[Michaelnelson]

I have CS2.3* with upgraded drivers that I got from EP. I had Clayton come set the system up about 6 mo. ago but I moved to a new home and I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the CS2.3, cause I had my eye on the new Sasha's by Wilson.  but after talking to Clayton and him telling me that I hadn't even hit the tip of the ice berg with the speakers. he came back out to the new house and brought with him the TC electronics Dac/Pre Studiokonnect 48. He hooked it up to the Mac Server using his New Spatial software (Supported by Pure Vinyl) and he made the speakers Tri-amped. Holy Mother of God, I thought that I had gotten all I can out of my system.  Those speakers have no limits.  Your head will explode before those speakers do.  Having amps running all drivers just opened up the system along with Clayton’s new speaker cables.  One of the key factors was the Spatial EQ. Mind you it took 3 days to get the sound right.  Before the systems sound  transported you to the venue you the performance was taking place in.  If it was James Taylor you were live at the Fillmore.  But now it gives you a front row performance.  You are one on one with the band.  You are in a private concert. The system is nothing short of magnificent.  At this level of listing it allows you to be aware of the artist performance, you hear all the heavy breathing after the belt out those 16 bars,  and you appreciate the hard work it took to make you snap your fingers.  I have had systems that cost so much more and have given me a fraction of what this system does. Nothing beats open baffle speakers.  I know of no speaker that can give you so many different layers and sound good in all of them. I know hiring Clayton to come out and dial in your room is not cheap, but I look at as buying another piece of gear, and this gear never needs changing unless I move again.
 
Amps= Firstwatt running the Highs. Halcro running Mids.  Virtue Audio running Bass
Server Mac book Pro with Spatial Music. 
Wires.  All interconnects and speaker wire is made by Spatial (I call them Black Ops cable he uses some military RF blocking technology.)
Richard Grey Power conditioners.       

[targa02]

Thanks for the mini review!  I am having my 2.3s upgraded to the new drivers and will be tri ampnig, but having Clayton set up system will have to be done via phone and Internet.

[Michaelnelson]

Having Clayton set it up via phone is good. But if u can have him come out that for me made a night and day difference.

[bdh]

Having different amps for the treble vs. the mids doesn't cause any disconnect?

You hired him and flew him out to your house just to setup your speakers?

[JDUBS]

I've been curious about this for a while.  Unfortunately, there is VERY little info out there on Spatial.  I think 6moons is supposed to have a write-up but who knows when that is coming.

I'm a big believer in actively triamping and am doing it currently via my DEQX.  I e-mailed Clayton a little while back on his software and its currently limited to 24/96 (like the DEQX) but should be expanding to support 24/192 by years-end.

-Jim

[dibber]

The Orpheus is an amazing piece of equipment isn't it?  It doesn't sound solid state. It's just dead quiet and has no audible jitter.  I have it bi-amped to the CS 2.3s with the spatial software and purevinyl running on the mac.  The sound just sucks you in.  I sit there for hours most evenings reading and listening to music.  Sometimes I actually find it hard to read ... kind of like trying to read at a live concert.  I can't really imagine how it could be improved, but after this post, wow maybe you're on to something with the tri-amping.  Are you using pure vinyl to do all 3 cross-over passes?   Do you then have 3 ARC UIs running simultaneously?  Are you doing any equalization or other software plug-ins?  Clayton really goes the extra mile (literally) doesn't he?   One of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

[bdh]

Michaelnelson, is there a disconnect between using the Firstwatt on the highs and the Halcro on the mids?  Is it seemless?  Since I'm unlikely to find another VAC Ren 30/30 in order to do tri-amping, I had a thought of maybe doing tri-amp by trying a SET on either the mids or treble.

SET's are supposed to be magic in the mid-range.  Also, I started listening to the CS2.3's without the cloth over the mid and tweeter drivers.  (One of those 'a veil is lifted' moments.)  Although the highs can be a bit peaky without the grill if the speakers are pointed directly at your ears, but since my speakers are pointed in front of my face, I hardly experience any of it.  Yet with just a slight bit of peakiness on a few recordings, I'm wondering if a good SET would eliminate that if used on the tweeters, yet still provide the extended highs I'm getting with the VAC.

[targa02]

Hi Michael or anyone else using the new Spatial HD,

How user friendly is the interface?  For instance, is it simple/intuitive enough that my very tolerant wife can switch between listening and watching TV without needing a flow chart?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

I have CS2.3* with upgraded drivers that I got from EP. I had Clayton come set the system up about 6 mo. ago but I moved to a new home and I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the CS2.3, cause I had my eye on the new Sasha's by Wilson.  but after talking to Clayton and him telling me that I hadn't even hit the tip of the ice berg with the speakers. he came back out to the new house and brought with him the TC electronics Dac/Pre Studiokonnect 48. He hooked it up to the Mac Server using his New Spatial software (Supported by Pure Vinyl) and he made the speakers Tri-amped. Holy Mother of God, I thought that I had gotten all I can out of my system.  Those speakers have no limits.  Your head will explode before those speakers do.  Having amps running all drivers just opened up the system along with Clayton’s new speaker cables.  One of the key factors was the Spatial EQ. Mind you it took 3 days to get the sound right.  Before the systems sound  transported you to the venue you the performance was taking place in.  If it was James Taylor you were live at the Fillmore.  But now it gives you a front row performance.  You are one on one with the band.  You are in a private concert. The system is nothing short of magnificent.  At this level of listing it allows you to be aware of the artist performance, you hear all the heavy breathing after the belt out those 16 bars,  and you appreciate the hard work it took to make you snap your fingers.  I have had systems that cost so much more and have given me a fraction of what this system does. Nothing beats open baffle speakers.  I know of no speaker that can give you so many different layers and sound good in all of them. I know hiring Clayton to come out and dial in your room is not cheap, but I look at as buying another piece of gear, and this gear never needs changing unless I move again.
 
Amps= Firstwatt running the Highs. Halcro running Mids.  Virtue Audio running Bass
Server Mac book Pro with Spatial Music. 
Wires.  All interconnects and speaker wire is made by Spatial (I call them Black Ops cable he uses some military RF blocking technology.)
Richard Grey Power conditioners.       

[bdh]

Okay, a couple of months ago I acquired a James Burgess SET with 45-based output tubes and 5687 input tubes.  I chose an amp based on the 45 due to quite a number of descriptions of it compared to other SET amps on various forums.  And I'm glad I did.  This is the sound for me.  It is so real sounding and has a 'magic' that the push-pull 300B VAC is lacking in comparison.  (Although the VAC had it in spades compared to the solid-state amp I tried.)

I month later I found another 45-based SET and got another James Burgess 45, but this time based on a 12ax7 input tube.  After spending some time ordering and trying different 5687's, 12ax7's, 45's, and rectifier tubes to get the best sound possible, I finally programmed the DBX for Tri-amping (I had overwrote Claytons default one and so programmed one from scratch - the crossovers are 121Hz and 917Hz).  And I must say the difference in clarity and definition is very surprising.  As clear as I thought it was before, the music seems quite muddy via bi-amping and using the internal speaker crossovers.  I wouldn't have believed it without actually hearing the difference in a short time span.

A few adjustments in the EQ need to be made due to the differences between the two 45-based amps and the effects of not using the speaker crossovers anymore.  I didn't do a new calibration, I just used the EQ settings from the bi-amp program.

Although I haven't tried using the VAC as one of the 3 amps, I can't imagine it would work too well as the sound-stage and sonic signature is just too different from the 45-SET amps.

Thanks for the impetus in trying out tri-amping!

Now the last thing left to try is an Orpheus Prism.

[bdh]

For those doing tri-amping, after continued listening, I just felt that something was wrong or missing, sort of thin sounding, as compared to bi-amping and using the speaker crossover (or as compared to what I believe to be real sounding).  After playing with lots of different settings, I finally tried setting the tweeter crossover to 891Hz (it was 917), and leaving the upper crossover of the mids at 917Hz.  Ahh, now it felt 100% right.  Just increadible clarity, sound, and emotion.