Open Baffle vs Box

Very interesting posts from everyone. Makes me think that the people who love open baffle designs are much like the Vandys fans of which I’ve been for many years. Either lovem or not so much. Speaking with Clayton he believes that open baffle designs will ultimately dominate the market at some point. My room is 14x16x8 old style cape with hardwood floors pretty open area rug and no window treatments. Using a Krell Digital Vanguard to drive them. I liked that the Vandys have a wide open soundstage and sound pretty good even from the next room. So do the Spatial’s have a narrower sweet spot? And is placement as critical as with the Vandersteens?

@sonicjoy Thanks for the very informative post. I really was looking for a former Vandy owner to chime in. While there have been no formal reviews of the M3 Sapphire with a 60 day in home trial I have nothing to lose. I was debating stepping up to the X3s but I should really control myself. With Clayton’s knowledge and continued passion to improve I’m sure they will be killer speakers.
It was actually Clayton that suggested I post this question and the answers ranged the gamut and I appreciate everyone jumping in. As I have said I always find this forum extremely helpful!!

I can certainly appreciate the DIY open baffles. Not sure that's me. I would like to rely on the very knowledgable designers and engineers to do the integration, testing and presentation for me and that is really what you are paying for. That said, since my initial goal was to replace my older Vandersteen 2ces I see that there are quite a few companies with the OB design. Pure Audio also looks interesting in the modular open architecture approach. Anyone out there own anything from PAP or comparisons to Spatial? Liking the Trio15's vs the M3 Sapphires