Open Baffle vs Box

@helomech could you add some more of your experience in how bass behavior is different with the Spatials? I’m on the fence but since I listen to a lot of bass heavy music I’m trying to create a mental picture of how OB bass differs.

The bass of the M4s is articulate. It's not the fastest I've experienced but neither is it slow. The Vandys have lower extension by at least half an octave but that's to be expected. I did experience a small amount of bass-boom with the M4s after the woofers began to loosen up. However, I attribute that to my unusual room that has thick concrete walls on 3 sides and a concrete floor. It's the most challenging room I've ever dealt with in terms of bass, so I wouldn't fault the speakers.

I probably could have resolved the issue with different placement but I wasn't willing to compromise on that at the time. 

Spatial grants a 60-day in-home trial, so there's really nothing to risk aside from return shipping cost, which in my case was quite reasonable being that I'm only three states away. Even though I didn't keep them, I still believe they're one of the best (if not THE best) speaker values out there. Most speakers that sound their equal in absolute terms cost at least twice the price. 

I've had both Vandy 2CE SigIIs and Spatial M4 Triode Masters in the same room and system. Other than low bass extension, it's really no contest, the Spatials are all-around superior, and by a wide margin. In fact, I owned the M4 TMs prior to the 2CEs and going to the latter was like my ears had suddenly accumulated a bunch of wax, everything sounded dull and veiled. 

agreed and unfortunately I only know what I read. I, too am an apartment dweller and might be forever which is where Spatials we’re first recommended to me. I’ve put it out there on the Spatial forum that I’d like to hear them from a local and in 30 minutes I’d know what I want to know about them. Seems there are no locals who have them who also post there.

i keep scrubbing them off my list but they keep being re-added. On paper they check all the boxes (with bass being the unknown quantity). If I could just add subs then I’d go that route.

I recently acquired a pair of Maggie .7s and believe they might better fit your needs in an apartment, especially if max SPL is a concern. Unlike the other Maggies I've heard (1.7 & 3.7), the .7s produce real midbass punch, and seem a lot less current hungry. I drive mine with a 160 watt/ch/4 ohms amp. The VU meters rarely peg above 50 watts - that's in a room of about 1365' cubed. 

The Spatial M4s liked to be played loud and I often found myself nudging the volume knob until I was pushing 95db peaks. It's not like they sound anemic at low volume like many speakers; it's just that they urge you to keep cranking, probably because they have super-high power handling and are capable of loading a small auditorium. Not once did they reach a distorted playback level before my ears gave up first. The Sapphires have different drivers of course, so could have completely different behavior for all I know. 

With the .7s, I find the 70-75db range sufficient for most listening. That wasn't the case with 1.7s which wanted to play at 80db+.

I would take the M4s over 1.7s and 3.7s any day, but the .7s are a different animal and I consider them competitive with the entry-level Spatials.