the bands play within your soundstage.  For your stereo system, this would be ideal performance.

I like both versions equally well.  My mood drives which version I want to hear.

Edit:  I listened to both versions again today.  My preference remains decidedly in favor of the Pappano version.  Most important is the choir.  Gosh, I've never heard a choir on SACD so fantastic.  The voices are clear and full.  I might as well be listening to it in person.
 
Marcus