3 Speakers Compared! Sound Clips! Ultimate Audiophile Recording! 

Track 1 - Speaker 1 - 5:04 Track 1 - Speaker 2 - 7:18 Track 1 - Speaker 3 - 8:36 Track 2 - Speaker 1 - 9:42 Track 2 - Speaker 2 - 11:14 Track 2 - Speaker 3 - 12:57 Track 3 - Speaker 1 - 14:20 Track 3 - Speaker 2 - 15:45 Track 3 - Speaker 3 - 17:02 Track 4 - Speaker 1 - 17:52 Track 4 - Speaker 2 - 20:10 Track 4 - Speaker 3 - 22:10 Track 5 - Speaker 1 - 23:49 Track 5 - Speaker 2 - 26:10 Track 5 - Speaker 3 - 28:15 Track 6 - Speaker 1 - 29:51 Track 6 - Speaker 2 - 31:11 Track 6 - Speaker 3 - 32:34 Track 7 - Speaker 1 - 33:56 Track 7 - Speaker 2 - 35:34 Track 7 - Speaker 3 - 33:46 Track 8 - Speaker 1 - 38:11 Track 8 - Speaker 2 - 39:40 Track 8 - Speaker 3 - 40:53 Track 9 - Speaker 1 - 42:06 Track 9 - Speaker 2 - 43:38 Track 9 - Speaker 3 - 44:58 Track 10 - Speaker 1 - 46:53 Track 10 - Speaker 2 - 48:40 Track 10 - Speaker 3 - 51:26

I really like this blind speaker comparisons. It might even been better to not know the prices, so it takes out expectations too.

The binaural recording method really makes it easy to hear differences.

This is like a journey into how to listen critically; with a discerning ear. The comparisons are very helpful. I would personally find this experience even more exciting if the first couple of songs didn’t have any commentary, so we can draw our own conclusions. Then, Ron, you can tell us what differences you hear as the video progresses. One other recommendation: if possible, put the camera where binaural randy is. It’s that much more immersive / true to life when the sound and picture match up.

Thanks for the comparisons. I have to say that I think I'd find it a bit more helpful if you played each set of clips back-to-back-to-back, and then added your personal commentary after the clips were complete. Though your commentary is quite helpful, putting it in between each speaker seems to "reset" my listening and makes it harder to do fine comparisons. I found I had to find the starting points for the audio clips and click back-and-forth to really get a good set of comparisons. I'd love to hear a comparison between boxed and open baffle speakers (and maybe planar if you can borrow a pair).

I fell asleep watching this and when I woke up you were still talking. I really enjoyed the part of the video where I was asleep.

Don’t know the brands yet, but the 1st sound harsh and boomy, the 2nd sound muffled, and the 3rd sound great. 3rd can hear the space between the instruments and imaging is amazing, sound tight and balanced, everything sounds more “real.” Interested in finding out the makes and models.

That was great. Very interesting. You should do more of these - it's a great way to get everyone involved in a direct listtening evaluation. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

You can even hear differences on mobile, no headphones required. You don’t have to have golden ears, or crazy gear to hear the difference. The 600Ms were so punchy that they made my case resonate. The XLSs did sound neutral, and the Bouchards definitely had an accentuated top end, but in a good way.

Very interesting and fun comparison! Aside from the insight into the performance of those speakers, it also gives us some insight into Rons hearing and how he perceives and describes the sound and its differences and details. Thanks for putting in all the work Ron, must have taken hours upon hours to create.

Ron. I really enjoyed this review format. It was really interesting to hear the voicing of various speakers. It was pretty interesting and I enjoyed your commentary. I would encourage you to do more reviews like this. It’s more informative than the usual reviews. I will say I was surprised I could hear the differences between the three speakers on my iPad and headphones. Keep up the good work and glad to see you back. By the way. I loved your LOTS video. I’ve used up at least two roles of tape playing with my speaker placement. The one conclusion I’ve made is setup it really really important.

Man… this is by far the best video you’ve posted. I was literally looking to the right and stopping the video twice at the start, thinking someone was moving up on me! I guessed the #1 and #3 bookies! :-) Keep on the good work.

I have the S400mk2 at home and in this recording it was Speaker 2 that sounded to me more like them than the actual Buchardts (speaker 3). Speaker 2’s apparent accuracy, even handedness and musical insight really reminded me of the S400mk2 even though I knew it wasn’t them based on the price point. I waited until the end of the video to find out what each model was. Strange experience. I listened in Apple ear pods which I know aren’t ultimately very accurate, but the differences in the three speakers were very clear. Great job Ron. Loved the concept and execution. I’ll listen again with better headphones!

I loved this presentation! Might be better if the prices were hidden also. I ranked them as follows: 1. XLS, 2. S400 mk2, 3. RP600M ii. However, I felt like the S400 mk2's were a db or 2 louder. Had it been closer matched, it might be a tie between the XLS and S400's. Now, considering the price, the XLS easily takes it. Great job!!! 👌🏽

Blind comparisons are my favorite. Really nice work! I can appreciate the amount of time that goes into a production like this. My brother picked up the Polk R200s from S&S about three weeks ago and I was hoping it was one of the three. We are eager for such a comparison with the Buckhards. He has been on a journey for the past four years for bookshelf speakers. You can imagine how many he's had over this period. It's been commonplace for his weekend plans to include reboxing and sending back the prior month's audition (trial period). The R200s are the first he is keeping. The Buchards are ones I was pushing him to hear. He did not get there, but I must say I too am very impressed with the R200. I am a Fleetwood Audio DeVille owner and extremely happy.

THAT WAS AWSOME. LOVe that you kept us in the dark, must have more of this [;ease 1. had some weight to it, fun 2. amazing from the mid range down, has a open baffle sound there was just something in the highs i didnt like, most balanced 3. great from mid range up, but didnt enjoy the bass kinda like having a great bookshelf with a sub that wasnt intergrated properly

Wow I really enjoyed this, and I feel like the presentation of the comparison (through a mic, then youtube, etc.) was a lot more useful than I thought it would be at the start. That mic might be the real star of the show! The Klipsch were kind of an easy guess, and I guessed right on the Buchardts too but that was more of a stab in the dark. My guess on 2 was Elac Unifi reference. The Buchardts were extremely impressive (the bass is astounding), but those XLS are just the kind of speaker I seek out and appreciate the most. I would strongly encourage more videos in this format, I loved it, but it might be even more effective comparing speakers that are at comparable price points, and maybe saving some of the commentary for the end to avoid "coloring" our perceptions as much. But regardless, bravo on both the concept and the execution here!

Thank you for this video, quite interesting results.. I would expect the Buchardts to outperform definitely the Klipsch-es and maaaaaybe the DIY set, but i surely didn't think it would be the clear winner in every single one of the tests you made. Kudos to Mads for that.. And also kudos to you , because I think you are the first one to say how things are with the RP600.. yes, i never heard the MKII, but the praise the mkI got, is beyond me.. I simple comparison to the similarly priced Triangle BR03 is really all it takes. Waiting for the S400 full review, keep it up.

You´re the best out there! These kind of serious demos requires serious response from the viewers, IMO. One thing that might improve us listeners is to edit sound clips between the speakers playing the same song to easier hear the differences instant and leave your professional comments afterwards. I really love your comments and I agree in most of every thing you said. It is good to know that your perceived sound signature equals mine... Speaker 1. Sounds fatigued with a teenage sound. This is not mature with emphasized bass and top range with a unnatural mid range adding a boxy coloration to the sound. When I discovered that it was from Klipsch I was not chocked. Speaker 2. Mmmmm. Sound much more dry (less boxy sounding), nothing pronounced, nothing missing. I was wondering if you had all speakers at the same perceived matched volume level as these sounded a little bit lower, IMO. But that could be an effect of less bumped bass/treble? I could live with these speakers as they had less coloration and kept me just listening without distractions and I think they will grow on you. Speaker 3. Somewhere in between speaker 1 & 2, but way better in every regard comparing to speaker 1. A little bit more dynamic and open sounding against speaker 2. They sounded good to my ears and perhaps a little more fun than speaker 2. Perhaps a little bit more refined 3-D as well. Fun can lean towards listening fatigue in the long end perhaps?... hard to tell.

Great great video, thanks for the efforts to film it and thanks for the awesome experience.

Tried to watch this last night. Ended up falling asleep. New Record Day ASMR.

I knew 1 was Klipsch RP600 mark ii's from first note and I like them the best. Of course I have RP600's original. Paired with a tube amp like I have I would choose them. I also love the forte IV's

Great Video Ron. Thank you for the effort.🙂👍🙏 Frederick

Did anyone notice the most important aspect of this recording? The nuance, texture and overall simplicity and wholesomeness of the pink ball that lies At the left corner of the room . It brings forth the wholesomeness of the room which extends to the overall familial reach and character of the reviewer and the review as a whole. Shocked, simply stunned by the lack of notice. 😍 THAT says just about everything there is to know about the review and the reviewer. Thank you for putting a smile on my face and A warmth to my listening experience!

Thanks for an excellent review. Please do more of these really informative blind comparison videos. The XLS Encore is the closest in sound quality to my much more expensive reference speakers.

Good show! Thanks Ron!

That was really fun! Amazing how good they all were. My vote was speaker two. I couldn't hear enough of a difference between 2 & 3 to justify the additional cost. 3 seemed to go a bit lower and maybe a bit more detail in the bass but I would be perfectly happy with #2 as a speaker for me. Love the reveal at the end, I'm a believer. Cheers.

i deleted my first comment after listening again. All of these speakers sound much better than average. The Encores seemed less dynamic than the other two but has a very safe sound.. The Klipsch's has a dynamic and upfront sound and they wouldn't be my first choice for orchestral music. The Buchardt 's were very refined. Nothing jumps out at you, just a good presentation. I would feel good about owning any of the three. Thank YOU New Record Day!

Speaker 1 > speaker 3 > speaker 2. Thanks for the video! Okey so I now checked the reveal, and that alligns with previous judgement from other video comparisons. RP6000 (and polk R200) scores high for me even the mkI which supposedly measured bad by ASR. I think its the high frequency clarity I enjoy. Mostly use the E project youtube page for comparisons whoch also just released a video with the Revel M16 which ASR recommends, and I was disappointed. It wad also done on an amp/dac recommended by ASR, but to me that amp/dac made every speaker sound bad. The Emotiva TA1 and SMSL DA9 sounds much better to me. And so there is defo still quite a lot of taste involved in equipment choice

Really enjoyed this! I agreed with almost all your comments. The Klipsch were just too thin and shouty. Your internals comment half way through pretty much gave it away that they were a GR Research product. The Encores were my favorite of the three. The Buchardt were a bit technicolor, but good. I preferred them on a few of the tracks, but overall the neutrality of the Encores on everything won the day. Full disclosure: I own NX-Oticas, so Danny's taste is something I agree with.

Very helpful demo. It's surprising how much is conveyed. I hope you will continue or expand this format. Thanks for all you're doing.

Just hooked up my headphone systems Geewizzz man that head/mic is the best i have ever heard in a video sound demo Hell yeah Ron !! I am stunned !!

I'm listening on $14 drivers in custom built enclosures with minimal processing and realize that I'm happy with what I have. Coming from a guy that has no problem spending for quality. Thank you for these type of videos, Helping us all make more informed decisions.

That was fantastic.. Why just talk about the sound and comparisons when you can hear them for yourself. I love the methodology, the rigor and your comments are helpful to confirm what we heard. Thank you so much and this was very enjoyable to me.

Great video. This is actually fun. I like this style

Love this review format, and the nude censored speakers :)

the amount of times i got spooked in the begining of the video... yeah 🤣

Ron Thank you for your hard work and dedication. The blind test was fantastic! I learned a lot. Speaker #2 for me.

Ron, great video thanks for putting in the time and expense to produce this. For my money add an EQ or tone controls and any of the speakers would be great. Dial in what you ears need!

Don't you just love the Trains running along hwy 287 all times of the day!! Lol.. I have never heard Danny's speakers before and I was on a tight budget, these would be the ones for me. They are in a sweet spot of consistency imo. I love it when Randy comes out and plays!!! Glad to see you and the family doing good! 👍

I could not live with the RP600MkII based on this, except maybe in a dead room; I really like the neutrality of the Encore, as I don't see how long listening could ever be fatiguing; but I might miss a little of this Buchardt wonderfulness. Those (Buchardt) speakers sound great to my ear a lot of the time, and I could see spending the extra money to get them over the Encore. But if I never heard the Buchardt, I could be happy with the Encore. Great product, Danny.

Thank you for doing this Ron, it was more revealing than I expected. I second the suggestion that you do A-B-C-commentary in the future. The GR speaker sounded the most neutral to me, but all three were easy to enjoy.

Dude during the opening I thought someone as at my front door- dang this sound is good.

i Just Got my Encore parts in the mail last Friday... ordered in November... frankly I had forgot about it with all i have going on. I am pumped to get these built!! They will be my second DIY build, I can't wait to get started on them.

Ron - I did not like speaker 1 at all on any of the tracks and it was no surprise why at the reveal. Im not a fan of the low end Klipsch sound. If I want the "Klipsch sound" Im going for the real stuff - Heritage series. I waffled back and forth between speaker 2 and 3 depending on the track and honestly couldnt decide if I like one better. I kept thinking 2 but then 3 would give me something that I liked - differently I guess. More refined maybe. Knowing the prices ruined the objectiveness for me and may have swaed me a tiny bit but I really liked both and would need in-my-room testing if I had to pick one. Nice job as always!

The binaural experience on my Grado 325’s was so very interesting & enjoyable and I appreciate your exploring with this model. Thanks and really enjoying those 4 Ohm Buchardts paired with a Vidar for a well matched 200W drive.

🤗 RON…NOT TRYING TO FLATTER YOU AT ALL…BUT IMHHO THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO REVIEW SPEAKERS AND I know it’s a lot of hard work 😓.. but I appreciate it and I hope you will continue to educate and entertain us too🤗👍😍😍😍 PS I heard you talking over my right shoulder and with my eyes 👀 closed I heard you move about the room 😎😍😍😍

came back to this video 10 months later...now listening with a pair of Audeze lcd-x through a rupert neve design headphone amplifier. impressions were similar to first time: 3rd set of speakers are really fantastic. very realistic with lots of information, clarity, detail, depth, separation... you can listen to the reverberations on each recording; dynamic and organic! 2nd set of speakers, really muffled, unbalanced, dark....extremely colored! liked the least, by far. 1st set of speakers, lack depth (3d) but are fun and dynamic, grab your attention. way more balanced than the 2nd set of speakers. again, hope you have the time to do more of these sound clips. they are incredibly valuable!!

Okay, this blew me away. First time I saw a test and demo like that. Wish I commented during the test because it's funny the second pair are from GR. I was considering a pair. These were my favorite. I thought they had just a more balance than the third speaker. Which surprised me once I saw the brand. The first ones or Klipsch no surprise here, the bass was muddy and just jammed together and the highs are over-pronounced. Total Teenager speaker. Good one do this again.

Congratulations! This was brilliant, hands down the best review I've seen/listened. Listened, that was the key, deciding by myself which sound I like the most, based on the actual sound, not a description of it. It took me quite some time to go over the whole thing, not to mention how many times I marked where spk 1, 2 and 3 were to skip and hear the differences without interruption. My preferences, Buchardt, Klipsch (surprisingly as I'm not a fan of Klipsch) and the GR Reasearch (surprisingly again as I tend to like Dany's creations). Again, simply put, brilliant! Thank you!!!

I am thinking about building the CSS 1Td x or the XLS so this was a treat. I would love it if you would binaural those to along with any other speaker you choose in a blind test. Thanks for a great channel you have put together.

Three suggestions that would hopefully make comparisons of this kind more useful: 1. I see this was already suggested, but it was my immediate reaction to the video as I started watching: please don't tell us the prices beforehand :) It would have been much more fun if you told us there are 3 speakers, worth around $800, $1500 and $2500, and it was up to us to guess which is which. 2. Level matching: in some of the clips speaker #2 was slightly quieter, and I'm sure you know that louder always sounds better, all else being equal, it is extremely important to match levels as best you can. 3. Most of the clips are acoustical music, it's not very revealing as far as the tonal balance of the speaker. What I mean is that in order to hear the difference in the base region the music has to have base to begin with (and not just one note or one instrument), and the same goes for any frequency range. Music with rich spectrum is more revealing - modern rock, electronic. Symphonic music, perhaps (but it's lacking the upper high frequency range). To me, track #10 made it the easiest to hear the difference between speakers, but this track is also not the best there is.

I love that you did a video like this, but I'd like to hear each of them back to back to back with no commentary in-between.

I loved this, Ron. After a few tracks, I started to identify what I was hearing: speaker 1 has good bass but a nasal and shouty midrange and uncomfortably bright and harsh uppers, speaker 2 solves most of those problems and sounds smooth, well controlled and easy on the ear but maybe a bit safe, and speaker 3 has the best mids and more detailed uppers that sometimes sounded a touch bright but I think it was being honest to the source. At the moment, I’m chromecasting to my Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Pianos/Electrocompaniet AW220/Creek OBH12/Lite DAC, but I will redo when I get my Spring 3 KTE plus Pre in a few weeks. Can’t wait!

Really cool Video!! I thought number 3 were the burchards but i was surprised that number 2 was a GR Kit. I clicked it as my favorit before the end of the video and i found them really natural sounding through my higher end iem setup. This was fun! Thanks!

Holy crap you scared the crap out of me with that opening

It’s good to see that your appetite has returned Ron! ;) The XLS Encores tell you straight news and let the facts speak for themselves. The Buchardts editorialize and add some seasoning to the story, to grab more of your attention. Their mids and highs are definitely voiced for hifi. I was expecting the Encores to have more clarity but that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least through all the RU-vid compressed audio. Those upgraded crossover components in the Buchardts sound like they’re doing their thing and doing it well.

The binaural recording through headphones is really cool. I did a double take when it sounded like Ron was in my room. Scary. Also, I was in my listening room, so it sounded like the sound was coming from my own speakers. Then it got spookier. Speaker #2 seemed very familiar…. Refined, balanced, detailed, even a bit sweet. Again, because of the binaural there was the illusion that the sound was coming from my own speakers. The reveal was then quite funny that they were XLS encores… that’s what I have in my own room. Ron’s binaural encores and my own, sitting in front of me, totally locking in perceptually, completing the illusion.

the detail & resolution plus the voicing makes those Buchardts something special, the overtones & sustain on he acoustic track were pretty amazing. I don't know if its just me, but before the reveal of the XLS's I thought they reminded me of NHTs, magically flat so your other components get the color duties. I think I'd get bored of the Klipsches after a while or I'd be on constant quest to fix the lack of low end resolve. Maybe paired in a mixed brand 5.2 set up & some crossover tinkering might make them servicable...

Great video

The addition of a subwoofer completely removed the (well fart) of the klipsch, allowing the detailed mids and highs to shine. I suspect the Encore is better, just not worth changing horses midstream. For me, Improvements in sorce and power will be $ better spent. Great video!

I could live with all 3. There's a (good) speaker for every occasion. Speaker 1 -» Stand up, tap your feet and clap your hands. Speaker 2 -» Lay down on your bed. Close your eyes. Speaker 3 -» Seat confortably and have a glass of fine wine.

Thank you for doing these sound reviews with commentary Ron. Excellent job.

Thank you! I was sweating my purchase of the S400 Mk2 over the xls Encores. Didn’t have the time for DIY. Blown away by the S400s in all aspects. Thought I might of had buyer bias. Was so happy speaker 3 was my pick. This gave me the ideal listening test, albeit post purchase. Confirming I made the right decision for myself. With a tube amp the Buchardts gave me a new perspective on how good it can be.

The comparisons are super helpful, thanks! Hopefully we'll see more of this soon.

That was a good comparison. I wish you hadn't put the price of the speaker. I always preferred speaker 3 but I might have been swayed by the price.

the audio from "Randy" sounds amazing

I suspected that speaker #3 might be the Buchardt mk II. I couldn't guess or didn't have an idea of what the other two were. I thought that while listening to the #1 (Klipsch) speaker, one could very well end up experiencing some degree of listener fatigue... Brighter emphasis of the treble region and a more noticeable boomy (box speaker) bass. I thought that speaker #2 (GR) was the most neutral and would be least fatiguing especially over the long run. I think that I might like the additional bass presentation of the B. Mk II but I wasn't necessarily disappointed by the bass presentation of the GR and one could also augment the low end by adding a subwoofer. I can see why people would find the B Mk II appealing with the voicing (treble/bass) ticked up a notch compare to a more subdued flat neutral presentation. I'll be looking forward to NRD's upcoming full review for the B. S400 Mk II.

Woohoo..welcome back!

Thorough and Excellent way to audition speakers. Liked your Gallo reviews also.

I just broke in some new HIFIMAN headphones and listened. I liked the < $1500 pair (X-LS Encores) the most and was extremely pleased since I built these in 2020 with all the upgrades based on your reviews. I didn't skip to the end so I didn't know what they were until then. I do like the Buchardt Audio speakers and believe they had a little more control on some tracks as you noticed. UPDATE: Just noticed the Buchardts go down to 33Hz which would be too much in my medium room and would account for the added bass I heard. Thanks for the blind demos with Randy, it is a great way to really audition speakers. Keep up the great work!

Well this was a wowing experience for me using my iPhone, the lighting adapter and Fostex T50 headphones for playback. Although the Fostex’s were under powered using my iPhone., I was able to still hear detail of the presentation which was awesome. Your buddies DYI speaker overall sounded best, followed by speaker (3) then (1) in that order. Your demo using the binomial listing device in my opinion should be used to set the standard in demoing virtual equipment playback., especially for potential customers (Great selling point). With that said it’ll be hard for me to take other RU-vid presenters word for equipment opinions or recommendations. Great job👍👍👏👏👏👏👏

Holy $%*# Ron you gotta stop sneaking up on me from behind the couch! Lol 😂 Guess my Nighthawks do really well with binaural recordings. And yes I did have almost the same reaction to each clip as you did (probably with a bit more mid bass bump on my end). Tough call between #2 and #3 for me. Thanks so much for this!

brilliant!

Yeah, here's my summary copied from the comments section on the poll: Speaker #1 - It's reproducing sound Speaker #2 - Musical speaker - gets almost nothing wrong Speaker #3 - Emotional speaker - the music had a lot of body but the enclosure may have been a tad small It's a toss up between speaker #2 and #3 - I was 60% leaning towards the authority and detail of speaker #3 which clearly has a bass woofer of sorts (more on that later) but I voted for speaker #2 because it made me want to listen to the clip more - it kept inviting me. Kudos to the manufacturer of speaker #2. It's clearly meant to have a subwoofer but if it could drop another 20-30hz - man, oh man! Speaker #1, I'd get a high-end bluetooth like the B&W Zeppelin as it would probably smoke it. Speaker #3, I detected an unorthodox design and I was trying to understand if it was downward firing or had a separate bass woofer or what was going on because it just didn't feel normal for a standmount. I actually had to look up the design to understand it and the frequency response. It sounded too authoritative except perhaps for B&W's Formation Duo which can hit 25hz. After checking it out, I simply didn't know you could actually design a standmount like that😄

One speaker that will shock you for the price All new $5.7K AudioVector QR7 speakers One Reviewer replaced his Quad ESL 2912's with these AudioVector QR7's matched with the new Luxman L-507z ! Long waiting list to get a pair of QR7's though !

Great format! Would love to see more videos like this one

Very surprised that the XLS Encore is not to my taste. Way too neutral for me, also expected way more and better bass from it from all the reviews. I do understand that room makes a difference and youtube audio is not the same as in person. But I do feel the different sound signatures came through quite clear trough your experiment. I have a pair of Martin Logan 35Xti’s and I love! their highs, upper midrange but feel it lack a bit in low mids and low bass, that’s probably why I like more the Klipsh and Buchardt sound. I was also surprised at the Buchardt S400 highs and upper mids, they are way more resolving than I thought. I am trying a REL T7X soon to fix what I don’t like about the ML’s, if not now I know to try the Buchardt MK2.

30:05 vs 31:25 vs 32:48 This says a lot about what you are paying for. Speaker 1 sounds forward, almost brash, with vocals, Speaker 2 is too romanticized, blunt and dull, bordering veiled. Speaker 3 is just balanced. Balance isnt cheap nowadays, too many speakers in the market are over the top in one or multiple aspects. Balance, neutrality and detail is king, I can add bass later. The S400MKII isnt THAT great especially for the price, its just that its really balanced COMPARED to the other 2.

Ron Stuckey I watched & listen to your whole presentation on my 70 in flat screen TV with Bose head phones before looking at the comments on my laptop computer so it truly a blind a blind test for me. Of the thee speakers I liked the XLS Encore's the best. I have owned two of the three speakers. First I owned the klipsch RP 600m's with the GR Research upgrade kit. Which I thought were OK but I still wanted speakers with a sound that had more body to the sound. So I purchased a pair of Buchardt S300 MK II, which by the way are about $1300. The S300 MkII' produce the sound that I was looking for, a sound very similar to the XLS Encore's although I would have to hear them both side by side to really say which one I liked the best. I have had the Buchardt S300 Mk II's for over two years now. But I did order a pair of Buchardt S400 MKII's which I received at the end of December last year. Buchardt has a 45 day trial period so I listen to the for about 120 hours over 40 days and decided to send them back for a full refund. I just like the sound of S300 MK II's better. From your blind sound test the Buchardt S400 MK II's came in last and I just didn't like their sound compared to XLS Encore's or Klipsch RP 600M II's

Great way to do comparisons online! Thanks.

Excellent idea, but speakers are not level matched + lot of standing waves in bass region (mostly prominent in the first song). Still you are the only one on youtube trying this with hifi speakers, so thumbs up.

I picked the XLS Encore. The voice sound had more texture, more "throaty" and 3D voice sound. I reckon the voice sound alone (if it's perfect) basically everything else will be spot on (except for maybe lower bass). Cos we (as a species) know what the human voice sounds like. More than we know what other sounds should sound. Seems to work for my speaker building. Also if you are interested in designing your own speakers, it's easy if you have a decent pair of bought speakers. The XLS Encore would be ideal reference speakers. Just copy the sound of the reference speakers with your speakers, as close as you can by playing with the crossover! And your speakers won't sound as good as the ref speakers cos the acoustics are different with your speakers. But don't worry cos you are not finished yet. Just fine tune the sound of your speakers to your taste, but don't make them sound too different. That is important but all speakers sound different, so you don't have yours sounding exactly like your reference speakers, either. And if you tweak your's just right (to your taste) your made speakers may even smoke your reference speakers! Why? Cos you are fine tuning your speakers how you want them to sound...in that room. That's why. But you still need reference speakers cos every room is different and everywhere you walk around in your room, it sounds different. I have a really bad bass difference in my room. And (unless you are especially gifted) you won't get a pair of home built speakers sounding anywhere near the sound of good bought speakers, just by listening (if you build them from scratch, that is). I learn't that the hard way when I finally decided to get reference speakers (and with a RUDE awakening)! I got B&W 706s as reference speakers and my made speakers absolutely flog the B&Ws. Brass band sounds like metal instruments on mine and they sound like wooden on my reference speakers (as an exaggerated comparison). BUT I would never be able to even come close to doing that without my reference speakers. No way! If you want to build speakers from scratch to save money, you can borrow your friend's speakers for a few days (or weeks) so you can build some killer speakers without defeating the purpose of saving money. That is...if you have anyone who can lend you their speakers.

What a great way to spend your morning!😀

I liked it with my Beyerdynamic DT880. The most neutral phones I own.

Pause at 0:40 and this is a whole nother video

Oh, and at the end when you walked across the floor to unveil the speakers, your footfalls turned your floorboards into bass drums and my Sonus Faber Gravis sub sent booms through my sofa 😂🤣😂

Have you ever auditioned the bowers 805 d3 or d4? What’s your thoughts on the diamond tweeter?

The magic is BACK!!!

Amazing comparison, thank you for setting this up and conducting it for us. I hope you will do more of these! I've used pretty good IEMs and an external DAC / AMP, and I was not able to hear any differences between the speakers other than their tonality. I was watching spatial cues / soundstage, and didn't hear any difference in that department. Have you? Has anyone?

Once learning what speakers were used I had to give this a second listen. Yes, I know, your partnering equipment is top-notch but... if I do want to hear the best that these speakers have to offer then top notch is the ticket. Now, for whatever reason, I could never have seen myself even thinking about owning a pair of anything Klipsch ... well (said sheepishly), I thought they sounded awesome. Now, the Encores? It's really hard to believe that a DIY can be "that" good. I was surprised. And now, what of the Buchardts? Considering the trouble that they have gone to in order to bring a well engineered speaker to market? Well, they sounded all of that and then some. My pick is the Buchardts but I'd like to own all 3. This was truly educational ... thank you Ron... "top notch" presentation (and fun)🤙

I appreciate this a lot! Were the speakers all brand new with no break in would be my one question? You mentioned that you had just gotten the Klipsch in and would be putting them through the paces. That leads me to believe they didn't have any ours on them or minimal. Would have liked to have heard this comparison after that and not having them fresh out of the box.

I don’t know about you guys, but for the first 15’ I could only hear boomines, which says a lot anyway: don’t throw money on gears if you don’t solve room issues first! I loved the content and format Ron. I only think that your comments (which are 100% spot on) can be Misleading for people who would go for “the first one is undoubtedly the best!” without them…

Huh. Two of the three really surprised me. Thanks for the comparison. I feel like you did a good job highlighting the differences between the speakers.

i am listening with B&W headphones thru an Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt. IMLTHO, this vid proves..... you get what you pay for.

I might be wrong but I woud guess that speaker 1 is the RP600M MK2 and speaker 3 is the S400 MK2. No idea about speaker 2 10nins into the video. I am curious to see the reveal at the end 🙏

One thing I noticed on most of the tracks is that #3 has a longer decay and sometimes even sustain than the other speakers.

1. Klipsch, although not perfect present a more realistic live sound than both the 3. XLS and 2. Buchardts - nothing else matters, for the audiophile. XLS are resonant and vocals nasal, sound generally recessed and colored. Buchardts are similarly nasal, less colored that the XLS, but with a wider soundstage.

I am about halfway through now and 1st speaker is half the price of second and 3rd is 3 times the price of the 1st. It would interest me if you compared the manufactures' offerings at similar prices. Expect 1 is very efficient. Wondering if the volume is adjusted between speakers? Maybe too loud for speakers 1?

I was able to guess the first two before the reveal. I own the Klipsch and with you revealing price point and my recognizing the sonic signature, especially the 'bloom' in the mid bass, and the horn 'attack' in the upper mids that was easy. The XLS was more of a guess, but the refinement, cohesiveness, accuracy, voicing along with the price point gave it away for me. That was my favorite overall speaker in this lineup. I could mix records on those ALL DAY. I could not place the Buchardt speakers. Thought they may be Sonus Faber. They were a bit too restrained for me. Transients lacked a certain immediacy that is important for my experience. In my view, those are great for general background listening but the CSS excel in providing a richer experience. For the budget and in the right room, those Klipsch certainly hold their own. Mate them with tubes or class A front end gear and there is a LOT there 'there'. Well done!