Raidho X2t Loudspeaker Review | Michael Johnson Reports...

[@poetryonplastic]

Hello everyone, at 1:40 I mistakenly referred to the weight of the foil on the tweeter as "20 milligrams thick", this was a misspeak on my part as I meant to say "20 milligrams in weight." I apologize for not catching this gaff in filming. Even though I went to music school, I do actually know the difference between millimeters and milligrams. Thank you to the folks who immediately caught this in the comments.

[@mladenbasic1]

Great review! Presentation is top notch. Well shot and edited. I really appreciate all the work that went into it.

[@jeffreypicciolo7706]

Just a superb review. Articulate, informative, thoughtful. First class.

[@craigforeman903]

Great review. You really covered everything I would want to know about the speaker, especially the integration with a sub and when it is necessary. Now I just have to listen to these myself!

[@jeffreythurston1822]

Nice review. You do a great job communicating and covering all the important points.

[@musiconrecord6724]

These sound like they are wonderful speakers (though not being able to adjust the feet seems insane at this price). If I was in the market at this kind of price range they would definitely be on my list. Terrific video, btw, so clearly explained and I get a very clear idea of these speakers' qualities.

[@adrianalexander2651]

Michael very good review!

[@brianmceachern7906]

I have a small room and am seriously considering the X1.6 bookshelves on stands. I've heard them once and my jaw hit the floor at how great they sounded. Still need to do some more auditioning & comparisons but Raidho is at the top of my list for me right now.

[@raphaelmeillat8527]

It's a great review. Very insightful, inspiring and full of good advice. Love this Raidho model but I also feel it might be too much for my small to medium size room given current room treatment I have. Currently I'm loving my Raidho XT-1, supported by 2 REL subwoofers. They blend well and I get the unparalleled Raidho combination of tone, soundstage, resolution and musicality. Still wonder how they pull it off from such small woofers! As for their tweeter, it's a masterpiece! Too bad they are so expensive. Wish more people could enjoy this level of performance given the very manageable footprint. Thanks for this review.

[@robertschumacher9640]

These little triangles are no bass traps.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Small for any huge improvement 😮

[@robertschumacher9640]

@CarlVanDoren61 you mean "too small" else i dont understand you 😅

[@FOH3663]

Indeed. They're a small footprint of treatment, but not necessarily bass traps, ... ie., the 28ft wavelengths of 40hz aren't impacted too much.

[@Fred-ql3gq]

I own the XT-2's (the Borresen predecessor to the X2t). They look identical in all respects. It would be interesting to know what changes they made, but they look exactly the same, including the rear ports and the feet. But my feet are adjustable, not sure why the new ones wouldn't be. Funny that my placement is almost exactly how you have them. I use 2 REL subs and bass traps as well. I have a larger room and they integrate really well, I agree with your comments on the bass of the Raidho's. I also have a Hegel-- the H360 driving the speakers. In sum, the speakers are awesome. They make music come alive, as if the singers and players are in the room. And when I leave the room, it's like I left the concert hall to grab a beer in the foyer-- it sounds that real and live.

[@Justwantahover]

I wonder how they would compare with the similar PS Audio 20 grand speakers.

[@goodsound4756]

How do they compare to their siblings with Borresen brand?

[@peterkuntz6076]

Michael - thanks for the informative review. How do these speakers compare to your reference Harbeh 30.2XDs?

[@poetryonplastic]

They're much better, but they should be at almost 3x the price! They do have a slightly different sound signature. A better comparison would probably be between the Raidho's and the Harbeth 40.3, but I haven't heard the 40.3 yet.

[@saint6563]

2.5 is my fave speaker. All ribbon have off axis imaging limitations. Best of the 4 new reviewers IMO.

[@bradleybeeson6932]

Hope to hear them next week at Capital Audio Fest, thanks.

[@arseniyserebryakov5361]

Wonderful speakers: love and own them! Great sound and WAF. It's been replaced by td2.2.

[@chrislj2890]

I'm not sure if I missed it or not, but how many gallons does each speaker weigh? 😉

[@BobbyBass-x6i]

Thanks for the review. Interesting speakers and technology. $19K and the feet aren’t adjustable? Needs some tweaking.

[@razisn]

Those so called 'bass traps' could not trap the bass produced by a house mouse squeaking.. Btw this does not look like a real ribbon tweeter, it looks very much like a magneto static planar tweeter. 'Ribbon' has a very particular meaning both in English in general and in tweeter design in particular.

[@poetryonplastic]

The triangle corner traps were suggested to me by the head audio engineer in my unit who has had a 20 year career recording and mixing everything from studio to live sound for the Air Force. He suggested the idea, I tried it out, decided I liked the results. Could I use larger treatments and get even better results? Probably. Raidho’s own verbiage call this a ribbon tweeter although they mention that it is technically planar magnetic: “Our proprietary, trademark ribbon tweeter is a unique design. It is completely designed and build by hand in-house in Denmark. To be exact, it is a Planar Magnetic Tweeter due to the tracks in the foil.”

[@robertschumacher9640]

@@razisn they are too small for Bass traps. period. they are small Absorber for the midrange

[@phetmoz]

You're right - it isn't a true ribbon, which requires a transformer. The Raidho / Børresen tweeters are planar magnetic, using no transformer. But these are easily the best planar magnetic tweeters in the world, weighing in at 0.0100g (Raal Ribbon is 0.0075g), pretty much the same as true ribbon tweeters, but with lower crossover point, extreme robustness allowing for both insane transient speed within a large dynamic range, all of which are weaknesses of true ribbons. It's easily in the top 3 tweeters worldwide.

[@FOH3663]

​@@robertschumacher9640 To be fair, yes, they're small relative to the 28' wavelength of 40hz. However, all room resonances (modes) are coincidently high pressure in the corner. This is why corner placement is so broadly effective, as all modal ringing passes through that corner. So yes, their presence would take energy from each modal resonance, even the lowest in frequency, ... albeit a proportionally lower degree.

[@PickanPop]

I made the typical audiophile mistake of buying speakers that are too large for my room and coincidentally they are Scansonic MB2.5's which were also designed by Borressen and are the budget version of this speaker.🤣🤣 I have my eye on a pair of the stand-mount X series as my system is already dialed in for that sound and I'm getting too much bass in my room.

[@ryansudding667]

I agree on buying a speaker more appropriate for the room, but the Scansonic's are nutorious for having a boomy base unless you have enough space for them. They are also super picky and need a lot of power.

[@goodsound4756]

You can have big speakers work in a small rooms, it depends on how those speakers interact with the room acoustics.

[@RennieAsh]

Using an EQ to notch out a room node usually fixes most "too much bass" issues.

[@FOH3663]

​@@RennieAsh Exactly. Every room benefits from parametric EQ'ing, no exceptions. The challenge being EQ'ing with adequate levels of transparency. Every room.

[@PMC7027]

milligram is a measure of weight, not thickness.

[@poetryonplastic]

Good catch, sorry I misspoke!

[@PMC7027]

@@poetryonplastic In the "old days" (I've been reading TAS since Volume 1 Issue 1), HP would have caught that in editing. I enjoyed the video.

[@theomindschrddr7983]

They do have bass mostly in the upper midrange so i think you need a subwoofer for full range.

[@TriAmpMyFi]

. When did Towers become "Floor-Standers"? Does that make Klipsch Cornwalls "Floor-Sitters" now? This is just like calling almost every audio component out there, an "Amp". Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊

[@RennieAsh]

Since floor standing speakers became available

[@kingtubbyleeperry]

Ditch the diffusers and add some real thick (4 inch or more) absorption panels. Works much better.

[@robertschumacher9640]

@@kingtubbyleeperry best would be rtfs Absorber/diffusor

[@kingtubbyleeperry]

@ Polyesterwool or rockwool will do and diy is easy.

[@Darkmatterme]

Acoustic art panels have more waf

[@carlosoliveira-rc2xt]

​@kingtubbyleeperry 4 inch thick not enough and absorption is more complex than DIY guys know.

[@FOH3663]

"Ditch the diffusers" "Let's run down and f*** one of those cows". "No, let's walk down and f*** them all" Perhaps one would retain the diffusion and add more treatment over time? Just sayin'

[@saint6563]

Don't use a new source to evaluate equipment. Only use sources you are familiar with on multiple systems.

[@MOOeymania]

Man this is similar to the Borresens

[@michaelrovner4165]

Michael Borrenson used to design the Raidho speakers

[@Prometheus1979]

The looks of these speakers are the same as my Q-Acoustic Concept 50’s that retail for 3 grand and the feet are adjustable with an isolation base and same build quality . No way I’m giving almost 20 grand for these. I would rather have a pair of borressen speakers which I’m hearing great things about.

[@phetmoz]

Things to know - Børresen chase neutrality and forwardness. Raidho is much more laid-back, making the music sound beautiful at expense of some excitement and resolution. Most prefer Raidho in the end, afaik.

[@carlosoliveira-rc2xt]

Your Q Acoustics are not even in the same universe as these speakers. That's like saying you are a champion boxer because you have the same number of arms and hands.

[@raphaelmeillat8527]

Love what Q Acoustics guys are doing to make great speakers affordable. Nice craftsmanship as well. Having said that, I made the mistake to listen to Raidho speakers at a dealer in Paris a few years ago and I never heard my previous pairs of speakers the same! The perfect tone and soundstage, both the resolution and the musicality. Simply unparalleled to my ears. Once you hear it you cannot un-hear it if you see what I mean. If you're enjoying your Concept 50, no need to look elsewhere. Ignorance is blissed in that sense. But thinking that you get the same thing at one-fifth the price is simply not true. In my case, I could not afford new Raidhos so I managed to find a used pair. Best way to enjoy such pricey speakers. Cheers.

[@Prometheus1979]

lol, I never said the same in sound quality. I said the looks are the same. These speakers should look a lot nicer than what they do. That was my point.

[@Prometheus1979]

I never said the sound quality was on par I said they look the same as mine. They should look a lot nicer for that price. That was my point.

[@JohnMoog-ug6bk]

Magnapan 3.7i

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Add extra Rel sub w proper crossover 😊

[@A-gks]

Why even bother with Raidho at this point? Michael Borresen took the next gen tweeter design over to Borresen speakers. Even Raidho had to reach a legal settlement to continue using its current outdated ribbon design. Btw, Borresen's current ribbon is half the weight of this outdated Raidho version. The current Raidho outfit is a bunch of contract engineers trying to inherit a design they didn't create. IYKYK.