Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Raidho Eben X3.0 Speakers by lenw

Model:	Eben X3.0
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$21,300
Description:	3 Way Floorstander Loudspeaker
Manufacturer URL:	Raidho
Model Picture:	View

Review by lenw on May 16, 2009 at 15:39:32
IP Address: 76.109.25.211 Add Your Review
for the Eben X3.0

Eben X3.0 - Floorstander Loudspeaker

Price: $23,430 pr. with optional dark blue metallic finish (Porsche color)

Designer Michael Boerresen; Frequency Response 30 Hz - 50 kHZ (+/- 3 dB); Sensitivity 90 dB; Impedance 6 ohm; weight: 150 pounds/each.

Three-way design uses five 6.1" ceramic drivers mounted in a 2.36" thick front baffle engineered to maximize performance at the frequencies they reproduce, a sealed planar-magnetic tweeter with voice coil, all internal wiring with Nordost mono-filament cable. Four ceramic woofers 200Hz to 30Hz (-3dB) reflex loaded through a downward firing port; one mid-range ceramic driver to 12kHz gently crosses over to planar tweeter at 2kHz. Uses a double decoupling system utilizing four ball-bearing devices between the cabinet and wood plinth, and a second layer of Cold Rays (ceramic) between the plinth and the floor.

The X3.0's have a deceiving small footprint (53.15"H; 7.1"W; 13.8D;) that belie their ability to produce live dynamic swings and replicate hard transients with blazing quickness but without acoustic breakup or overhang. The X3.0's are a very revealing tactile experience, disappearing like a really great mini-monitor with precise image focus, fine inner detail, and natural timbre, but possessing the low end impact of a floorstander. The X3.0's require a fast solid state amplifier for optimum performance and they are very demanding of all the ancillaries used with it.

In a HiFi+ review Roy Gregory states the Eben X3 "delivers the speed and clarity of the best electrostatics combined with the dynamic range and immediacy that comes with well executed horn loading. Now add the kind of bandwidth that normally only comes with dynamic drivers in a box and youâ€™ve got a recipe that is unique in my experience. It all equals that hi-fi holy grail, the combination of speed and substance, with real energy arriving in real time."

I first heard the Raidho speakers at the 2008 RMAF in the Nordost room. They were playing the Ayra 3.0's which my friends and I thought were on a short list of the best sounding speakers at the show. A few months later I purchased the Eben X3.0's which utilize the same drive units as the Ayra 3.0's from an authorized dealer on Audiogon. I had read a number of reviews on the Eben X3 including HiFi+ which has helped me in numerous ways more fully appreciate music reproduction.

HiFi+ explained the importance of the audio system foundation (power, cabling, resonance control) to optimize equipment performance. I had already begun improving the system foundation before I received the X3.0's, but only three months ago did I finally have everything in place. Using cabling all from the same manufacturer (Nordost), placing resonance control devices (Nordost, Cold Rays) under all audio equipment; inserting a Quantum QX-4 power enhancer between a dedicated wall outlet and my PS Audio Quintet serving the digital front end and pre-amp; and inserting an Audience aR1p power conditioner between a second dedicated wall outlet and my amplifier.

After three months of listening I believe the Eben X3.0's overall are the finest speakers I've ever owned. Given well recorded and mixed source material they have the ability to reproduce vocals and instruments with a visceral impact at all frequencies I've never before experienced in my own listening room. The X3.0's can reproduce delicate passages as easily as thunderous classical orchestral climaxes. They can provide the illusion of having the performers in my listening room. They can reveal the subtleties of beautiful music reproduction by communicating the precise sound of voices and instruments and their precise placement in the soundstage. And they have a legitimate low end that creates and maintains a solid bass line for all types of music.

I've heard better speakers in the market place (e.g., Coltrane Supreme, Focal Grand Utopia EM), but I believe for the size and money invested, these speakers are in the top echelon of other speakers in their price range and beyond. These may very well be the last speakers I own.
Len

Product Weakness:	Requires significant attention to system ancillaries and foundation (power, cabling, resonance control).
Product Strengths:	Coherence, articulation, natural timbre, dynamic range, precise imaging.

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Krell FPB-700cx
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Krell KCT
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Cary 306 CD/SACD Player
Speakers: Raidho Eben X3.0
Cables/Interconnects: Nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical, Jass, Pop
Room Size (LxWxH): 15 x 21 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments: Echobuster & ASC
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Quantum QX4; Audience aR1p
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	Krell FPB-700cx
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Krell KCT
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Cary 306 CD/SACD Player
Speakers:	Raidho Eben X3.0
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Jass, Pop
Room Size (LxWxH):	15 x 21 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments:	Echobuster & ASC
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Quantum QX4; Audience aR1p
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner