Spacial Audio Lab X3 and Pure Audio Project Quintet 15

I had the X3 for about a year. This is a seriously good speaker. Very dynamic and effortless, great bass extension and definition. The one shortcoming that I found was I could never get the midrange to sound to my liking. I tried different amps, preamps, cables and I was able to get an improvement. but never exactly what I wanted. My theory is that asking a 12" driver to do midrange duties might not be the best idea.

So I moved on to a pair of Cornwall IVs. Both of these are excellent speakers, but the midrnage immediacy and texture of the CW IV is hard to beat. I had to add a pair of 15" subs to get the bass performance I had with the Spatials, but I am happy with the end result.

Bear in mind my issue might not even bother most folks. There are countless X3 users who are extremely happy with them. And I still contend they are excellent speakers.

Oz

spatial - with a T

yes spatials are very nice indeed... i am running a pair of clayton’s newest m3 sapphires now... still breaking in, but i am most impressed

audiocircle has a whole section directed at the spatial line, all info you would ever want is there

If you elect to get the Quintet 15, I strongly suggest you consider the active crossover for it. While it does take some time to set up to one's ideal, it performs distinctly superior to the passive version. Imo, it is well worth the extra time and money to establish such a speaker with the active x-over. See my review of the Trio15 Horn 1 with the active x-over from PureAudioProject - article is at Dagogo.com  

The Quintets fill a huge room, mine is 16x 27 and vaulted.  Using the Vox 1.6 widebander recommended to me by Ze’ev, and can’t pull myself away. Amp is the LTA Ultra Linear. As DS above, next is the active XO. I’ve also heard the Spatial at the LTA factory, in maybe less than ideal conditions and could happily live with them but they didn’t lure me in like the PAPs. The OB’s appear to take some of the room out of the equation, especially the bass. I have less need to manage the low end energy. FWIW, I also believe that the transformerless amp doesn’t induce vibration into the chassis so vibration management is also less of an issue. If the Covid thing diminishes enough, maybe you’ll have the opportunity at a show to listen in the near future. Best of luck and you are on the right path.  

I think there’s a return policy on the Spatials. I was interested too but have never liked built in subs for whatever reason, so I hope one day to try the M3.

I have a pair of X5’s in a rather large room, 25 x 25 x 8, and they are wonderful. My Rowland mono blocks have way more power than they will ever need, but the image is large, immersive, and refined.