E158: World Premiere-The Børresen M3 Loudspeaker

[@TheGrandPumma]

Awesome Review. I have been waiting for this one for a while.

[@adsph]

Incredible loudspeaker from a company that really pushes the envelope. Hope to see them at Axpona ‘24

[@marcus1970]

I pity those that may dismiss out of hand an entire brands offerings including ranges that hit lower price points purely on the basis of (neccesarily) expensive flagship items.. Salty opinion citing MASSIVE mark up and unfair greed (from bottom to top line) .... That's why the research, design, materials,fabrication, freight and dealer demo/support all contribute to what has to be asked as the price of entry....(if a manufacturer wants to stay financially healthy and push further forward) However whilst I appreciate such ultra high end expensive products.. The real excitement lays in the likelihood that over the coming years some of the tricks learned will continue to trickle down to more accessible loudspeakers, this to a degree can already be witnessed. Milestones come along every so often, exciting when your journey is musical replay excellence. Nice video Greg👍🏻

[@theaudioanalyst]

@marcus1970 That was exactly the reason I went so far off into the weeds in the print review at Part-Time Audiophile (parttimeaudiophile.com/2024/01/14/borresen-m3-loudspeakers-review/) to make clear * just how much it costs* to manufacture such products AND to keep your doors open and stay in business... And, that brilliant tech is already trickling down into their more affordable products. The X series of loudspeakers, and the whole Axxess line are PERFECT demonstrations of that fact.

[@psyphonyxaudio]

I was so happy to hear them during that weekend =)

[@iampuzzleman282]

Another outstanding review which I am not taking for granted. The diversity of your Music used in your review serves to demonstrate your exceptional musical choice expertise. These are very thin speakers and I'm not sure that design efforts have countered the benefits of a larger driver better capture lower frequencies and spread them out better. And why don't they produce a speaker with larger drivers? An unanswered question. This company has been marketing heavily as I have seen the bookshelf one speakers they are pushing. They are all very expensive speakers. I do have concerns when they are used on the deck of my yacht some may confuse it with a sailing vessel, which I don't have a problem with. Have you ever listened to Don Ellis, a Jazz trumpet player backed up by sensational big band. Very entertaining. Highly recommend his At Fillmore album, 1970. Especially the Rock Odyssey chart. You will thank me. Oh I wish I could listen to that on your system.

[@pennfootball71]

Great review! I spy Audionet cable risers!

[@theaudioanalyst]

Hey Don. You just noticed the GAUSS risers? 😆 I've been using them for over a year now, though they are not CLEARLY visible in some episodes! Happy Sunday!

[@mikelautermilch8939]

I was under the impression that this tweeter was about as good as it gets. I'm curious which tweeter offers that last bit of "extension and shimmer." Does this refer to the Magico diamond coated beryllium tweeter? Also, maybe I missed it: how is the overall tonal balance - does it sound like any particular frequency range is tilted up or down? I know that some of the designer's earlier efforts at Raidho had a mid-bass bump, and were also considered to have a slightly "dark" voicing in the upper mids and/or highs.

[@theaudioanalyst]

Hello. First, the tweeter... It is not just about the tweeter’s materials or class alone. This can be problematic for any stand-alone tweeter, planars/ribbons or domes, regardless of the materials it is fabricated from, that includes those of Beryllium and with other (diamond) coatings, which receive no assistance or augmentation above their practical or mechanical limitations. Many will struggle to create that last degree of effortlessness that render air, dimensionality, refinement, and that sensation of having no limitation, without the assistance of another dedicated tweeter to more effortlessly recreate frequencies up into the 40, 50, or even 60kHz regions. This augmentation is most typically afforded by the *careful* integration of an additional planar/ribbon driver, with a more native ability to recreate those elevated frequency ranges, beyond the primary tweeter's uppermost natural limits. Second, the tonal balance… We clearly agree on the voicing Michael accomplished with his Raidho designs while he was there. He even admitted that he was NOT trying to achieve a flat response then, with the notable bump in the power range. Knowing that, I was very aware of, and listening for, such aberrations. As I state beginning at 12:23 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKmUoqhug6h_fqssi=f5LFn8eXMuTzNvGs&t=743), “ When it comes to the M3's ability to render accurate tonality, to represent timber faithfully, in all my time with these beauties, I could find no specific fault or shortcoming across its entire bandwidth to point to. The only variances I was ever able to note came at the known transgressions of the recordings in play.”

[@mikelautermilch8939]

@@theaudioanalyst Thanks Greg. Sounds like a nearly perfect speaker could get even better with a well-integrated super tweeter and sub-woofer. Nice review - emphasizes the strengths but doesn't shy away from imperfections, which increases the credibility of the review.

[@mikelautermilch8939]

I just remembered something: your Von Schweikerts have a rear-facing tweeter. I wonder if that contributes to that last bit of extension and shimmer, too. Maybe the Borresens could benefit from a rear-facing tweeter.

[@theaudioanalyst]

​@@mikelautermilch8939 Please try to understand the whole Ambiance Retrieval scheme used by the VSA loudspeakers. It is not *merely* the inclusion or presence of the tweeter, or in the case of the ULTRA's, tweeters, mounted to the rear of the enclosure. The ULTRA 9 uses a one inch SEAS aluminum/magnesium alloy dome tweeter with its DXT lens and a Fountek five inch Ribbon Tweeter with Neodymium motors - identical to the one on the front of the baffle as well. The Ambiance Retrieval system on the rear of the cabinet receives its own unique signal. They are driven from the Acoustic Inverse Replication section of the dividing network, and do NOT merely receive the same signal as the front mounted tweeters. I hope that makes their implementation a little clearer... Thanks.

[@mikelautermilch8939]

@@theaudioanalyst Oh I see. It's more complicated than I thought. It's interesting that they receive their own signal. Do you know if that's true of VSA's Endeavor RE also (which is in the realm of attainability for me)? I guess that's accomplished via the crossover. Do you know what frequency range that signal covers?