Victor
Super Member
OK, Jerry has been asking me to post a full review of my XRT30 speaker system for a while so here you go. 
System setup:
Sources are MS300 and MVP851 used as digital inputs to MDA1000. MDA1000 XLR output to 2 MC501s powering the mid/high columns. MDA1000 RCA output to MQ109B to MC162 (still saving for 2 more MC501s) powering bass cabinets. The room is 10'x16', open at the left side of the front wall to a hallway and open at the left side from the middle to the back wall to a kitchen area. The speaker columns are 5 1/2' from the front wall and less than a foot from the side walls. The bass cabinets are behind and inboard of the columns, with the back of the bass cabinets 3' from the front wall and 1' from the side walls. The speaker toe in is set to cross at a point about 4' behind the listener (this is the speaker positions after I did the setup). The chair is positioned center with the listeners ears 18" from the rear wall.
Measurements
I finally got out my Sencore SP295C SoundPro Audio Analyser to do a final setup on the speakers and here are the measurements.
The first measurement I did was speaker distortion. A great in room distortion measurement would be 1% or lower. The XRT30s measured 1%-2.5% at different frequency ranges. This is not great but not terrible. These XRT30s are older than I thought, they are serial numbers UE3013 & UE3014. This would make them the 7th XRT30 speaker system made so they are 5 years old. It is common for 5 year old speakers to have higher distortion measurements, from the speaker cone mounting screws loosening up and causing the speakers to vibrate. This is an easy fix, just tighten the screws. The problem is the column speaker cone mounting screws are hidden and I don't know how to get to them. I'm going to order a XRT30 service manual and take care of this later. If anyone knows how to take the XRT30 columns apart, let me know how.
The next measurement I did was frequency response. The overall response was nice and flat with 2 exceptions.
First exception there was a 9db dip at 80hz. This was odd because of all the speakers I measured in this room I never had a dip at 80hz before, so I don't think it is a room node. I moved the bass cabinets about a foot closer to the front wall and removed 4' of bass traps, which helped. I did not want the speakers closer to the front wall than they now are so I used the EQ to do the rest of the correction. My EQ settings are: 30hz +2db, 50hz +3db, 80hz + 9db, 150hz -12db, 300hz -12db and 600hz -12db. The last 3 -12db settings are because I don't think the bass cabinets have a crossover and there is significant sound energy from the bass cabinets up to 1000hz. The columns do a much better job reproducing sound from 80hz to 1000hz so I cut off the 150hz, 300hz and 600hz from the bass cabinets. This really tightens up the mid bass sound and eliminates bass bloat. After speaker moving and EQ the bass frequency response is now flat within 6db (which is about the best I have seen for in room response).
Second exception was at high frequencies: 16khz was -4db, 17,820hz -9db and 20khz -18db. I was able to improve this a little with some more toe in but the numbers did not change much. This high frequency roll off may explain why there is no listener fatigue with these speakers. I used to have Avalon Eclipse speakers which measured flat to 20khz. Comparing the XRT30s to the Avalons in high frequencies, I do not hear a perceived high frequency roll off. The Avalons did have a little more detail at the high frequencies but it came with harshness. With the XRT30s you loose just a little high end detail but you also loose all the harshness, I like the XRT30 high end much more.***Edit! See posts 16,17,22&24. The high frequencies are rolled off because of my room treatments, not because of the speakers. Edit!***
The last measurement I did was a Energy Time Graph. This is the amount of time it takes an impulse sound to die out in the room. Some of the best rooms I have measured were -12db at 60 ms. My room has 68 square feet of Auralex 2" Wedge Studio foam and 3 LENRD bass traps. I have gotten good measurements in my room in the past with other speakers so I was expecting a good measurement. The reading was not -12db until 150ms. This reading is not very good, the only explanation I can think of is that line array speakers don't measure well on this test. I have never measured any other line array speakers so I don't have anything to go by. A system/room that measures poor in this test will usually have poor imaging and separation but as you will read below this is not the case here.
Now the important part, listening tests
I'll start with imaging and stereo separation. These speakers have the best side to side imaging and separation I have ever heard. It is very easy to pinpoint instrument placement with the XRT30s. I was listening to Pink Floyd DSOTM with my eyes closed and I was getting so dizzy from the sounds I had to open my eyes. Its not just the major panning in this recording it is also the subtle panning like the high hat cymbal sound (ti tiss) on the song "On The Run", it starts out on the left side and it takes 3 minutes to pan to the right (I have listened to this song many times but I never noticed this pan). It is subtle panning like this that I have not heard in other speakers. The depth of imaging is also very good. On the song "Fever" by Valerie Joyce from The World's Greatest Audiophile Vocal Recordings on the Chesky label, there are some echoing finger snaps that make it sound like the front wall is pushed back 10 feet.
Next bass response. After getting out the setup equipment and adjusting the EQ. I find the bass very tight and detailed without the bloat that many speakers have. And now with the correct settings on the EQ there is even some impact. There is not the impact of B&W speakers but to me the XRT30s sound more natural.
Voices and midrange. The XRT30s really shine here. On Gets/Gilberto The Girl From Ipanema, the male and female voices and the sax are just beautiful. It does not sound like a recording, its like they are in the room with you.
High frequencies. Even though the XRT30s measured rolled off at the extreme high frequencies I don't notice anything missing. On Diana Krall's Stop This World from The Girl In The Other Room, the brushed snare drum and cymbals are full of an incredible amount of detail. The XRT30 speakers have the best high frequency I have heard in a system that did not give me listener fatigue. I have heard better, but with those systems I could only listen for a half hour before feeling discomfort in my ears.
Conclusions
In the beginning of this post you can see that these speakers were not the best I have measured. These speakers are for sure the best speakers I have ever owned and they are in the top group of the best speakers I have ever heard. This again just goes to show you that measurements are a good place to start but don't make any judgments until you have heard it for yourself.
In summary I would call the sound of the XRT30 natural in tone but audiophile in effects (great detail and imaging). For me this is the best of both worlds and exactly what I want.
I highly recommend the XRT30s. :thmbsp:
Victor
System setup:
Sources are MS300 and MVP851 used as digital inputs to MDA1000. MDA1000 XLR output to 2 MC501s powering the mid/high columns. MDA1000 RCA output to MQ109B to MC162 (still saving for 2 more MC501s) powering bass cabinets. The room is 10'x16', open at the left side of the front wall to a hallway and open at the left side from the middle to the back wall to a kitchen area. The speaker columns are 5 1/2' from the front wall and less than a foot from the side walls. The bass cabinets are behind and inboard of the columns, with the back of the bass cabinets 3' from the front wall and 1' from the side walls. The speaker toe in is set to cross at a point about 4' behind the listener (this is the speaker positions after I did the setup). The chair is positioned center with the listeners ears 18" from the rear wall.
Measurements
I finally got out my Sencore SP295C SoundPro Audio Analyser to do a final setup on the speakers and here are the measurements.
The first measurement I did was speaker distortion. A great in room distortion measurement would be 1% or lower. The XRT30s measured 1%-2.5% at different frequency ranges. This is not great but not terrible. These XRT30s are older than I thought, they are serial numbers UE3013 & UE3014. This would make them the 7th XRT30 speaker system made so they are 5 years old. It is common for 5 year old speakers to have higher distortion measurements, from the speaker cone mounting screws loosening up and causing the speakers to vibrate. This is an easy fix, just tighten the screws. The problem is the column speaker cone mounting screws are hidden and I don't know how to get to them. I'm going to order a XRT30 service manual and take care of this later. If anyone knows how to take the XRT30 columns apart, let me know how.
The next measurement I did was frequency response. The overall response was nice and flat with 2 exceptions.
First exception there was a 9db dip at 80hz. This was odd because of all the speakers I measured in this room I never had a dip at 80hz before, so I don't think it is a room node. I moved the bass cabinets about a foot closer to the front wall and removed 4' of bass traps, which helped. I did not want the speakers closer to the front wall than they now are so I used the EQ to do the rest of the correction. My EQ settings are: 30hz +2db, 50hz +3db, 80hz + 9db, 150hz -12db, 300hz -12db and 600hz -12db. The last 3 -12db settings are because I don't think the bass cabinets have a crossover and there is significant sound energy from the bass cabinets up to 1000hz. The columns do a much better job reproducing sound from 80hz to 1000hz so I cut off the 150hz, 300hz and 600hz from the bass cabinets. This really tightens up the mid bass sound and eliminates bass bloat. After speaker moving and EQ the bass frequency response is now flat within 6db (which is about the best I have seen for in room response).
Second exception was at high frequencies: 16khz was -4db, 17,820hz -9db and 20khz -18db. I was able to improve this a little with some more toe in but the numbers did not change much. This high frequency roll off may explain why there is no listener fatigue with these speakers. I used to have Avalon Eclipse speakers which measured flat to 20khz. Comparing the XRT30s to the Avalons in high frequencies, I do not hear a perceived high frequency roll off. The Avalons did have a little more detail at the high frequencies but it came with harshness. With the XRT30s you loose just a little high end detail but you also loose all the harshness, I like the XRT30 high end much more.***Edit! See posts 16,17,22&24. The high frequencies are rolled off because of my room treatments, not because of the speakers. Edit!***
The last measurement I did was a Energy Time Graph. This is the amount of time it takes an impulse sound to die out in the room. Some of the best rooms I have measured were -12db at 60 ms. My room has 68 square feet of Auralex 2" Wedge Studio foam and 3 LENRD bass traps. I have gotten good measurements in my room in the past with other speakers so I was expecting a good measurement. The reading was not -12db until 150ms. This reading is not very good, the only explanation I can think of is that line array speakers don't measure well on this test. I have never measured any other line array speakers so I don't have anything to go by. A system/room that measures poor in this test will usually have poor imaging and separation but as you will read below this is not the case here.
Now the important part, listening tests
I'll start with imaging and stereo separation. These speakers have the best side to side imaging and separation I have ever heard. It is very easy to pinpoint instrument placement with the XRT30s. I was listening to Pink Floyd DSOTM with my eyes closed and I was getting so dizzy from the sounds I had to open my eyes. Its not just the major panning in this recording it is also the subtle panning like the high hat cymbal sound (ti tiss) on the song "On The Run", it starts out on the left side and it takes 3 minutes to pan to the right (I have listened to this song many times but I never noticed this pan). It is subtle panning like this that I have not heard in other speakers. The depth of imaging is also very good. On the song "Fever" by Valerie Joyce from The World's Greatest Audiophile Vocal Recordings on the Chesky label, there are some echoing finger snaps that make it sound like the front wall is pushed back 10 feet.
Next bass response. After getting out the setup equipment and adjusting the EQ. I find the bass very tight and detailed without the bloat that many speakers have. And now with the correct settings on the EQ there is even some impact. There is not the impact of B&W speakers but to me the XRT30s sound more natural.
Voices and midrange. The XRT30s really shine here. On Gets/Gilberto The Girl From Ipanema, the male and female voices and the sax are just beautiful. It does not sound like a recording, its like they are in the room with you.
High frequencies. Even though the XRT30s measured rolled off at the extreme high frequencies I don't notice anything missing. On Diana Krall's Stop This World from The Girl In The Other Room, the brushed snare drum and cymbals are full of an incredible amount of detail. The XRT30 speakers have the best high frequency I have heard in a system that did not give me listener fatigue. I have heard better, but with those systems I could only listen for a half hour before feeling discomfort in my ears.
Conclusions
In the beginning of this post you can see that these speakers were not the best I have measured. These speakers are for sure the best speakers I have ever owned and they are in the top group of the best speakers I have ever heard. This again just goes to show you that measurements are a good place to start but don't make any judgments until you have heard it for yourself.
In summary I would call the sound of the XRT30 natural in tone but audiophile in effects (great detail and imaging). For me this is the best of both worlds and exactly what I want.
I highly recommend the XRT30s. :thmbsp:
Victor
