My Caladan Impressons

@wester17

Which Spatial Models did you hear ???? I own the Spatial X2’s so I am curious

Also, someone asked if Clayton is retiring? Why would he...he just started this company. LOL.. Curious how this even became a thought???

Thank you, Steve for some perspective. Some have been saying that the Caladan is the best speaker Clayton has designed. This never made sense to me since the Spatial X4 uses a big dipole AMT tweeter crossed over around the same frequency, much better xover parts, much better baffle, much better base and the same two woofs as in the Caladan. Of course, the X4 is $9800.....not $3300.

Steve says the Pure Audio Project trio with the ESS AMT ($6K) is more transparent and punches harder......says the Magnepan 1.7 ($4K) is more coherant and less colored, says it does not sound all the great at low volume. However, as he said, it is the cheapest open baffle speaker he has reviewed and thought it was great....for the money. Which is good news for those waiting for their speakers to be finished.

However, you can build your own Caladan clone for $1500 or better yet do what I just did and build a speaker using the same woofers but use a time aligned $50 planar tweeter on top with hardly (or no) crossover on it that goes down to 400hz The woofs just have a 2 mh coil on them.....I will be starting a thread on this speaker and will have pictures of my speaker on my website and mucho information by the end of the week. This IS NOT a commercial product. This is for myself and for anyone who wants to make their own speaker.....I don’t make money sharing this information. If in the bay area, I will be (in a month or so) inviting people to come over and hear what I have done. The fun is in sharing.

For many, the Caladan will be a great buy and a speaker they will keep for a long time. But, for those with more refined tastes and can build their own (very few....even though it is easy)......or have more money....there are better options. My definition of an audiophile...."Someone who is not happy with their stereo".....I mean, why buy a new speaker.....wasn’t your last one satisfying?......he he. We have the ability to enjoy the ride......so please enjoy the speaker ride. None of this is serious.....just guys playing with toys.

@vthokie83 thank you, your thoughts and those of Wes above are great to contemplate regarding these. Thank you for taking the time to answer many of my questions. I also see that Steve Guttenberg just posted his Caladan review a few hours ago.
 

Be advised that these speakers benefit from some break-in time. They sound even better at 100 hours than they do out of the box. I especially like how they sound with tubes.

@wester17 Clayton Shaw Acoustic Lab showed with us at the recent AXPONA show. The speakers were pretty new- when we set them up the bass was a bit disappointing. So we ran them all night before and throughout the show. By the 2nd day of the show they were starting to come around- the bass was showing up and the speakers were far more lucid.

So break-in is pretty important (as it is with many speakers). I liked how they easily cast a 3D space. They were also easy to drive (despite being 4 Ohms); our class Ds were loafing.

The Caladans are one of the most detailed and revealing speakers I have ever heard

OK compared to what other speakers you have heard?

Just curious.

Moonwatcher

Some thoughts on your questions, I've had my Caladans 3 months now. You can read my full review on the "Anyone else order Caladans from Clayton Shaw?" Agon thread back in February.

(1) Placement - I have played around with positioning quite a bit, and have found them best at least 2 feet from the front wall, and at least 18 inches from the side wall. I'm building a dedicated listening room, where I will have more flexibility and will have them a little further into the room (2.5 feet) and a little further from the side walls (2 feet)

(2) Warm or detailed sound - I previously drove the Caladans with a Denafrips Hades SS preamp and Denafrips Thallo amp, and they sounded neutral.....not overly warm, but never sterile. I now drive them with CODA class A SS amp, and Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" tube amp; both being driven with an Aric Audio Motherlode XL tube preamp. I do prefer them with the tube front end, but I think it's the tube preamp that adds that extra warmth. Not sure what you have for equipment, I didn't see you have a virtual system loaded

(3) Clayton retiring - Not sure if he is, or even if it matters. Yes Clayton left Spatial, but still has a great relationship with them (they even do final assembly of the Caladans).....some have suggested he had some health concerns that influenced that decision. Someone correct me if I am wrong there

(4) Speaker driver alignment - I have found the Caladans to be well integrated. When he designed the Caladan Clayton moved the tweeter closer to the mid bass driver (than his Spatial speakers) and I do find them to be cohesive. To me music sounds as though it is presented from a "stage" of movement between the speakers. If I close my eyes, I cannot pick out their exact location.....even of course I know where they are.

(5) Low level listening - These speakers are great at that. I never listen at loud levels, and the Caladans are the best speakers I've had for low level. Most of my other speakers needed to be pushed for their best sound (many Thiel models), Infinty Reference Kappa 7 and 9s, and even my recently purchased Buchardt Audio S400 MKIIs. I do think high current (not high wattage) amps do help with low level listening

audioman58

I posted this some time ago, but here is what is in the Caladans

"IsoAcoustics Gaia III feet, WBT Nextgen 0703 binding posts, Jupiter twisted pair lacquered cotton wiring, US Coils air coils, Jupiter copper foil and Dayton Audio capacitors, and Dayton Audio wire wound resistors"

Wester17

Thank you for the very detailed review, and it closely mirrors a review I put up in February/March on another Caladan thread here a Agon. At the end I too, thought that my review sounded like an advertisement for Clayton's speakers.....but it was my true experience. They are truly the best speakers I have owned, by a very good margin. The fact that I purchased them for $3,000 a pair (November 1st last year) still boggles my mind.

Since that initial review, I have completely revamped my amp/preamp situation (CODA S5.5 Class A SS amp, Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" EL34 amp, and an Aric Audio Motherlode XL 6SN7 preamp). Those upgrades only brought out more magic from the Caladans, and they are definitely not outclassed with these exceptional upgrades.

@wester17 Thank you for your review and insights after owning them a month. These are right in my price range for what will be my "end game" speakers. I’m also considering the JBL L100 MK II for about $5K. I have some old AR 9 that these will be replacing.

My living room isn’t huge, 13’ X 25’ with 8’ ceiling. The AR 9 are almost too large for it. The listening position is about 20’ from the short 13’ wide front wall. Do you think they would work in such a room if I pulled them out maybe 2’ and kept them 1’ from the side walls? And do they play at both quiet and loud volumes well?

You wrote, "If you like a warm, richly colored sound, these may not be your cup of tea. But if you want to hear deep into the recording, with detail and resolution that is hard to match, you’ll love these speakers."

Ah, there’s the rub. I do like a little warmth in my old age, especially for some of the thinner sounding recordings of the 1970s, but maybe I could address that with a touch of EQ?

Thanks again. Looking forward to any others take on these nice speakers at their amazingly reasonable price. Like you, Ron was sure impressed.

One thing I wanted to ask. Is Clayton retiring soon? Why did he sell Spatial? If I bought the Caladans and needed something fixed or replaced one day (say I blew a driver), could I find it?

Oh, and just curious how well integrated did you think the sound was between all the drivers? Does the sound blend well or are you able to pick out the location of the tweeter at times?  With the acoustic centers fairly far apart, I worried about that. 

each model Clayton has designed seems to be better than the previous model (I’ve heard some of the previous Spatial models). The Caladans are probably the best yet.

Good to hear that each new design is better (rather than the same or worse) than the previous one. (Of course, who would ever claim otherwise? ;-) Then again, many here can think of classic speakers in a line of products that, as time went on, were superseded by what proved to be worse models.)

They sound better but whether they sound different is, I suppose, where my interest lies.

I heard them At axpona if set up right they have huge potential to be a great speakers.

The caladens are a excellent buy for the money.

I know Clayton’s work well , the one Critical area of improvement which I recommended is a SE model puttting in Premium Xover parts which btw are the ♥️ .

since you own them why not less us know what brand model capacitors better yet a picture,he was using the VH audio Odam capacitor when he was using the AMT tweeter which is very good,  that may be the only thing that would make it better still.

Clayton Shaw designed the Caladans and all of the Spatial Audio speakers. Clayton recently sold Spatial and I understand they will be coming out with their own designs soon. They already have a high-end  tube power amp and pre-amp on the market. As for the speaker comparisons, each model Clayton has designed seems to be better than the previous model (I've heard some of the previous Spatial models). The Caladans are probably the best yet. 

Thanks for taking the time to write that. I wonder if these are just like the Spatials but now under a different name or if there has been some "leap" in approach or sound difference.

OP, you may not have heard the Spatials, so perhaps anyone who's hear both might chime in.

Thanks for sharing your listening impressions.