New speakers unveiled from Clayton Shaw - Caladan

I am heading out of town early in the morning tomorrow, and I can't get the picture link to work.....here are some urls for pics to paste

https://imgpile.com/i/xoTwIW
https://imgpile.com/i/xoT5MP
https://imgpile.com/i/xoTh8j
https://imgpile.com/i/xoTRA1
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Okay here you go, first listening notes from 3 days of listening to the Clayton Shaw Caladans. I am not very good at describing what I hear, so don't fry me on that.

1. I warmed the speakers up just for a couple of hours by connecting to my system in my office, and let maybe 4 CDs play through them without any listening. Moved them to my current listening space, and connected to my equipment. It was all left on for 24 hours previously to be warmed up sufficiently. I did two listening passes through each CD, over 3 days
2. I must also say that my current listening room is in no way optimal, I’d say it’s below average. My wife decided she wanted to swap the living room with the family room, and my gear now resides in the living room which has minimal treatment (curtains and wool area rug; open concept to two other rooms. I can definitely tell the negative difference in rooms, both with my existing Thiel CS2.3 and Buchardt Audio S400 MKII speakers. I am constructing a listening room, but that is a bunch of months out
3. Having never owned open baffle speakers before, I did not know what to expect. I will certainly say that they are much more workable compared to my traditional speakers, in their current room
4. Each time I sat down with the intention to listen for a few hours, the next thing I knew it was many hours later, and I had done no work for the afternoon. It eventually piled up, and had to spend a couple of days catching up. These are really fun speakers
5. Gear used: Audiolab 6000 CDT transport > Morrow Audio DIG4 digital coax cable > Denafrips Pontus II DAC > Morrow Audio MA4 XLR cables > Denafrips Hades preamp > Morrow Audio MA4 XLR cables > Denafrips Thallo amplifier (120 watts 8 ohm/220 watts 4 ohm) > Anti-Cables Level 3.1 speaker cables > Clayton Shaw Caladan speakers
6. Music used (all CD, whole album listened to): Poi Dog Pondering “Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like a Sea” & “Pomegranate” – Eagles “One of These Nights” – Nirvana “MTV Unplugged” – Chris Isaak “Heart Shaped World” – Gorillaz “Demon Days” – The Talking Heads “Stop Making Sense Remastered” – Chris Stapleton “Traveler” – 10,000 Maniacs “MTV Unplugged” – Johnny Cash American IV - Supertramp “Crime of the Century” – Dire Straits “Brothers in Arms” – Memoirs of a Geisha “Soundtrack” – The Civil Wars “Barton Hollow” – Atlanta Rhythm Section “Champagne Jam” – Amy Winehouse “Back to Black”
7. Several of the albums I chose for their difficulty. Some can be bright, some can be congested (Poi Dog sometimes up to 16 musicians and vocalists on stage), some to get a variety of genres, and some because I just love the album.
8. Take my listening notes with a grain of salt, if your musical tastes vary from mine. I do not listen to classical, chamber music, opera, jazz, fusion jazz, electronical (mostly), Norah Jones (or the like), or too much country
9. Speakers about 2 feet into the room, seating position 8 feet from speakers, and speakers about 8’ between the tweeters. Speakers toed in so they were each aimed just outside of my ears, maybe 12”…..I did not try playing with positioning beyond that
10. Initial thoughts –

1. These are the best speakers I have ever owned.
2.  Bass is a little laid back, but slowly improved throughout the next few days, was never muddy…..quick, punchy, detailed, not overly deep. I’m not sure if that is just the OB design, or improper placement, or needing to break in the woofers
3. Voices are incredible, male and female. Clear, articulate, great tone and full of body, I was able to understand words in songs that I know the words to but couldn’t clearly make out otherwise. I could pick out different vocalists when they were singing at the same time. Vocals were natural and without any harshness, showed all the nuances and grit and vibrato and breath and failings (Chris Stapleton, Natalie Merchant, David Byrne, Johnny Cash), almost like a live performance, dynamic changes from soft to crescendos were effortless. Vocals kept between speakers and could place where vocalists were on the stage even with multiple vocalists, great emotion. Chris Issak’s voice was brilliant, hypnotic
4. Complicated songs and music where there were a lot of musicians and vocalists (Talking Heads, Poi Dog Pondering, Gorillaz), were rendered more like a live setting where you can place and distinguish each, articulate and detailed without being jumbled or confused
5. Some songs that can be bright and brittle with intertwined detail (Poi Dog Pondering, Supertramp, Gorillaz) were delivered much more clearly and individually and smoothly, with no sense of being overwhelmed, I could separate an electric violin from a cello from saxophone from a mandolin from bells from recorder from synth from horns while they were all being played simultaneously, multiple percussion instruments from each other, and multiple vocalists. They all had their own space and somewhat their own location
6. Imaging and soundstage and presentation – For now the soundstage is limited to the outer edges of the speakers, a little beyond……soundstage height is very good, depth is there more than my current Buchardt Audio S400 MKIIs, but at this point the soundstage is not “magical” like I’ve heard on some systems. The sound does not seem to come from the speakers, it is more presented from a stage of sound. I certainly need to play around positioning more, but for now this is where I am
7. So far so good. I am ecstatic with the speakers, I suspect there is a lot of testing with speaker placement and just getting used to open baffle. I also suspect that my current electronics, while good, are not going to really allow the Caladans to reach their full potential. My new Aric Audio Motherlode XL preamp will be here in a couple of months, and CODA S5.5 amp in a couple of weeks

dz13,

I certainly agree with your point, speaker placement and room treatment are going to be important. The only issue is that Clayton did not provide any placement thoughts with the speakers, and the only first hand account I can find is the one that I just posted.

Damn, just checked the tracking number and it's now showing delivery Tuesday or Wednesday.....anticipation

knocck1,

Looking forward to hearing your review when you get your speakers

Audioman,

The price is on their website, $2,950 in painted MDF and $3,250 in solid hardwood baffle.....add $150 shipping. I bought mine in maple, and the total invoice was $3,400.

The Caladan's sound really interesting. I have never owned an OB design, though wanted to add one.....at an affordable cost. These look to fit the bill

Well, I jumped in and ordered my pair in Maple. It sounds like I am in the December production run, so a couple of months out. Add to my current staple of speakers: Thiel CS2.3s, vintage Infinity RS Kappa 7s (GR Research updated crossovers), and Buchardt Audio S400 MKIIs. All very different with different strengths and weaknesses, why not an open baffle from a manufacturer with an impeccable history of OB speakers

Tweak1,

I am blessed in the fact that I kept the speakers I've previously owned, because I couldn't bring myself to let them go. The Infinitys are from 1987, the Thiels from 1999, the Buchardts from 2022. This thread seems the perfect place to state I've purchased the Caladans

Specs and information:

• 1.5″ THICK BAFFLE CRAFTED FROM SOLID AMERICAN HARDWOOD OR PAINTED MDF
• 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: ISOACOUSTICS GAIA III

Conmoto,

It refers to selling a product at little or no profit, or even at a loss to attract customers to a new product or company.....often times to get a good public response and "buzz" for the company. Not really a derogatory term, unless intended that way.

The Gaia feet alone are $50 each retail, or $300 for all six, the WBT binding posts are $45 each or $180 for four.....that's just about $500 just for the feet and binding posts per pair. It appears the caps, resistors, air core inductors, and wiring are also rather high grade....though I can't recall exactly what they are off of memory. Not sure about the driver costs.

Overall he seems to be selling a very high quality product for an extremely fair price, Having no middle man (dealer network) also helps greatly.

Not sure how this disintegrated into a peeing contest, but somehow it did. Clayton appears to be making high quality OB speakers at a very fair price, we should hope that more manufacturers did the same....for our pocket books sake.

Are the speakers perfect? I seriously doubt it, but I put my $3,000 on the table to be able to see for myself, in my system. I'm perfectly comfortable to take a chance, especially from someone with a well known track record like his. I already know he uses high quality components, because they are exposed and not buried in a cabinet.

Will they compare to a $20,000 pair of Kaya or Wilsons? God I would think not, otherwise some owners have a serious gripe. And yes OB has it's strengths and weaknesses, but imaging and soundstage are not two of them.

Hopefully someone is going to Capital Audiofest, and will report back on the speakers.....not sure who's electronics are with them

Just received an email from Clayton this afternoon, giddy up:

"Hello Brian,

Your pair of Caladans are en route and are scheduled to arrive on Saturday February 03 

TRACKING NO:  

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX1

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX2

There will be the legs and feet at the top of the foam block visible when you lift off the outer carton shell. Mount the legs to the baffle with the supplied screws and screwdriver.  Let me know if you have any questions

Thanks,

Clayton"

I will post some pictures once they arrive and I get them unpacked, will probably let them come to temperature a day before hooking them up.

Well, well, well great news, the Clayton Shaw Caladan speakers showed up this evening, serial number 00023. Double wall boxed, cleverly and well packed; delivered by UPS. Two sets of 2 stand leges, two sets of four Gaia II feet, needed screws to mount the brackets and feet. Speakers (without stands and feet) are surprisingly manageable weight wise. I'm not one for an "unpacking" video, but in the morning tomorrow I'll unwrap the speakers and get them assembled.....and put some pics up

That should be Gaia III feet, not Gaia II

I'll keep my comments to the product that Clayton delivers, which is the Caladan. Assembly took about 30 minutes per speaker, and all parts were included including a wrench and torx head screwdriver. Once assembled, the speaker baffle tilts back maybe 6 to 8 degrees....but that is of course adjustable as well with the Gaia III feet. All components appear to be those hinted at on other forums or on their website, namely:

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.

The maple baffle slabs that I ordered my speakers in, are 1.5" thick, very attractive and blemish free. I will post images if I can get imgpile to upload correctly.

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for vacation, so unfortunately I won't be able to get any listening impressions until I get back next Tuesday.

Tweak1,

Will probably wait until 100 hours or so before messing with placement, I want the speakers broken in before playing around too much