Worst measuring loudspeaker?

[MKR]

This brand is a joke.

£11k for what is effectively a broken design … note I have heard the Borresen multiple times at shows and can fully confirm Erin’s observations, and good to see the measurements that validate my own (negative) impressions

 

[Purité Audio]

Why can’t they just design a better speaker is it because,
they don’t know how to
they choose not to
they just don’t give a fig either way ?
Keith

 

[Bjorn]

Why can’t they just design a better speaker is it because,
they don’t know how to
they choose not to
they just don’t give a fig either way ?
Keith

Or they don't need to in order to sell?
Enough marketing and a decent look is sufficient. Hifi journalism doesn't exist.

 

[Purité Audio]

Do you think enough have actually heard a decent loudspeaker, as you say there is no authoritative writing.
Keith

 

[VintageFlanker]

note I have heard the Borresen multiple times at shows

So do I, and they always sounded like garbage, regardless of the cost.

 

[Ktacos]

Børresen never disappoint.

I'm really losing interest in Erin's reviews. He doesn't seem as comfortable labeling broken speakers for what they are. So many issues he points out and falls back on "I didn't like this but you might like it". Nah, no one is going to like to massive peaks in the bass or resonances. He used to be so much more critical of crappy speakers.

 

[Purité Audio]

Commercial reality sets in, he needs speakers to review, the way Stereophile needs advertising revenue it’s the same old same old.
Keith

 

[A Surfer]

Just like all of us. It isn't like most people go irritating and alienating their employers and risk their jobs. Some perhaps do, but in my experience most people toe the line and complain in secret with family and friends.

 

[fredoamigo]

I'm really losing interest in Erin's reviews. He doesn't seem as comfortable labeling broken speakers for what they are. So many issues he points out and falls back on "I didn't like this but you might like it". Nah, no one is going to like to massive peaks in the bass or resonances. He used to be so much more critical of crappy speakers.

For many reasons, he can't be too "divisive" or brittle.

 

[Bjorn]

As long people aren't doing proper AB tests, one can easily be fooled to think the sound quality is good. Especially if one lacks great references.

Didn't Børresen come out of Raidho Acoustics? I have heard Raidho speakers several times, and it was quite obvious they were tuned with a dip in the presence area. Soft and lacking details.

Raidho Acoustics | Premium Quality Loudspeakers

Discover the exceptional design and superior sound quality of Raidho Acoustics loudspeakers. Experience the genuine HiFi sound and innovative technology that sets us apart from the mainstream. Browse our award-winning series X, TD and Legendary speakers and find the perfect fit for your audio needs.

www.raidho.dk

 

[Frank Dernie]

I'm really losing interest in Erin's reviews. He doesn't seem as comfortable labeling broken speakers for what they are. So many issues he points out and falls back on "I didn't like this but you might like it". Nah, no one is going to like to massive peaks in the bass or resonances. He used to be so much more critical of crappy speakers.

He probably just didn't want to piss off the very kind person who bought them and drove them half way across the USA to have them measured.
He was being polite.

 

[Soniclife]

He probably just didn't want to piss off the very kind person who bought them and drove them half way across the USA to have them measured.
He was being polite.

That's how I see it. The data is brutal, it's presented in full, it speaks for itself, he doesn't need to pile on.

 

[Bjorn]

He probably just didn't want to piss off the very kind person who bought them and drove them half way across the USA to have them measured.
He was being polite.

While it's understandable, we also have to say the obvious that it's not a total honest review when the truth isn't clearly shared. He easily heard the anomalies and shortcomings in the AB tests. No one will prefer this kind of response (and other issues related to phase) in the long run with various music material. The speaker is really broken and it should be said so. Price is also ridicolous.

 

[dfuller]

That Borresen is really a dumpster fire. Like "makes Wilson look good" kinda dumpster fire.

Price is also ridicolous.

$11,000 for passive speakers should really merit substantially better performance than that, especially considering you'll need to tack on an amplifier of decent quality (so another thousand dollars)...

It's hard to justify that when 1, there are passives that are markedly better in basically every way for a quarter as much, and 2, there are actives around that price point that are really about as good as speakers can get and don't need an amplifier.

 

[Purité Audio]

And that is not an easy thing to do.
Keith

 

[Bjorn]

From two different reviews of the Børresen X3:

I think it’s fair to say I liked the X3s from Børresen a great deal and I do think they set the current standard for speakers (that I’ve heard) at this price, and I do think in that respect they could well be seen as game-changers

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Børresen X3 loudspeakers are fully deserving of HiFi PiG’s top award. They are superb!

Børresen X3 Loudspeaker | Hifi Pig

HiFi PiG Editor Stuart reviews the entry-level Børresen X3 Loudspeaker

www.hifipig.com

The Børresen X3s may be svelte in appearance and this clearly helps in terms of imaging and resolution but what really struck me was the power of bass that they can reproduce.

The X3s made it very easy to hear what various filters and cables were doing in the streaming system, but they also made The God in Hackney’s The World in Air Quotes sounds magnificent. Room filling scale, powerful dynamics and subtle timing cues were all in evidence alongside the majesty of tracks like ‘Bardo!’.

With more complex pieces you get a real sense of being able to hear through the mix, this was apparent with Patricia Barber’s ‘Post Modern Blues’ which can seem slightly thick and opaque with some loudspeakers, as if it has been mixed to sound plush on brighter systems. Here you get solid precise double bass and drums alongside the vitality and power of the piano, the whole unit is as sharp as a knife but there is depth of tone and body to the sound. It’s a thrilling combination especially when the bass goes so far down, the double bass in particular being extremely articulate and fast.

Standing on their own four feet the Børresen X3s represent excellent value both in terms of sound and build quality, which given where they are made is quite an achievement.

One moment, please...

Hifi "reviews" are hillarious!

 

[ChrisG]

Interesting to see another pair of speakers that will present a "difficult" load, especially towards the bass. 2ohm equivalent resistance will certainly "show the difference" between amps that can or cannot drive such things.
Of course, a sensibly-designed speaker wouldn't present such problems, which is a problem in the HiFi world! How else can they sell "high-end" (ie, heavy) monoblocks capable of driving 1ohm?
Bonus: moving to a thicker speaker cable may well result in audible improvements when your speakers present such low impedances.


IME, anything "interesting"/"different" (ie, non-linear) will catch reviewers' ears for a while. "Hearing things I've never heard before" just means they've found a speaker with a peak in a different frequency range to what they're used to.



Chris

 

[Frank Dernie]

While it's understandable, we also have to say the obvious that it's not a total honest review when the truth isn't clearly shared. He easily heard the anomalies and shortcomings in the AB tests. No one will prefer this kind of response (and other issues related to phase) in the long run with various music material. The speaker is really broken and it should be said so. Price is also ridicolous.

I don't agree.

He made it clear, to me at least, that it had big problems whilst saying some people may like the effect of the shortcomings, though he himself did not.

To say that nobody would prefer it is clearly wrong since not only did the person bringing them for evaluation pay for them plenty of other people do despite every test I have seen showing them to be technically very very bad indeed. It is odd that people like them and I think he was trying to evaluate what out of the blatant shortcomings anyone may like on audition whilst saying he did not. Except he liked the spectacularly bad bass on one track which is weird IMO.

 

[Mnyb]

To add insult to injury this brands ( raidho and other sister brands in the same group ) also delves into all kind off audio woo woo

So they dont fix ovbvius issues but rather add cryo treated components etc ..

 

[Bjorn]

I don't agree.

He made it clear, to me at least, that it had big problems whilst saying some people may like the effect of the shortcomings, though he himself did not.

To say that nobody would prefer it is clearly wrong since not only did the person bringing them for evaluation pay for them plenty of other people do despite every test I have seen showing them to be technically very very bad indeed. It is odd that people like them and I think he was trying to evaluate what out of the blatant shortcomings anyone may like on audition whilst saying he did not. Except he liked the spectacularly bad bass on one track which is weird IMO.

He is just being polite and don't want to insult the buyer. There are no studies on frequency response showing that people prefer this over a neutral response, quite the contrary.

People buy poor speakers all the time. Often due to what they believe in and not actually proper AB tests. They "like" it only because of bias and money they have spent. In the long run, most will sell them and get a new speaker.

Seems like Børresen also are blatanly lying about their speakers. The graph below are their own measurement of the response and phase with the comment that "the speaker is extremely linear and with an equivalent flat phase response". They also comment that the response is unsmoothed.

A flat phase response is physical impossible to achieve with such a speaker design BTW.