Spatial M3 Sapphire

The Sapphires are night and day different from the Focals. They present beautifully with a YUGE soundstage and well toned bass. They definitely respond to proper placement and toe in and will reveal your rooms deficiencies. But a solid investment that'll provide you with musical bliss. 

The Sapphires smoke the focal speakers. I heard the 20K pair at my audio store, and I thought, "My God, these sound like crap." They’re bright and detailed, like you turn the treble up on your old stereo receiver. M3 Sapphires replaced my wonderful Quad ESL 63’s that were rebuilt by Electrostatic Solutions, the change was made for change’s sake. The Sapphires are like the ’63s, very open, huge sound stage, like any good speakers, Quads included, 3’ from the wall, toe-in depended on the room width, my room is 12’ wide and they work very well. Like any good speaker, room acoustics impact the final sound we hear. Like the Quads, they give music a live feel, like the performance is in your room, it can be eerie at times.  In my 40 years in this hobby, they are one of the biggest bangs for the buck values in speakers I’ve owned, and that includes the Dynaudio Confidence 5 speakers.  Take the old myths of open baffle speakers and put that to bed. Clayton is the master of open baffle speakers. I’ll end this way, they are Quad-like but on steroids with unlimited dynamics and fast, superb bass.