My new Borresen X3's

I’m sure the Borresens sound great but the whole R&D and advancements notion is mostly false. The marketing people would like us consumers to believe that’s the case but in reality there exist 30+ year old speaker models that would compete with nearly any speaker in the X3’s price range. Speaker tech has long been more mature than most audiophiles realize. The difference these days is the number of different models that compete at the top echelon, and some at a relatively lower price when adjusting for inflation.

It’s not unlike how tech has progressed in cars. For example, self-parking cars have actually been around since 2003, but they didn’t become relatively common until a couple years ago. Similarly, ultra high fidelity drivers have existed for decades, it’s only that these days they are easier and cheaper to manufacture. 

Say What ? 30 yr. old speakers sound as good as any $11K speaker today...That’s quite a statement.....It’s too early in the day to be drinkin’......

Perhaps it was you who was “drinkin” since you completely misinterpreted my post, presumably due to a failure of reading it entirely. I did not claim that 30-year-old speaker(S) can compete with any $11K speaker manufactured today. I merely implied (quite coherently) that some flagship designs from yesteryear are still competitive with many modern designs when one adjusts for inflation. In fact, some brands have actually regressed in terms of objective performance. For example, some of the Focal and Revel designs of recent years actually measure worse than their predecessors in terms of linearity and distortion. 

Having owned over 35 pairs of speakers and having auditioned countless others, both modern and vintage, it’s my experience that most advancement had come in the form of inexpensive speakers generally performing better than in previous decades. But in terms of higher performance, go audition a flagship Spendor, Revel, or JM Lab from the 90s and compare them to their current flagships, and you might just begin to share my sentiment. My main point is that it’s typically fruitless to read into the marketing claims regarding a manufacturer’s allegedly disrupting tech. More often than not, that speaker tech/approach has been done before, sometimes decades earlier, by another manufacturer. 

Funny enough, I only returned to this thread because I recently acquired a pair of Borresen X3s. They are indeed a great speaker, especially at their street price (who really pays full retail anymore unless buying from an outlet like Crutchfield???). For the price I paid, I consider them a good value. Are they world-beaters or best of class? Honestly, of that I have doubts. They don’t do subwoofer-like bass extension, so right off the bat they have a shortcoming compared to some of my previous speakers, but overall they are quite enjoyable. 

Sound quality aside, in terms of outright build quality and finish, they are superior to much of the competition I’ve encountered in the same price range.

marined....My point exactly...but the fun has just begun,wait till you try to sell them!

The problem with your argument regarding the frequency at which they release new models is that you mentioned completely different price brackets. The C series might be newer than the X series (though I believe that may be incorrect), however they are considerably pricier for like-sized models. From the prices I’ve researched, they have yet to release a series that significantly trespasses on their other like-sized models, nor made any particular series “obsolete.” Thus far, the few pair of X Series speakers I’ve seen on the secondhand market have retained their value better than most brands, especially considering most were bought new for less than MSRP. I was told there is something like a three-month backorder on the X series speakers, so allegedly the demand is high for the time being. 

I can sympathize with being bitter over a product’s poor resale value. It sucks when that happens. That’s why these days I tend to buy pre-owned speakers when possible. That’s really the only way to ensure one doesn’t take a bath down the line, even with brands that generally retain high resale value, it’s hard to predict the future of many specific models. I once bought a pre-owned, late-model Mac preamp thinking I’d be able easily flip it for little loss due to Mac’s typically good resale. Turned out that was mistake—I took a big hit on that piece because apparently that model in particular just doesn’t hold its value like other Macs, despite the fact it was/is in their current catalog.

Regarding Raidho specifically, it’s my understanding that many of their speakers were very finicky about placement and gear synergy. Perhaps that was the real driver of their disappointing resale? Just a hypothesis. Or perhaps you paid retail or close to retail for a brand-new pair, when most buyers were getting better deals on their new pairs, and subsequently that was reflected in the resale market values? After all, I find it’s quite common to get as much as 25% off MSRP when buying products in these price ranges, often times without even having to request a discount. Not suggesting you definitely paid full retail, but if you did, that could account for some of the perceived value disparity. 
 

I have recently added the Axxess Noir Resonance Control footers to my X3’s

Brings the speakers to a different level, pricy but my dealer gave me a 30% discount, well worth it at full retail (-;

How much if any did they alter the soundstage? I have only about 10’ between my listening spot and the speakers so am reluctant to raise their stance any higher.

@Steve59,

Michael Børresen was the chief designer for both Raidho and its sister company, Scansonic, until a few years back when he left to do his own thing under his own name. It’s surprising you would ask such a question, considering this post you made in another thread:

I don’t find any value in the brand, they sound ok, but not special and looks are a personal choice. Borrensen brand will push Aavic electronics and their own cables and tbh are just a market to separate the wealthy from their money.

I would’ve figured you had already known that based on the above assertion you made over a year ago.

I actually shared some of your suspicions though, prior to auditioning their entry level models and seeing the exceptional build quality they entail. Normally I don’t consider any five-figure HiFi product to be a good “value” per se, considering the BOM and performance of most products I encounter. The Børresen X series has proven to be one of those rare exceptions. It’s especially surprising because I don’t buy into many of the marketing claims and “technologies” touted by Audio Group Denmark (Cryo treatment for example).

Initially, I visited the Børresen dealer to demo some of their Perlisten towers, since I typically gravitate toward speakers that measure well. I was quite taken aback by how the Børresen X series performed relative to the similarly priced Perlistens. The X speakers were clearly a class above. I would like to get my eyes on some measurements of Børresen’s X speakers because in my current setup they do everything well and are the most balanced sounding speakers I’ve had in this room among dozens. If they don’t produce anything near textbook linearity when measured, that would support a hypothesis I’ve had at times that perhaps driver distortion (or lack thereof) and quality matter more than absolute linearity, dispersion, and time alignment.

Anyhow, I highly encourage you seek out an audition of the X series. You might be pleasantly surprised as I was.

BTW, I repeatedly see posters criticizing Børresen for employing “4.5 inch” woofers in many of their models. It’s perhaps unfortunate that Børresen describes these as “4.5.s” because in reality, the measured cone diameters are more in line with other brands’ 6 or 6.5” woofers. In fact, the actual cone diameter of these “4.5s” (a full 4.5 inches) is very close to that of the “7 inch” Seas Excel woofers I have in some other speakers. The combined surface area of the three woofers in the X3s is nearly as much as that of true 9” woofer cone.

 

The X3’s have two woofers, the two drivers under the tweeter.

 

The one above the tweeter is a mid-range driver.

You probably read in the PTA review that the X3s are a 3-way speaker. That is incorrect however, they are 2.5-way, so the top most woofer does play the bass freqs. This is visible if you view the cone excursion from the side when playing a bass heavy track. My dealer also confirmed they are 2.5-ways. To the best of my knowledge, none of Børresen’s models are 3-ways, as he apparently takes issue with the phase challenges posed by such designs. Regardless, the 2.5-way X3s manage a midrange clarity that’s superior to that of most 3-ways I’ve heard and definitely better than any other speaker I’ve owned, so the fact it’s a midwoofer as opposed to a dedicated midrange makes them all the more impressive.