I spent some more time in Clayton’s room at CAF. I thought the speakers sounded nice for the money. They didn’t sound honky or boomy like some systems did at the show, but I didn’t think they were better than his earlier products. I thought the system I heard at PAF was considerably better, although I think this was at least partially due to Don Sach’s and Lynn Olsen’d excellent electronics coupled with the Lampizator DAC.
The new speakers lacked some of the dynamics and clarity of Spatial’s more expensive offerings, and had a bit of a hard edge to the treble, which I think is probably due to the LTA electronics (I’ve found this true with other LTA auditions). The bass performance was also a touch less controlled.
But of course this was in a different room which was far from ideal, so an audition in your own room with your own gear is the only way to truly assess.
Still, for $3000, this is a very credible offering. There aren’t many speakers at this price point that do as well. They look nice as well.