Boressen speakers

@ronboco Thank you as well! Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of having Rockport in my system, though I have heard them at shows and dealers. I know of a few customers around the country that have th as well. They are another brand I would put up there with Joseph and Wilson. Probably closer to Wilson with a kinder tweeter. They make incredible speakers in their class. 

Good Morning @joe2022 , I've owned a pair of the z3 Cryos for a few months now and can offer a few thoughts...

First, they really are exceptionally accurate. The moving mass of the tweeter is so small compared to most other speakers that it's like the finest MC cartridge. The sheer clarity of the sound, provided that they are positioned well, gives the listener that three dimensional sound we all crave. Remember looking through a GAF Viewmaster as a kid? That sense of depth was magical. Even coming from other quality speakers that's the sensation we get when listening to our new (used) Borresens. As far as the low-end goes, I've been able to move my pair of JL Audio d110's to a couple of my other systems. The Z3's completely satisfy my need for deep, even home theater deep, bass. For movies and TV, we simply have an optical cable linking the TV to our DAC for a 2.0 home theater. My wife and I watched a movie last night and about half way through I kinda noticed the speakers and it was funny because the sound didn't seem associated with them at all. The old cliche became true: they simply seemed to disappear. The sound field was immersive, complete from top to bottom, and just plain fun. 

Our stereo is simple, an Accuphase E-5000 integrated amp fitted with the DAC-60 option board, the Borresens, a NODE, and a great analog rig. A dedicated 20A line is pending.

~Oran

@arafiq 

The only thing I wish the JAs had more of is a bit more tonal density. Other than that, I really love everything else about them. More than likely I will stick with Joseph Audio.

As you might know that has been my only knock on the Joseph speakers, which is why I went back and forth between them and the Devore O series.  I'm not sure if you've seen it yet but I've mentioned on my other thread how I've had success increasing the density of the Joseph Perspective sound.

I'm using one of these small curved diffusors:

https://acousticgeometry.com/products/small-curve-diffusor/

It's placed behind and between my Perspectives.   It SIGNIFICANTLY increases the sense of density, focus, texture and liveness of the sound.  It's still not as thick of course as the Devores (though with my tube amps, surprisingly thick and rich), but that sense of solidity and body is certainly increased.

Just FYI....

@prof The curved diffusor sounds very interesting and not that expensive. I think I might order one next month to try it out. Can it go on the wall behind the speakers? When you say it is placed behind and between your speakers, do you mean it's placed on the floor vertically? Or did you put it on a wall?

I have finally listened to the Borresen X3. It was driven by Aavik I-180 and S-180 and powered by Ansuz conditioner and cords of course. The last floor-stander I’ve heard was Tad Evolution One TX. Those were lovely and a true high-end. I didn’t expect the X3 to equal the Tad, but for their asking price my expectation was still high and I expected the X3 to be close to Tad in quality.

I fired up a couple standard female vocals tracks. The first thing I noticed was the noise floor was noticeably higher compared to other speakers around this price range. There was also a healthy amount of bass, but unfortunately the bass sounded rather boomy. With vocals, jazz, and indie rock, the overall experience was still enjoyable and still coherent. Separation was decent but the soundstage seemed to lack depth, the vocal and the band seemed to be compressed together in the same row. When I started listening to the classical tracks, the setup struggled to maintain composure. The boomy bass reared its ugly head here and muddled the presentation. I listened to Nelson Freire’s recording of Emperor Concerto and it was quite hard to differentiate the instruments. There seemed to be also a slight high roll-off as the piano notes lacked sparkles at higher register.

The elephant in the room is Z1 Cryo costs the same as X3 and is a far more competent pair of speakers technically, definitely deserving of its high-end status. Accurate, airy, realistic timbres, with just the right amount of bass. I loved the Z1 when I listened to it and it is in my shortlist of my next pair of speakers. So why on earth would you get X3 which IMO at best mid-fi in quality?

There are better alternatives at lower price points. Just one day later I listened to Triangle Duetto 40th Anniversary powered by Marantz 40N. This setup was cheaper than a pair of X3 yet more detailed, accurate, and realistic. The Berlina RC3 I’ve heard weeks ago was also very good. My own Cabasse setup costs less than a pair of X3 total and it is also far more competent. 

I suspect X3 exists just to elevate the rest of the the Borresen’s more expensive lineup.