[jwbrent]

Has either of you tried the speaker not facing up?

I presume you mean not tilted back. The matching stand is designed to tilt the XT-1 as a mechanical means of time aligning the drivers. This design also contributes to the expanive soundstage they have. No, I’ve always used the matching stands.

I spoke to the designer for Raidho at a show and asked him about the stands they make for the D-1.1 and C-1.2 which are really wobbly; I didn’t like the design being from the school of thought of using ridged metal stands filled with lead shot and sand. He was adamantly against this idea, feeling the ridgidity introduces vibration back into the speaker cabinet resulting in smeared transient detail. I presume the simple and composite wood design of the XT-1 stand is meant to accomplish—albeit, at a lesser level—the same thing. You can’t argue with the results, so I’ve not experimented.

Raidho came out with a $500 set of spikes using diamond as part of the tips for the XT-1 stand ... never tried those either.

 

[jwbrent]

Second system - air tight ref preamp inside cabinet.


Modern home called for white speakers. And Avantgardes but now selling it


Want to sell Maggie’s but struggling to let go of Luxman amps with SRA stands.


Was going to put Zero 1s here but now selling this home


Air Tight moons sound amazing with TADs but big footprint and expensive.


NIB unopened- thinking this could replace a whole set up of amps preamp Dac and speakers


That’s a thoughtful post showing when someone graduates from chasing equipment and settled on less is more with audio components that will stand the test of time as well remain pleasing to the eye. I also think from the picture you chose correctly with black given furniture, stand, artwork, vibe, etc. I actually believe the black unobtrusively melds into more rooms - white made sense for me given modern architecture and color palette of home (see pic). I too have listened to most of what is out there. The Zanden / Raidho has me feeling it could be my desert island setup as well. I think I’m going to at least sell my Magnepans, big HRS rack, Spiral Groove table and a few cartridges, and maybe my Air Tight components as well. The Luxman M800a amps I have beat everything I had previously - Constellation, CJ, VAC, etc. So I may use those to drive the TADs in my second system (different home). I also wonder what you think of the Avantgarde Zero XD1 speakers. I was going to use those in a home that I am now selling, so I could replace a complete system with those active speakers. I have not opened the boxes - was going to sell them NIB. But curious what you think of their sound compared to Raidho. Thx for any observations or advice as I purge and simplify.

You have a beautiful house; I can only imagine how much more beautiful your new house is going to be. Yes, in that setting, I can see white gloss working well with the modern design.

I forgot to include Maggies on my list.

I had Avantgarde Duos which used horns for the mids and highs, and had amplified bass enclosures fitted with conventional bass drivers. At the time I owned these, I had a house in the mountains of northern CA which included a dedicated music room, but the room turned out to be too small for the horns. I believe I couldn’t get my chair far away enough from the horns to fully integrate the sound, and that led to an overly bright presentation. I had the Nagra VPA mono tube amps (845 output tubes) driving them and a Burmester 001 CD player as the source, later a Meridian 808. The preamp was a Balanced Audio tube model.

The dynamics of this system were phenomenal, and I tried my best to keep the Duos, but in the end I sold them. I’m not familiar with the Zero One, so no comment there, but in the right room with the right electronics, Avantegards throw out a highly realistic sound, especially if one likes their music real loud (110dB+). With that said, in my humble view, a Raidho based system is on the other side of the spectrum compared to Avantgardes. More finess, delicacy, refinement than the horns. And no hint at all of treble grain, just buttery smooth.

I’m very happy with my Luxman tube amp, and I’ve heard Luxman’s big solid state amps which are quite impressive, so I understand your reservations on giving up on them. I imagine as your current house pictures show, your new house will afford you plenty of room for several music systems. I liked having multiple systems, too, when I owned my house—my bedroom system being where all my mini monitors were located driven by some kind of tube integrated with a Linn CD12 as the source.

Yes, those were the days, but life is all about simplicity now that I’m older. It’s a good thing, simplicity.

 

[podeschi]

You have a beautiful house; I can only imagine how much more beautiful your new house is going to be. Yes, in that setting, I can see white gloss working well with the modern design.

I forgot to include Maggies on my list.

I had Avantgarde Duos which used horns for the mids and highs, and had amplified bass enclosures fitted with conventional bass drivers. At the time I owned these, I had a house in the mountains of northern CA which included a dedicated music room, but the room turned out to be too small for the horns. I believe I couldn’t get my chair far away enough from the horns to fully integrate the sound, and that led to an overly bright presentation. I had the Nagra VPA mono tube amps (845 output tubes) driving them and a Burmester 001 CD player as the source, later a Meridian 808. The preamp was a Balanced Audio tube model.

The dynamics of this system were phenomenal, and I tried my best to keep the Duos, but in the end I sold them. I’m not familiar with the Zero One, so no comment there, but in the right room with the right electronics, Avantegards throw out a highly realistic sound, especially if one likes their music real loud (110dB+). With that said, in my humble view, a Raidho based system is on the other side of the spectrum compared to Avantgardes. More finess, delicacy, refinement than the horns. And no hint at all of treble grain, just buttery smooth.

I’m very happy with my Luxman tube amp, and I’ve heard Luxman’s big solid state amps which are quite impressive, so I understand your reservations on giving up on them. I imagine as your current house pictures show, your new house will afford you plenty of room for several music systems. I liked having multiple systems, too, when I owned my house—my bedroom system being where all my mini monitors were located driven by some kind of tube integrated with a Linn CD12 as the source.

Yes, those were the days, but life is all about simplicity now that I’m older. It’s a good thing, simplicity.

Thanks - yes pretty home but I am selling it. Appreciate the insights on Avenfgardes.

 

[jwbrent]

New picture of my setup ...

MacBook Air / Audirvana+ > Chord Qutest DAC > Luxman MQ-88 > Raidho XT-1 ... wired up with Kimber.

 

[kazsud]

Simplistic and beautiful.

I take it they have a deep sound stage?

 

[jwbrent]

Simplistic and beautiful.

I take it they have a deep sound stage?

Oh yes! Total disappearing act. I imagine if I had more space, even more so.

I like simple.

 

[jwbrent]

Well, I’ve owned my Raidhos for almost 3 years now, and they are still the best stand mounted high end speakers I’ve owned. Some similar speakers I’ve owned over the years were the B&W Silver Signature, Dynaudio Special 25, ProAc Studio 1 and Tablette Signature 8, Acoustic Energy AE1 Signature, Wilson Watt, Sonus faber Signum, Focal Electra 1008 Be, and a few others that I don’t recall right now. These speakers ranged in price from 2.5K-8K a pair.

I’ve always been a fan of high quality mini monitors due to their disappearing act. Of course, I sacrificed low end extension, but I did use a REL subwoofer with a few of these.

Anyway, the Raidho XT-1 has been a keeper for me, but recently, I noticed the titanium clad woofers were tarnishing badly (I live near the ocean), so after contacting Raidho and doing further research online on how best to clean the woofers, I came up with a winner, Meguiars carnuba wax. After the application, the woofers look brand new, I’m so happy with the results. Just a heads up for any Raidho XT owner out there ...

 

[podeschi]

What part of the woofers did you apply the wax to? I love my XT1s so much I bought another pair for my home theater room (with audience flagship mini monitors as center).

 

[kazsud]

That's a lot of speakers.

I still haven't heard any Raidho. I read somewhere that two of the designer/engineer left to start their own company and someone took their place. Whoever took their place already made a nice addendum to a few Scanonic MB speakers. Their model # is followed by a B.

 

[jwbrent]

What part of the woofers did you apply the wax to? I love my XT1s so much I bought another pair for my home theater room (with audience flagship mini monitors as center).

Just the titanium portion of the woofers. Any little bit that I got on the surrounds I immediately cleaned off with a damp cloth. They look beautiful now.

When I did hear back from Raidho, they suggested using isopropyl alcohol, but that didn’t work at all and just left streaks, plus I had to be extra careful not to get any on the surrounds since rubber and alcohol are not good friends.

 

[koven]

Raidho tweeter performance is truly a masterpiece.

 

[jwbrent]

That's a lot of speakers.

I still haven't heard any Raidho. I read somewhere that two of the designer/engineer left to start their own company and someone took their place. Whoever took their place already made a nice addendum to a few Scanonic MB speakers. Their model # is followed by a B.

I think it would be worthwhile to hear a pair sometime, either at a dealer or an audio show. The first time I heard a pair I immediately knew this was the sound I was looking for. The ribbon tweeter is pure magic, in my view.

 

[jwbrent]

That's a lot of speakers.

I still haven't heard any Raidho. I read somewhere that two of the designer/engineer left to start their own company and someone took their place. Whoever took their place already made a nice addendum to a few Scanonic MB speakers. Their model # is followed by a B.

I didn’t know about the personnel change. I’ll have to check if the designer of the XT-1–Michael Borresen—is one of the people who left the company.

 

[jwbrent]

Yes, a lot of stand mounted speakers. Since my career was in High End Audio, I also owned several five figure floor standing speakers as well including Watt/Puppy 6 and 7s, Sonus faber Amatis, and Avantgarde Duos. Don’t get me started on all the source gear and amplifiers I owned over the years as well. I had a great time working and sharing my passion for high performance gear. Retired now.

 

[jwbrent]

That's a lot of speakers.

I still haven't heard any Raidho. I read somewhere that two of the designer/engineer left to start their own company and someone took their place. Whoever took their place already made a nice addendum to a few Scanonic MB speakers. Their model # is followed by a B.

It appears the head designer of most of the Raidho lineup including the XT-1 has left the company; he’s no longer listed on the page of key personnel. I’ll be interested in his future pursuits ...