Thanks for reviewing this entry into the high-end world. It is good to know where to start when one is ready to jump to the next level. Super detailed and informative review!
I am here for the first time. From the start I sensed this was going to be a good review. Boy, was I wrong, this is one of the best reviews I've heard. And the mention of two of my favorite speakers, the Audiovector R3 Arrete, and the SF Maxima Amator, I subscribed and will be back. My current and first audiophile system includes the Hegel H90 integrated, Focal Electra 1008BE speakers, Bluesound Node 2i streamer, custom Sound Anchor speaker Stands, Cardas Parsec speaker cables, Cullen Cable Power cable, and Audioquest PQ 3. I'm streaming Tidal and have the Node 2i connected via coax to the amp so as to take advantage of the superior internal DAC in the Hegel. The pairing of the Hegel with the Focal's is a match made in sonic heaven. No sub necessary. I'm all in and while I thoroughly enjoy my current listening experience, I have caught the bug and am having a heck of good time exploring an upgrade path including adding analog.
Hello Philip, and welcome to the channel... As a new subscriber, I might suggest clicking on the Videos (www.youtube.com/@theaudioanalyst/videos) or Playlists (www.youtube.com/@theaudioanalyst/playlists) links on the channel, as either of them may help you find content you are interested in more quickly! Thanks again for tuning in and subscribing... I hope your journey continues to be as much fun as possible! 😊
Focal and Hegel are insanely good for what they cost by now. Heard it often for a couple of years. It will be a challenge to really get a significant upgrade. Speakers will be much more than the entire system now.
As soon as my dealers X3 had been broken in I had a listen. Interesting that you mention among some other accomplished loudspeakers my own units of choice.. Audiovector R3 Arreté.. Mine will definitely not be going anywhere... But the Børresen compact floorstanders are as you say bloody good. Technical in their design and make up and not for no good reason. Great overview Greg. 👍🏻
I wonder how the flagship wharfedale Elysian 4s compare... 🤔 As the X1's are similar price to the Elysian 2's and from there the X series gets more expensive
Hello. Would one describe the x1 and x2 as being in the neutral, spacious and resolving camp as far as speakers go? I’m short listing possible stand mounts or small floorstanders in the same price range. Thanks😊
I also use speaker footers, 4 kitchen sponges. at 89 cents each they do remarkable job esp on 2 inch thick piece of marble i took for free from the local dumpster. I also hear 4 BMR mids per side without any cabinet gives super clean , super wide, ringing free sound for $110 per column. I guess i dont belong to the club , as to top this insane cheap setup, i drive it with Fosi Audio V3 just 300 watts per channel for $129.
While I'm truly pleased to learn that your uber-affordable system brings you so very much enjoyment, I suspect that you have had very little exposure to both live music, and to any more sophisticated two-channel systems. You should keep it that way, because once you hear such remarkable gear, you may not be able to be satisfied with lesser products. Just my suspicions... Thanks for tuning in!
What kind of watch is that? At first I thought, but not really, its Bvlgari, I noticed the pusher under the crown and interesting dial. I'm too intrigued, I can often narrow things down, though ask if I cannot and have the opportunity.
That is a 2010 special edition Jacques Lemans F1 watch to honor the first of Sebastian Vettel's first of four world championship drives with Red Bull Racing... 😉
Hello... First, at nearly $15,000 a pair, versus the X3’s $11,000 a pair, the Kanta No. 3 is more costly by more than a third…so…there is that to consider. And they offer very different sonic signatures. This would be a hard call and would come down to personal biases and preferences. I find the Kanta No. 3, like most Focal’s, to lean more toward the polite side of dynamics and pace than the X3’s. That said, they tend to offer more complexity of texture and tonal color than the X3’s, something one would hope for given their lineage and cost. I suspect that, for the classical and jazz listener, the Kanta No. 3 would be the preferred choice, and for the rock, pop, and electronic music fan, the X3 would win out. Yet both are VERY good, albeit, very different loudspeakers. As always, before voting with your wallet, you would be best suited to give both an extended listen... ;-)
very much appreciate the feedback! the issue for me is that my musical tastes span the gamut so i’m into jazz, rock, hip hop, country, electronic, literally everything. id love a speaker that plays every genre well in this price range. i think i can get the x3s for about 20% below retail, and the kanta3 for about 13.5. such a tough decision because i don’t want to make the wrong one! i’m sure i’ll be happy with either. i listened to the x3’s in a shop recently and was blown away but it was through an amp/streamer that were much higher end than i own, which is usually the problem.
@theaudioanalyst - Anyone who would spend $550,000 on a pair of stereo speakers either has more money than brains or is completely insane! I am certain that no audiophile would be able to hear very much difference in the sound quality between a $30,000 stereo speaker and a $550,000 stereo speaker. Hence, paying $520,000 more for a pair of stereo speakers that has a barely noticeable improvement in sound quality is complete idiocy. Consequently, paying such an exorbitant amount of money for a pair of speakers is merely an attempt to boost one's own ego or have certain bragging rights amongst one's friends, namely, those friends whom you will be sharing a padded cell with after making such a purchase.
You mean like where I say, "But this IS a very competitive price range, one that includes some well-regarded loudspeakers such as the Audio Solutions Figaro L, the Audiovector R3 Arreté, the Crystal Cable Arabesque Minissimo, the Focal Kanta No. 2 or Sopra No. 1, the GoldenEar Technology Triton Reference, the Legacy Audio Focus SE, the MartinLogan Impression ESL 11A, the MBL 126, the Sonus faber Olympica Nova III or Maxima Amator, and the Vandersteen Treo CT, to name just a few. Yet when compared to any of these other fine-performing loudspeakers, one is simply forced to acknowledge the X3’s outstanding accomplishments." Are you not able to "hear" between the lines? What I was saying was that, in my opinion, the X3 bests any/all those entrants in OVERALL performance. Some of them may have singular advantages in this attribute or that, but overall, the X3 is the more accurate and impressive performing product.
I also read your online review in a word awesome. Are these an upgrade to the Magico X3 or a baby a5 in the making? Who are the US Distributors for these speakers? Have the Borreson X6 been announced yet and if so, have you heard them? As you can probably tell I'm interested. I own the following equipment, the Audio Research, LS-27, Dac 8, CD-3se, Ref 2 phono stage, VPI Classic turntable (VPI ADSL speed controller) with a Hana ML, Aurender N-100H and Sim Audio M400s monoblocs running on Martin Logan 60xti and Bowers and Wilkins 705S2. I love detail and Dynamics and I want to hear things in the mix that you normally wouldn't hear. For power conditioning, I also have Audioquest Niagara 1200 and Furman Elite 15. My cables are all AudioQuest, Kilimanjaro, Niagara, Sky and Colorado. Modest system by today's standards, but it does the job, and I will be looking to pick up an Audio Research Ref 5se or Ref 6. I'm looking at some of the speakers that you just named, the Vandersteen, The Sonus Fabors (I think the Olympica III are amazing by the way) and these Borreson X3. I had thought about the Wharfedale Elysian 4, which are in that ballpark price, but it's something about those Borreson's X3's that intrigues me. I'm all ears to your vast knowledge and constructive criticism. Do you think that these would be a good fit? My last question is, is MQA pretty much dead?
Hello! First, Audio Group Denmark is the ONLY distributor - and they have dealers across the country. So you should go to their site and look for a dealer - audiogroupdenmark.com/find-dealers/ Next, yes, I heard the prototype X6 in Munich last may. They will be introduced at $22,000 a pair, and they are VERY nice. I have a recording of them in play in my E124: High End Munich and the MOC here - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z0IgWklHjHY.htmlsi=AevMoQqai2mpHbb6 And I'd suggest your system is more than just modest! You've listed some nice toys here! I always hate to suggest how something may or may not synergize with your existing gear and with your personal tastes, but I am VERY taken with these little upstarts. I'd urge you to go give them a listen before making any purchase... Finally, M Q what? Sorry, I couldn't resist. To my ears, it was a non-starter all along. As to your question about its veracity, I can tell you that as of April 3rd, 2023, MQA Limited, the company behind MQA has gone into administration, so...
@@sidvicious3129 as someone who owns Magico and was excited to hear these, I was ultimately disappointed with how they sound. The Borresen X3 does not compare to Magico A3, not even close. The A5 is in a completely different league too. Also, the Olympica III is treated as trash in the country I stay in, regularly thrown out into the market at extremely low prices with no buyers picking them up.
@@batomatovic6286Only arguably...but they are just waiting for someone to pull the plug on the life-support system. MQA officially appointed its administrators on April 3, 2023, following the company’s announcement that its major investor is already “seeking an exit.” www.headphonesty.com/2023/04/mqa-files-bankruptcy-tidal-switches-hi-res-flac/#:~:text=MQA%20officially%20appointed%20its%20administrators,already%20%E2%80%9Cseeking%20an%20exit.%E2%80%9D
every audiophile vlog on youtube is suddenly reviewing Børresen speakers right now, piling on praises of Børresen’speakers. They're all shilling for Børresen right now! Børresen must pay these guys a ton of money to review their speakers! Audiophiles seldom agree on much of anything and they're certainly not all going to "suddenly" review Børresen speakers and praise them. As a friend of mine once said, "yo creo que no" ("I don't think so").
So why owners of Audio Note AE super simple speakers with one 8inch woofer and simple tweeter rave about them?. Oh and lets not forget rectangle ultra simple cabinet? They just have super internal cabling and crossover. Meanwhile borresen are ultra high tech
To be honest I really don’t get the audio note hype, every show I’ll try the room but every time I leave feeling uncomfortable, there is no sound stage, there is front to back depth etcetera, even the cheapest scansonic speakers sound better and more natural ? Is there something I am missing?, about those prices I understood that the “better “ audionote stuff is also expensive
So I guess you like being pissed off? Christ, the first thing I say in this episode is... "Back on May 2nd, with E121: The Børresen X3 Loudspeakers in play... I was honored to introduce you to the stellar performing $11,000 a pair Børresen Acoustics X3..." Open your ears - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iZkuIYFXO6Q.html And there is even a link to "E121: The Børresen X3 Loudspeakers in play..." in this episodes Description section - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XVu1WzqLNAw.html Like I said, I guess you just like to complain and be pissy? Or are you too lazy or stoopid to use the tool provided to you? Either pay attention and get over your shitty attitude, or just go away. Pick one.
