Anyone else order Caladans from Clayton Shaw?

tried to order, sent an email, sent a follow up

no response

I suppose I could phone them but I'm not in the habit of chasing down vendors

I spoke with Clayton last week. I have invoice 173.  He thought I might see my speakers by the end of April but couldn’t commit 100%. I’m hoping for the next 2-3 weeks.  Room’s ready!

I have not been at Axpona. I was informed by Clayton few days ago that my order should be fulfilled by the end of this month. Ordered on Nov 22, invoice 182. 

Was anyone able to hear the speakers at AXPONA and get an update on payments and shipping from Clayton?

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.

I think, very interesting interview with Clayton about his career

@ricevs 

Is this just a speaker for personal use, or are you going to market to the public?

@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.

@dbb 

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

@ozzy62 - 93db

I'm running Quick Silver Mid Mono amps at 40 watts into M3 Saphire's which are 92db

• 1.5″ THICK BAFFLE CRAFTED FROM KILN DRIED SOLID AMERICAN HARDWOOD
• DRIVERS: TWIN 12 INCH DIA. STUDIO-GRADE BASS/MID UNITS ONE 1.125 INCH DIA. WIDE-RANGE SILK DOME TWEETER
• WIRING: JUPITER TWISTED PAIR IN COTTON
• FREQUENCY RANGE: 32Hz–20kHz +/- 2dB
• SENSITIVITY: 93 dB 1W/1M
• IMPEDANCE: 4 Ohm
• INPUT: WBT NEXTGEN 0703 BINDING POST. BANANA, SPADE AND BARE WIRE
• FEET: HARD RUBBER DISKS ($0) OR ISOACOUSTICS GAIA III ($295)
• PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 38”H X 18”W X 10”D (including support legs). 35 LBS EACH
• SHIPPING DIMENSIONS: 44” X 23” X 12” 53 LBS. TWO CARTONS
• WARRANTY: 5 YEAR LIMITED MANUFACTURES WARRANTY

I'm experiencing the same issues. Talked with Clayton on March 1st where he took my CC# but I have yet to see any confirmation of an order or a deposit charged to my card. I have tried contacting him through several emails, Voice mails, can't register on the forum, etc.. Its getting a little tiring. I think people just want some response or an acknowledgement that they are in line and a rough delivery date. I wish Clayton well but I think he needs help on the business side. I know he will be at AXPONA in a few weeks and I can not attend this year, perhaps some of you can report back if you attend and talk to Clayton in person. Any other suggestions from those that have received them or talked with Clayton recently?

What is the efficiency of these speakers? I ask because my Spatial Audio X3s were supposedly 96 db and had a built in sub amp. At the time I had in house a Decware Torii II (around 20 wpc) and it could not drive the X3s sufficiently. On paper it was a perfect match, in reality, not so much.

I have a 300B amp from Aric Audio that I absolutely love, but I've got a feeling it would not work on the Caladans.

@ronrags 

Initially, as should be expected, timbre sucks. With little more than 2 hours on them the caps are sounding much better. They sound better than most electronics that will be used to feed them. Obviously the bass will also take time, but my initial impression is Quad ELS57s on massive steroids. Mind you my Quad days were decades back, but if timbre doesn't fully come around, it'll be easy to bypass the tweeter caps with Duelund JDM caps, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I am not expecting to need to do that mind you. Like I said, just over 2 hours and they are very immersive, engaging. It's difficult to stay on point, to critically listen. You just want to enjoy them.

@the_nick 

PayPal claimed to have refunded me, but they haven't. I wonder if THEY are in trouble economically? The speakers are supposed to arrive any time now, but I am working 2nd shift and my wife will have to deal with UPS it seems.

@lous Great to hear it all worked out for you. I went through the dispute process as well and have been refunded. I have also reordered (and had a nice conversation with Clayton over the phone the other day), and am expecting my speakers to arrive this month. I feel for the group at CSA as it seems to have been a bit of unfortunate timing in what their transaction partner did to them. I am glad to have that portion behind me and am excited to see the speakers in the flesh soon.

@middlemass 

I did read it, but you had sounded so determined, as if you wouldn't change your mind. And yes, I had a fine day, thanks.

@middlemass 

I thought that you cancelled your order.

Nope. I was frustrated and that was my plan. Clayton contacted me, as you obviously didn't read. All is good. Have a nice day.

Wester17,

Like most audio components, the Caladans do take some time. I probably have 100 hours right now, and the bass is still continuing to go deeper. However it has been fast and accurate for some time now. The tweeter sounded really good when I first started listening, but I slowly realized it too needed some more time. Right now they have pretty well settled in.

Currently have them driven by a new CODA S5.5, and that is a match made in heaven.....also really good with the Buchardt Audio S400 MKII, but the synergy with the Caladans is something else.

@middlemass 

I thought that you cancelled your order.

the_nick

I desputed, and now order 95 is supposed to arrive April 3rd. If he double bills, I suspect that the credit card company will resolve it, and Mr. Shaw may be destroyed in the industry.

Lou

Advisory to Caladan Owners!!!  If you have ordered or received a pair of Caladans, please know that they require a lot of break-in time. Mine sounded rather lame, with almost no bass, until I reached about 45 to 50 hours of run-in time. At that point the bass came alive and things got much, much better. The bass is amazing More later.

Clayton contacted me and everything is good. I don’t expect the sound I’ve been getting from 35 years of electrostatics, but in my current 10X12 room, just hope it is good enough.

@jetter there is excellent post in this tread by vthokie83, regarding his experience with Caladans

@soix +1

Can't wait to hear some A'gon user reviews of these speakers.

I spoke to Clayton over a month ago about a late December order. There were some problems with Square taking payment, but nothing on his end. It's just growing pains, in my opinion.  Some of the addresses and finishes were muddled from Square.  It was a good discussion - he was excited to get building these.  I am not too pressed and have other things to tinker with.  I ordered white oak (putting them in my relaxing living room with a gray-stained wood floor.

PP note

Feedback for those who have used PP: I have used that with other vendors, and I believe there's a 30-day timeout.  I saw it trying to get some go-fast car parts during COVID with supply chain issues.

@wester17 Congrats and look forward to your thoughts after break in. 

I received my Caladans today. I'll report much more once they've had some break-in time, but I can definitely say this at this point: These are very detailed very revealing speakers without sounding analytical or dry -- in fact, quite the opposite. 

@maholl50, thanks for the info. Actually, Paypal is always my first choice but when I ordered the Caladans, the Paypal option wasn’t there on the order page. I had to manually enter my CC # and the funds were disbursed immediately to "Spatial Audio." Didn’t bother me at the time due to Clayton’s reputation but at this point I’ve just had it. No confirmation of order after 79 days. Absurd.

@middlemass 

I feel ya. Agree about the customer service. It took 2 online inquiry, an email and a phone call before I got a call back from Clayton. Compare this to the Eversolo I bought online and the owner called me the same day to thank me for the order.

It appears CSAL had an initial production slowdown due to the furniture manufacturer which has now been resolved and the baffles are better than expected according to CS. As of 3-23 they are working on November orders producing 30-40 pair per month but production is anticipated to ramp up now that the woodworking issue is fixed. No promised date but looks better than ordering a Decware amp.LOL. I ordered Dec 20 and looking forward to these. April???

BTW there is a recent blog update by Clayton on the website describing the PayPal / billing etc.

I ordered on 1/6 and have never received an actual invoice, despite requesting such. Waiting isn't the issue, customer service is. I just emailed Clayton again, requesting cancellation of my order. 

Hello All,

I also worked to reverse my charge per Clayton's feedback and was asked to reorder it for delivery, but have two questions.

1. The new price is more expensive than when I originally ordered. There's a premium now for walnut and shipping is more expensive. How did you resolve these differences with Clayton?

2. I was told the dispute case is considered open for 90-days, thus the merchant can show proof of delivery and they will reverse the credit return. How have you mitigated the risk of being billed twice, if the dispute is reversed with proof of delivery?

I took a closer look at the invoice Clayton emailed to me and the No. he gave was 225, so I'm feeling better  :)  Greatly enjoyed the review, vthokie83! 

vthokie83

I agree and I have an additional data point/info.  Clayton left a voicemail yesterday evening because my original wood choice was white oak (invoice #107 order date 12 Nov).  I was wavering on my wood choice after Clayton posted the pics of actual baffles in the cherry, maple, and walnut.  I asked if I could get a picture of a white oak baffle to help determine my final wood selection. They have not yet received the first round of baffles in the oak.  Clayton has seen the raw wood, "which looked really good".

@terrapin77 exactly, my order was 845 and invoice is 182

@vthokie83 good things come to those who wait!

I'm not sure how the invoice numbers work, I'm not positive there is a correlation. I ordered on 11/1/2023 with Invoice #179, and received SN 00023.

It was hard for me to be patient, but in the end I have an amazing pair of speakers for what I consider a steal of a price. The speakers are gorgeous, use very high quality components, are well built, and sound better than anything I have every owned....and I've had some expensive speakers over the years (at least for me)

Any new company will have some growing pains, and I think the positive response to the Caladans from the New Record Day video caught everyone off guard.....and pressed them into production earlier than planned. For me it was well worth the frustration.

@mewsickbuff Your order # is from the Spatial Audio order system. When I placed an order, my # was 1111, but the invoice I got directly from Clayton was 245.

I placed my order January 11th and have the order number 1089...makes me wanna cry. How can that be? I talked to Clayton 2/28 and he said, "give it a couple of months." So I'm hoping to get my walnut Caladans in April (but maybe not until May).

Good point. I chose Cherry.

I suspect the Invoice/Order numbers may give a sense of relative ordering in the production process, but also imagine the production queue is dependent on baffle availability.

I placed an order (#259) with Clayton on 3/9. Had I nice chat on what I could expect from the Caladans, as I have a unique listening room. I did not press him for an exact time frame for delivery, but he did say he has hired additional people, and is ramping up production. Realstically, I would imagine obtaining them in 2-4 months. This is a new company, so I’d imagine there will be growing pains long the way. Can’t wait to play with the new Caladans!

I placed an order on 2/27, invoice #245. Got a confirmation email on 3/4. Clayton emailed me asking for the finish choice since it wasn’t listed on my order. I asked him about the lead time for recent orders. He said 60 days.

This is little disconcerting, unless my train of thoughts is flawed.

@vthokie83 ordered on 11/1/23, received on 2/7/24, serial # 00023.

@owain ordered on 11/2/23, received on 3/13/24, serial #00032.

It looks as if only nine sets were made in more than one month! I hope this is wrong conclusion.

I have them setup, over in Clayton's forum will start tomorrow  AM

the_nick,

Let's go Hokies!

Feel free to reach out any time, love to talk audio

Hey @knock1 ​​,

For reference my order was done with a credit card, just passed through my PayPal account. I use PayPal due to the good customer support and dispute resolution when needed. Anyway, my intent was not to steer this thread too far off topic, but I am glad some other folks chimed in to make me aware of other, similar situations, so thank you for that.

@vthokie83 as a fellow Tech alum I am looking forward to more of your impressions and hope to have my Caladans soon as well. I saw some other comments from you in DAC threads and may reach out directly to pick your brain on it. Right now I am on a middle of the road Schiit stack (modi multibit, Freya s, and Vidar 2), along with a Wiim Pro streamer and Wharfedale Lintons. I get the feeling the Caladans will outpace those and have me itching for the next upgrade.

Nick

Why not to use credit card?

Correction: I received my refund after 10 days.