+1 @ricevs
Anyone else order Caladans from Clayton Shaw?
After watching videos and reading positive reviews I ordered a pair of Caladans. It’s been 2 weeks and I have never received an email confirmation of sale. The charge on my cc was from Spatial Audio. I have called and left VMs twice and also emailed Clayton’s info address. Crickets !
Has anyone else experienced this? I assume he’s extremely busy but I’m getting a little anxious.
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Pretty shallow for someone so "deep". All humans breathe the same air. There is only one race.....the human race.....well, besides the ETs and angels......Countries are man made illusions. Ownership is a joke.....we are all one and stewards of this great mother ship. When we realize our oneness.....and our beauty....then we wish ALL people well, and want to serve everyone. May we all PROSPER!! I wish you ALL well. |
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The negative stuff about Clayton is off base and not fair the man has been doing this a long time and is an open baffle guru in experience and design. I own his speakers and they are superb and sound like my old Quad ESL 63 which was rebuilt by Electrostatic Solutions. While no speaker is a Quad Clayons design is one I could live with and I call them ESL 63’s on steriods. He sold Spatial Audio after having serious health issues. His own company will produce excellent products built on his past successes. I would guess more models to come once he gets his new company going. He knows open baffle speaker designs like few others. He is a straight-up guy, and yes he may be slow to respond at times because there are so many hours in the day, he called me once from his home at night and that was on his own time and spoke with me for close to 1/2 hour answering questions I had with his Sapphire M3 speakers compared to what I was used to with my quads, he gave me the upsides as well as where the Quads would still shine, no push for sale just taking the time to provide me with the information to make up my mind which I did and purchased a pair from him. 2 years or so and I am still finding out how good they are as I’ve changed my room acoustics, etc. 😉
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I'm interested in ordering a pair but I have some concerns: * Requiring 100% payment upfront for something that will not ship for many months is not a typical way of doing business. A more reasonable way would be to ask for a % deposit and then require the balance be paid once the speakers are ready to ship. I've pre-ordered other items where the seller/manufacturer does not charge your credit card until the item is ready to ship. If you charge something, pay your bill and then wait six months or more to file a dispute with your credit card company, you may be out of luck. It seems like he is using the payments upfront to finances his operation which is a risky proposition for the buyer. * Since many people have reported that communication with Shaw about their order has been nonexistent or extremely laborious, how is he going to handle returns during the 45 day trial period OR the five year warranty? Thoughts? |
I echo Steve’s thoughts that it sounds lively and not laid back, and the bass is well defined but not weighty. I have recently added an Arendal subwoofer to provide some thickness to the sub-bass and have set the crossover at the minimum, but I’m still experimenting. As for the highs, on rare occasions I hear sounds floating to my left and my right which is a bit surprising when you’re not prepared for it. I’ve never experienced this before with my previous KEF speakers, but it could have a lot to do with my Denafrips Terminator II DAC. |
Last I spoke with Clayton, he said that he's no longer selling the white and black baffles because the paint job added too much time to an already lengthy process. I've had them for a couple weeks now so it's fully burned in and so far I have been pretty happy with my purchase. Love the directness of the open baffle sound which makes all instruments and vocals sound substantially more lifelike and the music more engaging compared to my old KEF Q950 speakers, which has a big soundstage but now sounds so diffused and muffled. |
@roxy54 Well, I think this is what is called "positive thinking" 🙂 |
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While I’m sure I will enjoy the speakers when they are finally delivered , the lack of status information on orders and the lack of timely website updates is definitely taking the shine out of the whole experience. I want them to focus on making and delivering speakers but at least hire a person to keep the website updated and answer questions about orders. I noticed the Axpona banner is finally gone as is replaced with 90 days for orders. My issue has been the availability of white oak baffles. People trying to do order/potential delivery date math, good luck with that. My order date:12 November, Order #107. Add that info to your equations. |
It's probably not worth the conjecture at this point. I spoke with Clayton in late March and at that time he said he thought mine were due to be made within the week and I should look for them at the latest mid-April. Well, as of now I don't have any additional confirmation of production or shipment. I am not stressed about it but do understand how folks could be if they didn't have an alternate/interim solution on hand. My fingers are just crossed that when they get here I think they were worth the wait because I don't know how hard it will be to return them if they don't hit the right notes for me. |
terrapin77, I wouldn't be too worried by a lack of updates, that seems to be normal as they are focusing on production. I spoke with them at Axpona and they said they were getting about 7 to 10 units completed per week....still not where they wanted to be, but better than they were. I received SN 00023 around 2/10, so you can do the math |
I heard them at AXPONA and I liked their sound. Decently fast and plentiful bass, good 3d sound stage height and depth as an open baffle design would, a bit less refined in the midrange and upper frequency could use more definition. the bass and quick dynamics were the stars and made them worth the asking price. |
@indelibo you lucky dog! I am 29 numbers from you, hope by the end of this month, as Clayton stated. Please share your impressions. |
Yes, it would be nice to find a planar driver that could do 90hz. It does not exist....you have to make your own....like Magnepan and Diptyque. Even most planar and electrostat hybrids cross over between 172 and 500 Hz (Sanders sound, Janszen, Eminent tech, PS Audio, etc.). And they have fanstastic midrange. Regular woofs are fine to about 500 hz....above that you want much smaller drivers or better yet planars. The trouble with Magnepans are that they have no serious dynamics (mostly because the frames are so flimsy). The speaker I am making is for me.....However, I will share every bit of information so that those with the skills and desire can make their own. Not a money making thing. Later in the year I might? get the tweeters that are used in the Caladan and make a clone.......however, I just don’t see how a forward facing cheap tweeter crossed over at 1K and non time aligned and be anywhere near a dipole planar that is time aligned crossed over at 400hz.....and you can stack the tweeters and make a 32 inch line source for even lower distortion and better vertical dispersion. These planar drivers are just $50 each. We shall see....er hear.....soon. |
@ricevs Wouldn't it be better to cross over lower than 400hz because, according to Wikipedia "The voiced speech of a typical adult male will have a fundamental frequency from 90 to 155 Hz, and that of a typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz. " |
I am pretty sure the Caladan does not have that problem. Clayton went from using Eminence woofs to Beyma for a reason.....however, two 12 inch woofers can only do so much. The Beyma cones weigh 74 grams each. This is why I am making my speaker (using the same woofers as the Caladan) using a time aligned planar dipole driver crossed over at 400hz. The planar diaphram weighs something like 1.4 grams. Should be way faster and cleaner than the Caladan that is crossed over to a $39 tweeter at 1K. I should have my speaker up and working next week (woofers already burned in using a 15hz sine wave for 125 hours). I mounted the woofers face to face and wired them out of phase. I will have pics and information on my website soon. By the way, this is a good way to burn in any speaker......just put them very close together and face to face and wire one out of phase and run a 10-20hz test tone all day and night. You will hear nothing from the speaker but they will "wiggle" like crazy. This is primarily for woofer burn in.....your whole speaker will still need to be played to be burned in or you can use wide band noise with them facing each other.....but it will probably still be heard......some throw a blanket over the speakers while they are playing. |
This was my chief complaint of the Spatial Audio X3. Using a 12” driver to reproduce the crucial midrange seemed to be its shortcoming. The texture and “realness” of the human voice was not conveyed IMHO. It was an amazing speaker in many regards, but ultimately left me cold with its midrange reproduction. The Caladan might not have this issue at all. |
Has anybody listened to classical, large orchestra works , chamber music, and unamplified (acoustic) vocals on the Caladans. It sounds like a great speaker. Bass and sound stage seem to be its strong suits. Clarity and neutrality are among my priorities. Can a big woofer finely resolve voices and strings? Thanks in advance. |
nickdig1, I get it, and I went through the same exact thing....having placed my order on 11/1/23. In the end my patience has been rewarded, as the Caladans are an amazing speaker for a ridiculously fair price. I would go through all of the difficulties again, just to get the Caladans.....worth my patience |
