Raidho’s new little-is-big X2t “extreme” floorstander
How Raidho manages to produce such an extreme, seeming full range sound from a floorstander as diminutive as the X2t (€14,000/pair) I do not know. But perhaps its planar-magnetic tweeter, which is almost the same as in the much larger TD6, has something to do with it. The speaker, which replaces the X2, also has contains 5.25″ bass drivers with an extremely stiff tantalum-coated membrane, Nordost internal cabling, Mundorf capacitors, special decoupling feet that include metal balls, and 2.5-way construction. Crossover components have been improved, and are hard-wired point-to-point, and the loudspeaker has been completely retuned.
According to Raidho’s Morten Kim Nielsen, the tweeter may look the same as in the X2, but it is actually a very different animal than the tweeter original designed by Michael Børresen. Ditto for everything else in the X2t.
Another contributor to this system’s superlative sound was the top-quality components in the rest of the chain. Quoting from the submitted equipment list, which mixes prices in euros and dollars, we’re talking huge Moon 888 monoblocks (€70,000/each, Moon 780 v2 DAC (€19,000), Moon 850P preamp (€35,000), Plixir Power Conditioner 2 × BAC300 ($5400/each), Plixir Power Conditioner BAC400 ($1500), USB Disruptor ($129), and Nordost cabling.
On a 24/96 file of Bill Frisell performing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” the guitar’s low notes were especially impressive. Once volume was turned up, I was blown away by the sound. I must confess that I tuned out on ye olde Proprius standby, a 24/96 file of “O Holy Night” sung in Danish—sorry, I’m not ready for “O Holy Night” as summer approaches—but what I allowed myself to hear sounded quite good. I look forward to more time with the Raidho X2t and the other speakers in Raidho’s portfolio.