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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Caladan Speakers
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Message started by x2turbo on 10/25/23 at 21:10:40

Title: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/25/23 at 21:10:40

Curious if anyone else has seen the review of the new Caladan OB Speaker by New Record Day on YouTube?

I'd post a link, but don't have enough posts to do so.

I've been looking at finding a new pair of speakers while waiting for my ZMA. Currently using LII Audio Fast-10's in a DIY TL cabinet with my Taboo III and love them. So I've been thinking about building something with Platinum=10s, but this review really has peaked my interest.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by RonP on 10/25/23 at 21:29:35

The timing of these speakers announced is basically perfect. I have been in mad scientist mode for the past several days thinking about a DIY open baffle build.

I've already emailed Clayton about these. They seem pretty ideal for my purposes.

video is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRrgJ-_npls

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/25/23 at 21:42:52

and hard to beat the price at @$2950

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 10/25/23 at 21:51:46

I just logged in to share the video (after watching it twice) but you beat me to it, lol. I was impressed by the quality of the audio from YT-it was atypical in being stop the presses fantastic. I’m evaluating where I go from Lii Audio FR drivers and was going to (and still going to) evaluate PAP Duets as an upgrade but this video gave me some pause-will need to evaluate this option more closely. The price is very compelling and perhaps the only thing that mildly concerns me is that the sensitivity is not as high as Lii or PAP at 93/94.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/25/23 at 22:13:26

I agree and in the same boat. Wouldn't work well with my Taboo III, but might be a great match with a forthcoming ZMA.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Geno on 10/26/23 at 15:56:14

I did not recognize his name, but I see that he was the Spatial dude.

The Caladans sound amazing!

The size seems to be just about right for most rooms. Are those 12" bass drivers?

The thing that i don't like about the Spatials that I've seen, is that they are soooo big. You need an above average size room to accomodate them.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/26/23 at 17:14:53

How do you like the PT-10\W-15 OB? That's the speaker I was planning on building until I saw this review of the Caladans.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Geno on 10/26/23 at 20:12:38

I like the combo very much. No real reason to be interested in another speaker setup, but the Caladan size, styling and sound(at least in the video) have me intrigued...

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Doug on 10/27/23 at 03:08:49

Just watched/listened to the Caladan review. Here are a few quick thoughts.

Pros:
The Caladans are OB speakers. I absolutely love open baffles and will never again have box speakers, of any kind, in my main system.

$2950 seems like a reasonable price.

Rather small size for an OB speaker.

Cons:
Low efficiency, relatively speaking.

High crossover point (again, relatively speaking), which is a huge concern.

If I had plans to spend $3,000 on a pair of speakers I’m not sure what I would do…….probably utilize Lii Audio products and build OB’s.

Good luck as you proceed!

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by GroovySauce on 10/27/23 at 12:05:07

Quote:

High crossover point (again, relatively speaking), which is a huge concern.

Why is a high crossover point a concern?

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/27/23 at 14:59:12

I had to rewatch it to make sure, the xover point is 1K. I didn't think that's considered high

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by RonP on 10/27/23 at 15:02:00

I thought the 1k crossover was to the tweeter.. IE it's actually a pretty low crossover point to hand off to a tweeter.. when "typically" it's 2-3k handoff to a tweeter.

As I recall from watching the video

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by CAJames on 10/27/23 at 15:16:13

Yeah, the guy in the video talked about "lowering the crossover point as much as possible."

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by GroovySauce on 10/27/23 at 16:05:31

I haven’t watched the video.

I don’t get why the crossover point is something to be concerned about. I can see not wanting the crossover between ~100-600hz as that is the lions share of the vocal range.

My guess is all crossover points or single full range have trade offs.

What’s the trade off of a xo at 1,000hz?

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Doug on 10/27/23 at 17:03:01

I suppose it’s more of a personal preference. Over the past 10 to 12 years I’ve discovered that I don’t care for the sound of speakers that have crossover components working in the 150 to 3000 hertz range.

More than 10 years ago I removed the very high end crossovers from my Azzolina Audio Gran Sferras in order to run the big Lowther horns full range. With my current PAP Quintets, I stopped using the highly upgraded crossovers a few years ago, leaving the Voxativs to run full range. With both speaker systems, the woofers were/are gently crossed over with a single inductor at around 100 hertz.

I even disliked the 10,000 hertz tweeter crossover on my Zu Audio Definitions, but opening those cabinets and messing with the crossovers on that complicated system was not at all practical. The crossover from the woofers to the full range drivers was also horrible sounding, so they were sold after a couple of years.

Many people find crossovers anywhere in the audible frequency range to be distasteful. The last thing I would ever do is attempt to speak on behalf of Mr. Deckert, but check out his speaker offerings—90% of the speakers he sells have no crossover at all.

My perception is that reproduced music is far more emotional, personal, real, life-like , etcetera, when no crossover is present anywhere in the low to high midrange. Crossovers in the midrange seem to be perfectly acceptable to many, but I find them problematic. Just one man’s take on the issue.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Zork on 10/27/23 at 17:16:04

The microphone placement seems odd in that room.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by GroovySauce on 10/27/23 at 18:15:07

Thank you Doug, that clarified your statement for me.

Seems it's another one of those hifi things where certain people are more sensitive to certain aspects than others.

A speaker with a single full range driver with no crossover suffers from the doppler effect. Some people enjoy this, others are bothered by this and some don't even consider it.

As they say, there is no free lunch in audio.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Doug on 10/28/23 at 16:41:33

Hey Groovy,

Yeah, though I really don’t play much dense music with lots of bass, when I do, and when the volume is cranked, that doppler effect, along with other likely distortions, can be heard. However, the Voxativ 1.6, as you well know, is quite a remarkable driver, and it always seems to stand above the fray. As you stated, speaker design, and the audio game in general, is certainly full of trade offs.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by RonP on 10/30/23 at 19:08:17

FYI All

Clayton replied to my email inquiry with a PDF that has some details on the speakers. I hope no-one minds if I post a snippet of that PDF Newsletter

"Finish Options:
Caladan offers a choice between a 1.5" thick baffle crafted from solid American hardwoods like Walnut, Cherry,
and Maple, or a painted MDF version available in White and Black.

North America Pricing:
Caladan in MDF with painted surface: $2950 /pair
Caladan in Solid Hardwoods: $3295 /pair

Features:
- Extreme high-end crossover parts (Jupiter/Janzten/US Coils/WBT are all standard).
- IsoAcoustics Gaia footers are standard.

Purchase and Lead Time Information:
Following the overwhelming response after Ron’s New Record Day YouTube video, production is set to
commence immediately. Orders for November are now full, with new orders scheduled for December delivery,
prioritized by the date of order. "

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by x2turbo on 10/30/23 at 19:15:03

Thanks Ron

I think most of us are not surprised with the rush in orders.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by kulafu on 11/02/23 at 13:09:37

Looks like Clayton will be at the Capital Audio Fest. Anyone going? Kamran? I might just go to see if he has the Caladan's on demo.
Bob

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 11/02/23 at 13:48:21

I had also received the pdf spec sheet from Clayton, but unless I overlooked it, the sensitivity of the speakers was missing? I wrote back to Clayton but haven’t heard back yet.

Bob, yes I do plan to attend CAF for a variety of reasons and if Clayton will also be there demoing Caladan, it makes the event even more compellingQ!

Let’s coordinate if you also end up attending. I’m only going to be there for one day (Saturday).

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Tony on 11/02/23 at 15:31:18

Good morning, guys,

I found this information regarding the Caladan speaker.

"According to the Clayton Shaw Acoustic Lab, the Caladan speaker has a sensitivity of 94dB/1W/1m. This means that it will produce a sound pressure level of 94dB when driven by 1 watt of power at a distance of 1 meter.

This is a relatively high sensitivity rating, which means that the Caladan speaker is capable of producing a loud sound level with relatively little power. This makes it a good choice for applications where high sound pressure levels are required, such as home theater systems and PA systems."

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by pursuitofnow on 11/02/23 at 16:31:38

Would these work well with our 2 watt zens? Seems like it would be right on the cusp, but maybe being open backs they'll work?

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by RonP on 11/02/23 at 17:39:38

Check the chart about half way down the page

https://www.decwareproducts.com/ampbuyingguide

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by pursuitofnow on 11/02/23 at 17:44:54

Thanks, I'm familiar with that page and see red = nice pairing. Was hoping for a little more feedback and descriptions from similar speakers. I guess time will tell as these seem to be a hot speaker right now.

I also noticed on the website they are now listed as 93db.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by kulafu on 11/02/23 at 20:02:18

Kamran,
If I would go, it would have to be friday or sunday. I have a previous commitment on saturday.
Bob

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by DADOWNS on 11/06/23 at 20:58:27

Did anyone here listen to these Caladan speakers at Capitol Audio Fest?

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 11/06/23 at 21:22:24

CAF starts this Friday and lasts till Sunday. I plan to be there Saturday.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 02/26/24 at 03:21:03

3 months later and I haven’t heard anything.

Anyone? The initial orders should have been out in Feb. Wonder if Clayton ran in to production problems?

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Scott M on 05/03/24 at 02:35:31

Ordered a pair early December 2023. Suppose to ship in March 2024. May 2, 2024 - no shipment confirmation. Something about Utah based speaker companies and long shipping delays..........(Tekton, Zu, Clayton Shaw Acoustics).

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 05/03/24 at 03:48:26

Just saw your post on Audiogon as well. Welcome to the forum!

It’s disappointing that it’s taking this long. I also believe that Ron at New Record Day (and potentially Steve G.) have review models already delivered, so I’m expecting reviews in the near future.

For now, I’m closely following that Audiogon thread to get a sense of impressions but only a handful of folks have received it so far.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by TexJ on 05/04/24 at 19:41:28

Judging by the Spatial Audio crowd, I expect these speakers to be worth it. Clayton claims, depending on your room, you probably don't need subs. If I order these I'm probably going to pair them with OB Subs. Side note, I got to listen to GR's Research subs and was blown away.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Palomino on 05/07/24 at 12:45:44

I heard these at Axpona. I didn't spend a lot of time listening but from what I heard, I liked. At $3K they seemed like a good value. I found the bass a little muddier than I like but you can't always get a read on bass in those little hotel rooms.

I did hear that Clayton has been ill. That's why he did not attend the show. Maybe that is leading to the delay.

Title: Re: Caladan Speakers
Post by Kamran on 05/08/24 at 14:08:41

Good to hear from ya Tom!

Didn’t realize Clayton was sick. This tracks with long delays in responses/updates to customers in waiting. Wishing for his speedy recovery.