Some notes: These speakers came from their owner who purchased them from AXPONA (they were the demo units at the show). The owner drove them to my house last month. I was also loaned the Axxess Forte 2 Streaming Amplifier from the same gentleman to conduct my review. I did a "sanity test" on the Forte 2 and found it makes more than rated power and has a linear frequency response. You can find that bit of information in my community posts and my Facebook Group. I contacted Børresen to ask for data for this speaker about 2 weeks before this video was published (and followed up a week after). I did receive a reply to my follow-up email letting me know my request had been forwarded to the factory, however, I have yet to receive any. So, I continued on with my review. I listened to these off and on for about a month before measuring the speakers. I tried all sorts of positions in the room, settling on about 60cm from the wall, pointing at my shoulders (per the manual). Sidewalls are about 2 meters on the right and mostly open on the left. The room is joined to the kitchen and hallway so it's a pretty large space. This positioning yielded the best tonality and bass response (extension and punch) overall. As usual, your mileage may vary. This website has a review that provides frequency response for the Børresen M1. These results show a high-Q bass bump as well. Naturally this makes me wonder if Børresen uses this bass profile across their other models. Link here: audio.com.pl/testy/stereo/kolumny-glosnikowe/3781-borresen-m1 You're gonna have to watch the video for the rest. 😁
Awesome that you tested the AXPONA demo pair so Børresen cannot claim that they were defective. You have totally undermined my confidence in this brand... and in the many drooling reviewers. Well done!
@@ErinsAudioCorner I figured you crossed all T’s and dotted all the i’s for this review. All in all, it’s making you a better reviewer and will make all the speaker manufacturers much better at their trade too! It’s a win, win situation all around for everybody. Especially for the buyers of these great products. 😀👍
A big thank you to the owner for transporting the Borresens to your house for evaluation. The X3 has received a lot of love from the audiophile press and now it's time to see what the fuss is all about. Thank You!
@henriksrensen3220 No this is not the correct way to voice the speakers if that’s what you mean. The frequency response should be as flat as possible and then the speaker already has its own sound.
Thank you to dedicated person that bought and drove these large speakers to Erin all the way from Chicago! We all benefited from his awesome act! Thanks to you, Erin, as usual for doing your thorough, detailed, and insightful reviews!
You are, Erin! I purchased the Aura 2 after your recommendation and love them. I just wanted more bass and a larger sound. I ended up picking up the Elysian 2 and did not love them as much although they did play bigger. Then picked up the Borresen X2. However, I wish you had a review up before I did. I like them overall but I did realize something was off. It doesn’t bother me that much and I’ve tried to fix it with warmer amps. Now knowing where the suck outs are, I will try to EQ to make it even better. I like the suck out in the highs because I’m sensitive to that particularly spot. The 4Khz+ range actually hurts my ears less. Neutral speakers hurt my ears so I like a dip in the highs.
I don’t comment often, but a poor speaker design like this deserves some analysis. First, all is not lost if you own these. The obvious fix (to me anyways) is to simply reverse the leads to the midrange driver, which I would guess is the woofer above the tweeter. From Erin’s data, it is obvious to me that “designers” used first order electrical crossovers thinking that that would result in first order acoustical slopes. But that didn’t work. In all my 20 years of speaker design, I have never been able to pull off a first order acoustical slope. A first order electronic filter always results in a second order acoustic slope. The problem is that this designer then completely overlooked the real acoustic slopes and barged ahead with same phase driver connections. Erin, as you surely know, second order slopes using the same phase driver connection results in a null in the response at the crossover. That’s what this looks like. Second order slopes require that the drivers use reverse phase connections to sum properly, and these speaker did not do that. So reversing the connections to the midrange driver should fix this problem. As for the huge bass bump, the best solution without redesigning the six (?) ports is to simply stuff them and turn this into a sealed box. I haven’t run WinISD to see how this would help, but simply sealing the box should get rid of most of the 80hz bump and damp the ringing. Sorry for the long critique and speaker design explanation, but bad designs like this are just begging to be criticized.
Excellent comment. These speakers really are badly designed and Erin does very well to not simply state this out of respect to the owner. It’s yet another example of the perils of buying high-end audio and why more expensive products deserve to be exposed for the technical disasters they really are, and the absolutely terrible value for money.
Seeing that null made me also think that either the mid driver was connected wrong or I don’t know what. My Proac speakers are designed like that. Of course I changed the crossover , cause I can, and made the response more linear on and off axis. I have no clue, even as a beginner as I am how the crossover designer got hired for this job. Nuts is all I can say. I could do just as bad of a job, but I don’t do this for a living. Actually scratch that. I would never be satisfied with the crossover if my measurements looked like that. And almost anyone can measure with good resolution even in home at those high frequencies where on of the nulls is at. Why they tell beginners not to make a 3 way to start off. Getting good resolution for the mid bass to hand off to the bass driver is HARD if you don’t know what you are doing and take either ground plane measurements or have a klippel.
@@Nightjar726 I think the cabinet designer also has questions to answer! That high Q peak at 80Hz is not good and something odd is happening there which you can see in the compression tests at 70-90Hz. Also the number of resonances shown in the impedance indicates serious problems with the cabinet design. Its just a complete mess
@@mattholland315 The cabinets emit near zero audible noise in actuality. Try listening to an appropriately setup pair for yourself. You’ll be surprised.
A very honest review Erin, you're the go person in the hifi world for very honest reviews, without any strings attached , that means so much. Most other reviewers are dependent on giving only good reviews. So, keep up the good work!
Your reviews are getting so good Erin! Such a great mix of technical insights and subjective impressions! Amazing! Thanks for doing this! Was expecting better results from Borresen I must say. Still looking forward to hearing it at a dealer now that I've heard your take on this. Meanwhile, I'll continue to enjoy my Raidho bookshelf speakers. Their sound is magic!
Thanks to the donor for sharing his new toys AND the not insignificant cost & effort to transport to Erin. Erin - thanks for a great review & explainer. The discussion about how performance characteristics translates to listener experience is really interesting.
As a speaker development engineer I am surprised that a company could ever design and sell something that poor of design. It looks it was put together by someone who did not know what they were doing, and only by ear. This makes me worried about their other products and especially their flagship costing €100.000
Yeah terrible design. Apparently all those who own and love their Børresens have never heard a ruler-flat Revel or Wharfedale. If only they knew they could get better performance for A fraction of the cost. 🤨😂😂😂
BØRRESEN are all for low mass membrane and extremely low inductance motor. They somehow believe and market these things as the ultimate in achieving high end sonic goals. They completely ignore air displacement and all other specs drivers do have in order to produce quality sound, also available in budget options like Peerless or, if carbon fiber is really needed for the membrane, SB Acoustics Satori drivers, that are already at 350$+ per driver and still much better and cheaper.
@@jungtarcph They are protecting their more expensive and much better speakers, like the O and M series. That is why it is always wise to spend the money on brands that do not have extremely expensive stuff because you are sure they are not crippling them to drive you on crazy stuff.
speaking of the designer.. for $11K a pair, that thing is a mess.. I don't know who is responsible for that design, but he's no Peter Comeau or Andrew Jones, that's for sure.
By now I've heard the Borresen X2, X3, X6, Z1, Z3, C3, T1, 05 SSE, and the M3. Also spent much time talking to both Lars Kristensen and Michael Borresen at various shows, plus private audition. I'm very familiar with the sound of all their models. Always thought the X series sounded completely off, especially the X3 and X6. Initial listening impressions were that it sounded bloated and boomy, but still gave an impression of speed. Turns out the design emphasizes the leading edge of notes but bass lingers on too long as you described, creating a bloated sound. On the X3, I also felt it sounded rolled off. Turns out it was the upper mid range that was missing and not the treble. The data here confirmed what I was hearing and been warning others about. That Borresen speakers (especially the X series) can't do real music, the timbre and tonality sounds way off. Which is why their show music tend to favour synthetic sounding music with no real reference point to real life instruments. I once had the chance to play some of my music on them, and was left disappointed. That said, in the X series, the X2 actually sounded the best and most linear. I'm sure if you get the chance to measure them, I'd be proven right. And the older Z series like the Z3 also sounds much more linear. Chronologically, ever since they introduced the X series, all subsequent new releases like the C, T, and M series all inherit this weird sound signature. It was driving me crazy and I thought I was the only one unimpressed. The old Z, and 0 series were the best sounding of all Borresen speakers. Specifically the 05 SSE is among the best speakers I've ever heard. Comparable to the TAD reference flagships. With all that said, I'm glad I didn't sell my Magicos for Borresen, which I contemplated for a while after hearing the 05 SSE.
@@JamesWilliams-gf8gm magico A3, and I was deciding between upgrading to the S3 or go for the Borresen Z3 cryo. I now think Magico S3 is the superior choice. Also if you ever had the chance to listen to the new Borresens (anything released after X series), go place your hand on the speaker cabinet while playing loud music. They resonate like crazy even on their flagship M3. Magico on the other hand, doesn't resonate at all.
@@A-gksnot surprised about the resonance. That thing a t 80 hertz is certainly coming from the cabinets. I doubt that the drivers them selves are the source and clearly there is a resonance there. I aldo doubt that the ports are the source either since the sustain is very long. Judging by the off axis measurements there seems to be an issue near the crossover to the tweeter too. Seems like it's crossed over below the effective range of the wave guide or tweeter. Maybe both. They really should have been able to get away with a fairy high crossover frequency. It's only a 115 mm mid bass although it probably should be a strict midrange that could be crossed over at 3,000 to 3,500 hertz with minimal beaming.
This is a great review. I have been wanting to hear the Borresen X series ever since I first heard about them. Many thanks to the owner for taking such a huge effort to bring these to Erin for testing. This is what I love about the audiophile community. It seems to me after seeing the test results that this speaker has not been fully engineered. The deficiencies are too high for a speaker worth almost $12K.
You should try listening to them, setup as the designer suggests. You might just discover and conclude there is more to sound quality than a few graphs and flat response.
First kudos to the guy who bought the speakers and brought them to Erin. Hope he's a Cubs fan! Great review. Love the honest take and not pulling punches.
@@MattZildjian They must have cherry picked the demo tracks they used at the show. Or depended on uneducated ears. But how could attendees at an audio expo remain uneducated?
Marketing - facepalm! But they have Sliver Pole Pieces. The baskets are cryogenically frozen at near 200 degrees, to fuse and strengthen the metal. They're made in Denmark. Does that not count for anything? Apparently not!
Outstanding as always Erin and thank you very much to the owner for going through all the time & effort of getting the equipment delivered to you. I hope he isn't suffering from "buyers remorse" now.
Someone in my FB group posted pictures of the inside of these cabinets because he had taken it apart to redo the crossover. So Danny wouldn’t be the first if that were to happen.
@@ywsx6489 lol, might be a good speakers for Danny honestly. I would just fix it up with a miniDSP SHD but I know that is blasphemy. It can’t really be fix but the in-room could be greatly correct digitally.
@@JamesWilliams-gf8gm Dirac on my SHD, and countless hours of research and reviews, is how I was able to identify problems in my room. Much more depth than my empty back wall can provide naturally. Just a different rabbit hole now, absorber vs diffusion for back wall.
Erin, thanks for the great review. I had not seen many reviews on this company from the real users, only few reviewers were repeatedly posting on these from the shows or dealer’s’ shops. This is fantastic.
Thank you so much to the owner! Otherwise, we would not have these extremely helpful measurements that have taught us so much about the actual performance of these speakers. But just looking at them, I can see why you bought them - they look amazing. Absolutely beautiful styling. The sound, sadly, not so much.
THANK YOU 🙏🏼 for driving this to the owner. We NEED people like you to keep the industry honest. I’m actually debating between these and the Arendal 1528 towers since they’re the same price. Gettenburg loved these as did everyone else. This appears to be an excellent speaker meant to augmented by some Rel subwoofers
Great review. All I have heard is people gushing about these speakers, to the extent I wondered if I had jumped the gun buying Wharfedale Elysian 4s as my forever speaker. I always wondered, physics being what it is, how they would get low bass out of 4 inch drivers. Now I know. They dont. Your extremely thorough assessment is a refreshing step off the hype train. To me, the mid range is crucial to my enjoyment of a speaker, so their tuning in the mids would put me off also. Thanks to your viewer for giving us the chance to hear more about these undeniably beautiful speakers.
How do you like the Elysian 4? I have the Elysian 2 and Borresen X2. They both play big. Bass is about the same but midrange a bit better with the Elysian 2. Bass is punchier with X2, but a bit bigger, bloomier with Elysian 2. X2 doesn’t seem as bright. The Elysian 4 are probably better all around and I wish I had those. Especially after seeing this review. My plan is to keep either the X2 or Elysian 2 after trying them with tubes as I don’t want them to sound as bright.
@@ratingsdadSorry.Just saw your comment. I love the 4s. They are the closest I have come to a true all round speaker which works with every genre of music equally well. They do need a fairly decent size room, and to be out from the wall a bit. I suspect they are similar to the 2s, but just more. Bass is excellent and I would be very happy woth it, but I already had twin subs and I stuck with them for a marginal improvement in punch and fullness with some tracks. I ran with two amps, an Allnic 300b SET at 12.5 watts and a Kinki studio at 215. Initially I was entirely happy with the 12.5 watts, but then I realised (long story) that neither the amp or speakers were giving their best. Moving things about to a 35 watt tube amp showed what they could do with tubes. Lastly I put Isoacoustic feet on them and they work great on my wooden floor. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the owner for borrowing these speakers for a review. At that price point, I would expect better, but then again everyone’s hearing is different and many may like how these speakers sound.
It's absolutely mind-blowing to me that people would pay so much for something subpar that could be bested by something costing one TENTH the price - and I guarantee you there are many speakers, not to mention DIY and kits, that could beat this in frequency response and most certainly SPL and bass extension, and even relative off-axis performance, for $1,100 bucks. Audio truly is a wild market, and some companies are raking it in undeservedly. Even in 2024 with all the measurement capabilities we have, people are still sold on brand name and old myths/logic about component pairing and genre pairing and praising certain speakers for one or two strengths they might have even amongst all their faults, when we know how to build something approaching an ideal speaker within a given set of constraints, and that such speakers exist. I would never buy anything without seeing klippel measurements these days, from Erin or ASR or some similar data from someone else. Full distortion and compression measurements, full frequency response data and dispersion plots/graphs, everything. Then again I think most speakers are a rip off compared to what you can do DIY, and I'm also willing to sacrifice some off axis performance for a HIGH output design with serious bass. 15" woofers and big mid/tweeter horns all day baby, it's the only way.
I’ve owned many a speaker that retail for a fraction of the price, including many of the measurement darlings (Revel, KEF etc). The Borresens outperform all of them, and it’s not even close in most cases. Drag along a pair of KEF R3s or Revel Performas with you to test against the X3s. You’ll realize within minutes that Michael Børrsen could teach a few things about good sound to Klippel and Toole. It’s funny, nothing in the textbooks and measurements suggests these speakers would image well, yet Erin admits they do.
@rotorfix that absolutely may be the case, but even you must admit imaging is only one aspect of total overall sound quality. Everyone's priorities are different when it comes to which aspects they deem important, maybe imaging is top for you, and it certainly is very important. I think it's fair to say though that ideally we'd want a speaker that does ALL the things well (approaching perfection). Maybe Erin doesn't like the tradeoffs even with the good imaging, which imo is down to left/right driver matching, and I think AMTs are just good at it. So I understand where and why Erin is critical, for the price, it seems some things could have been executed better. Personally I'm not AS concerned as Erin is about off axis performance and frequency response, yes those things are very important, but specifically the off axis performance I can sacrifice there, and as for frequency response I believe in DSP parametric EQ to the extent that I think all people who do not use it are utter fools, it is the most powerful tool in audio and absolutely necessary, whether for corrections or taste/source material based changes. So the weak point of the borrensons to me is not what Erin talks about, for me they're simply not big or powerful enough, they have tiny little baby toy woofers that I loathe and despise, and I know that's just a me thing, I get it, but for ME I only like big speakers and small speakers are not valuable or worth the money... High cost should accompany large size and high output capability. And I like 2ch setups where a sub is fully optional and if one is used it can be crossed very low, below the typical 80hz nonsense. The borrensons look cool AF if they were just bigger and could do another 10-20db of uncompressed undistorted output down to say 30hz at least, then they'd be cool. I'll also take size and scale of the music over pinpoint imaging if I had to choose ... But really I believe you can get the pinpoint imaging effect purely by the tweeter design in the high frequencies, and that range can have a narrower dispersion, while the mids (or/and) woofers can be much larger and wider in presentation... Wall of sound down below idk the 1-2khz range, hard to pinpoint but call it 2khz, and then the pinpoint imaging comes from how the system operates above that. Heck even just 8-10khz plus in a three way, a good tweeter is going to go a long way to giving you the full imaging experience. Meaning you can have a large baffle wall-of-sound type speaker and throw a particular tweeter design on there for the top 2 or 3 octaves at most that does the pinpoint imaging thing and get the best of both worlds. I have 15" pro woofers, horn mids, and a true ribbon tweeter on top, and while this particular diy creation has issues and is not my end game (in the works), there are things they do well that roughly correspond to what I've attempted to describe... Pinpoint up high, yet massive wall of sound giant soundstage presentation, and massively powerful tight and deep bass capability down to 30hz. I just want an improved version of what I've got, not a skinny baby tower. I want speakers that COULD fill an auditorium but happen to be in my living room. Low excursion equals low distortion... High sensitivity equals great dynamics and micro dynamics and low volume sound quality too, ironically. Something similar to one of Erin's favorites, the giant 20k$ JBLs with the 15s and the horn, or a geddes speaker, but tuned lower. There's another brand that makes crazy huge speakers for home theater I can't remember the name of too. Or genelec stuff, maybe danley type stuff. Not Klipsch heritage type stuff tho. But I hear you; Erin's pet peeves in measurements doesn't mean your speakers don't sound great, and might well be better than an r3 meta overall. But I'd rather have the source point 888 for SURE!
Erin hits the nail on the head here!! Awesome speakers that have the standard, and respectable AGD sound! Just slightly misses out on a little bit of "life" (probably due to some of the things Erin refers too). Erin's praises are spot on, and his critique are respectable and accurate. I got much love for Erin and his reviews, and how he blends subjective and objective to give us the most possible coverage. It should also be noted that the X2 and X3 line are AGD's entry level and budget space, so we get some trickle down tech, but I am certain sacrafices had to be made. They do however carry all a good portion of the soul of the AGD vision and bring a lot to the table. 😉PS - Those Warfdales are frkn superb! A buddy of mine dove in and upgraded all the crossover parts in his and WOWZA!!!!..... ;) Cheers Erin! Happy Friday peeps.
This test means for me once again: Many high-end users, and these are the older ones, over fifty, on average probably even over sixty, are easily impressed by the look, workmanship and price, marketing by manufacturers, dealers, high-end prose of the test journalists. "So great looking and so expensive must be great!!" For me, the test and the measurements show that you don't even have to consider this loudspeaker.... well done test👍👍👍
I've read so many opinions how awesome they sound on audio shows :) also some reviewers loved them very much, but they love everything they review, which I find interesting :)
I heard the X1 at Soutwest Audio Fest, and they were one of my favorites, at the time. Retrospectively, I think it was just the best pick for a hotel room audio show, or that "showroom sound" mentioned. Great imaging and that enveloping/holographic sound, with plenty detail, but nowhere near enough time to get intimate and sus out the things you get with time and music tracks in your own home. Bass was impressive for the small bookshelf, but for one of their bigger towers in the lineup...
@@Clint3571 Don't forget the fact that most if not everyone that buys these will say a $500 speaker is crap, when a $900 pair of ELAC Debut 3 DF53s walks all over this thing.
@@ErinsAudioCorneryou were incredibly diplomatic in your subjective comments. But you know as well as anyone else on here who understands even a modicum about loudspeaker analysis that these are absolute garbage and awful value for money. I feel sorry for the owner. Imagine spending $11k on them!
@mattholland315 probably show special price so they didn't have to be shipped back and buyer heard the speakers at the show so had a good idea of what they sound like.
For this speaker, I recommend a mix of 20% gold, 70% brass and 10% silver wire along with 15 strands of horse hair dipped in milk and dried in the moonlight, preferably during the full moon. Gold brings out more bass with the brass accentuating the upper mids with silver providing some kick in the high registers. Horse hair brings out the violins and female vocals. Drying the fibers in moon light is key though as sunlight impacts a harsh tonality to the female vocals.
@@MattZildjianTheres a reality to it. Good cables really elevate your system, digital cables are just as important. But it does matter who you buy them from. Popular cables or good sounding ones...
Big thanks to the gentlemen that provided these speakers. Interesting measurements on this one. I usually just assume a lot of these "higher end" & boutique companies voice their equipment & speakers with inaccuracies or nonlinearities on purpose to sound different. But I don't see how something like this speaker would be enjoyable long term..or even short term. Especially for that type of bread. To have holes or major dips in key areas & ringing/stored energy in certain frequencies makes no sense. For this type of money I would want a linear presentation..or maybe even a slight boost down low but definitely with ultra low distortion drivers & tweeters. The enclosure on this model is pretty cool though. Pretty sweet. Although its not even practical with its uptilted tweeter. Sound is subjective ultimately..so there will always be someone that likes this type of presentation. For half the price you could get a pair of ugly Genelec G Fives & be blown away. Take the saved money from the speakers & amp & get a top of the line source & experience some true hi fidelity. I think there are a lot of better choices out there over these speakers reviewed. But we all like different things.
Dear Borresen, please hire Erin for your finale speaker crossover adjustments 😅😅😅 I've to say, was twice on a private Borresen hifi show and with much, much higher priced speaker you have tested. My conclusion: can agree to some of your observations, but for me it was more negative that there was no emotional attachment to me at alll, no matter what genre was played. As you said, some love Sonus Faber, Focal, B&W and others Borresen or Rhaido etc, it is sooo subjektiv and everyone needs to test by themself and learn what they like, dont trust any YT review, nor overhyped brands 😊 listen, listen, test, test, compare! thanks a lot!!
As much as I really liked them every single time I heard them, the FR is dog poop. The soundstaging, imaging and how they overall present the music is really great. Wonder if they would lose all those great attributes if they were made to measure flat.
My X's not only play well recorded "audiophile" music VERY well, but they ROCK! REALLY LOUD. AC/DC, Zeppelin, you name it. My "flat" speakers never could do that.
There are many neutral speakers that can play loud... Play loud is a function of sensitivity, dynamic range compression rejection and harmonic distortion rejection. The X is mediocre at all those parameters. An example of a neutral speaker that can play loud and bold with zero compression is the JBL 4367. Much better use for your money than that atrociously made speakers
one of the best audio product reviews i've seen. i like michael borresen and i used to own some Raidho speakers that he designed. but they had the exact same issues you're describing. (unlike you, i was not a fan of that mid-bass bump.). he's got to aim for a flatter frequency response when designing speakers.
A smooth midrange without a deep dip is critical. Like a neutral speaker with good dynamics. Tight bass to .... 40hz or so if fine on most recordings. For home theater a sub is fun! Like a wide sound stage as long as the speaker pair are matched in response and phase relationships are reasonable. The placement of instruments Is in the recording mix and if it's not in the recoding no speaker can give you "pinpoint imaging." Like a wide sound stage .... but again the room effects everything. Your reviews are the best out there in helping me have a good idea what a speaker will sound like when I get it home. Dynamicism isn't a word. Speaker "dynamics" is perfect! 😅
How much air a 2 x 4.5 "driver can move? not much ...it has a big cabinet that should help.. He should return them . 11K was for the aesthetic . Thank him for letting you test it !
As a long term designer of consumer products, I suspect these exemplify the triumph of marketing over engineering. It would be interesting to know how well they are selling and how satisfied owners are, IOW are they a business success? Vanity products do have their place.
Thanks for include the waterfall plot, I can predict a lof ot things about a speaker looking at the waterfall plot. I would love to see it in every measurement. Greetings!
A thousand thanks to the to the owner of this pair of Borresen speakers. This is the first time I've seen a Response Linearity graph on a speaker spec. Looks like this speaker needs a subwoofer when played above 80 db. I guess this is to be expected on any speaker that has a form-factor that is a stack of essentially mid-range drivers. Now I understand why the GoldenEar speakers have a side mounted woofer.
I reviewed the X3’s with an Axxess Forte 1 amp and I experienced exactly the same hole in the midrange. They were smooth in the upper registers and overall had a relaxed and natural delivery. I also agree with your experience with the low bass. I would have expected lower end extension given the size of the cabinets. That is not to say that they were not impressive loudspeakers but there was a vagueness in that midrange which might put off someone who wants a more exciting presentation.
Excellent review (as always). Thanks to the owner of these speakers for getting them to you, that was real commitment. And those Super Linton's look very good... oops, wrong review. Not sure what to say about the Borrensen's. There's design decisions and then there's that 80Hz ringing.. Yikes.
Homie probably suffered a lot of sleepless nights tearing his hair out wondering why they sound nothing like he expected. Probably figured might as well drive to Alabama before going completely crazy.
Hi Erin. Thanks again for your excellent videos. I own a pair of X3’s with a Naim system and I love the envolving sound. Do you recommend a pair of Rel subs to improve the lower end?
Hi, I have the REL HT 1003 MKII and they integrate perfectly with the X2. This review has been more painful than people saying that your wife is ugly and you love her with all your heart, it doesn't matter, she makes me happy...
You are right. I respect Erin’s job and he is great guy, but I’m clear that not always good measurements means great sound. Kef speakers including the reference line measures very well but boring and metalic sound. For my room and electronics my borresens are outstanding!
@@coxysailor I do agree that ultimately you should make your own choice. But it’s worth taking note of the opinions of those with much more experienced ears than myself. A purchase of this price is not insignificant, and something I would likely live with for a fair while. I would think that over time my ears will become much more attuned to the sound and would possibly/likely start to notice the same things? Greg Weaver (The Audio Analyst) gave these a glowing review, and I respect his opinion greatly too, so there’s some contrast there. To be somewhat simple and crude, I would say Greg listens for Musicality, Erin listens analytically, and both are valid. I love the Axxess/Ansuz/Aavik ecosystem, and like the idea of an integrated range for component matching, but this does make me consider the Sourcepoint 888’s more.
Can please someone explain this to me. Borresens speakers where one of my most favorite speakers at AXPONA. That was not only my opinion but couple of my friends and family members
Wow, I heard the bookshelf models at an audio show and was surprised by the super deep bass even in a larger room. Granted they didn’t play many types of music, but I would never expect them to measure this erratic.
Poor guy who bought an 11 000$ pair of lemons for speakers! Wow! I really feel sorry for him but he's certainly not the first person to make an impulsive buy and live to regret it. As usual, your videos are most illuminating! Thank you!
There is no necessary positive correlation between cost and performance; as is the case for many other things. Subjective-only has become the license and apologetics for mediocre, or worse, products. Some are even able to say that they like, or don't care about, distortion. I started my audiophile avocation being consumed by specifications, (not so much measurement, specifically). Then, for a long time, I wasn't concerned with either specification or measurement. I finally got tired of attempting to line up distortion among different pieces of gear get to something I like the sound of, otherwise known as synergy. And then, you're still left with distortion. Once I first got the room out of the way - the BIG one, like REALLY BIG - and started paying attention to (the too few) channels like Erin's (who is the best) where measurement and subjective are combined, I now am able to get consistently great sound. We are living in the platinum age of audio. It's never been better, ever. Ever. It's even amazing.
It disappointed me too when I heard it and I could not understand why. A reminder to us all that the hype happens. Anyway, thanks to both the owner and to you, Erin, for your great review.
Another excellent vid combining subjective and objective info combined just right. My reviews are strictly objective as I don't have the gear nor the knowledge to do the objective testing he does. I would like to see the X1 tested some time. I was interested in them, no so much now...A "house sound" is one thing, but extensive ringing from a 11k modern speaker? Not acceptable.
Erin, I hope you will be testing the Purifi SPK16 Reference Design passive 2-way once available. It looks like it could be something, although sensitivity will be low of course (hey, it’s Purifi!) and thus possibly also peak SPL.
Big props to the guy that drove all that way to help get a product tested. I'm not sure about this one. Granted its out of my current budget anyway. The objective results show a lot of issues. Can't say money buys you the best all the time it seems.
Could this speaker be salvaged somehow? I'm thinking first do something with the box tuning and box resonances, then remove the passieve XO and connect to something like the Hypex FA253, and design new XO in that?
After seeing the measurement, It looks quite strange with a scoop mid and 2K HZ region. But would still pay a visit to demo it since some reviewer said it sounded so good. Thanks for your sharing about Borresen. It's so hard to see some reviews about this brand
10db dips in 2024 is what i'd call a piece of shit. 19:51 - what is important is you talk about 11K speakers with carbon drivers and a ribbon tweeter pretending to be a top notch product. but objectively they are worse than many speakers under 1K. it is unacceptable. no need in being polite about them.
Thanks Erin for your review. I was wondering what you thought about in room measurements in reviews? The advantages I can see are: 1. Provide a link between the NFS/anechoic data and the subjective findings 2. Provide some degree of validation of the predicted in room response from the NFS 3. Justify speaker positioning decisions Thanks again!
Hello from Germany. Thank you very much for your review. I went to the booths of Borresen during High End 2024 in Munich several times and never liked the sound. Designed to give some "hifi bling" but one of the most unnatural speakers to come across my ears.
Some notes:
These speakers came from their owner who purchased them from AXPONA (they were the demo units at the show). The owner drove them to my house last month. I was also loaned the Axxess Forte 2 Streaming Amplifier from the same gentleman to conduct my review. I did a "sanity test" on the Forte 2 and found it makes more than rated power and has a linear frequency response. You can find that bit of information in my community posts and my Facebook Group. I contacted Børresen to ask for data for this speaker about 2 weeks before this video was published (and followed up a week after). I did receive a reply to my follow-up email letting me know my request had been forwarded to the factory, however, I have yet to receive any. So, I continued on with my review.
I listened to these off and on for about a month before measuring the speakers. I tried all sorts of positions in the room, settling on about 60cm from the wall, pointing at my shoulders (per the manual). Sidewalls are about 2 meters on the right and mostly open on the left. The room is joined to the kitchen and hallway so it's a pretty large space. This positioning yielded the best tonality and bass response (extension and punch) overall. As usual, your mileage may vary.
This website has a review that provides frequency response for the Børresen M1. These results show a high-Q bass bump as well. Naturally this makes me wonder if Børresen uses this bass profile across their other models. Link here: audio.com.pl/testy/stereo/kolumny-glosnikowe/3781-borresen-m1
You're gonna have to watch the video for the rest. 😁
Pretty sure that website you mention is Polski, homie.
@@suwatt6019it was 4am when I posted this. That’s my excuse. 😂
(But thanks for the correction)
Awesome that you tested the AXPONA demo pair so Børresen cannot claim that they were defective. You have totally undermined my confidence in this brand... and in the many drooling reviewers. Well done!
@@ErinsAudioCorner I figured you crossed all T’s and dotted all the i’s for this review. All in all, it’s making you a better reviewer and will make all the speaker manufacturers much better at their trade too! It’s a win, win situation all around for everybody. Especially for the buyers of these great products. 😀👍
so he cannot return it??
he should !!
Thanks so much to the owner for allowing them to be tested for our benefit!
Maybe time to take them to Danny to get fixed and upgraded.
A big thank you to the owner for transporting the Borresens to your house for evaluation. The X3 has received a lot of love from the audiophile press and now it's time to see what the fuss is all about. Thank You!
The "audiophile press" is less trustworthy than North Korean state news. If they praise something, it's almost always trash
That’s awesome that a watcher/new owner delivered these to you to measure and test, wow, way to go owner, THAT is truly impressive (and fantastic!).
Couldn't agree more!
Yeah but he must be disappointed to see the measurements.
Why? It's the sound that matters @@Darkmatterme
@henriksrensen3220 No this is not the correct way to voice the speakers if that’s what you mean. The frequency response should be as flat as possible and then the speaker already has its own sound.
@Darkmatterme using your ears are much more important than measurements
Thank you to dedicated person that bought and drove these large speakers to Erin all the way from Chicago! We all benefited from his awesome act!
Thanks to you, Erin, as usual for doing your thorough, detailed, and insightful reviews!
Thanks to the person that dropped these off!!!!
I think you saved me a lot of time and effort as they were on my radar.
And a big thank you from me too! I fear there are some brands that would never be properly reviewed without this kind of help.
Erin, you make the best reviews out there. The combination of the subjective and objective data is great. Keep it going!
You are, Erin! I purchased the Aura 2 after your recommendation and love them. I just wanted more bass and a larger sound. I ended up picking up the Elysian 2 and did not love them as much although they did play bigger. Then picked up the Borresen X2. However, I wish you had a review up before I did. I like them overall but I did realize something was off. It doesn’t bother me that much and I’ve tried to fix it with warmer amps. Now knowing where the suck outs are, I will try to EQ to make it even better. I like the suck out in the highs because I’m sensitive to that particularly spot. The 4Khz+ range actually hurts my ears less. Neutral speakers hurt my ears so I like a dip in the highs.
I don’t comment often, but a poor speaker design like this deserves some analysis. First, all is not lost if you own these. The obvious fix (to me anyways) is to simply reverse the leads to the midrange driver, which I would guess is the woofer above the tweeter. From Erin’s data, it is obvious to me that “designers” used first order electrical crossovers thinking that that would result in first order acoustical slopes. But that didn’t work. In all my 20 years of speaker design, I have never been able to pull off a first order acoustical slope. A first order electronic filter always results in a second order acoustic slope. The problem is that this designer then completely overlooked the real acoustic slopes and barged ahead with same phase driver connections. Erin, as you surely know, second order slopes using the same phase driver connection results in a null in the response at the crossover. That’s what this looks like. Second order slopes require that the drivers use reverse phase connections to sum properly, and these speaker did not do that. So reversing the connections to the midrange driver should fix this problem.
As for the huge bass bump, the best solution without redesigning the six (?) ports is to simply stuff them and turn this into a sealed box. I haven’t run WinISD to see how this would help, but simply sealing the box should get rid of most of the 80hz bump and damp the ringing.
Sorry for the long critique and speaker design explanation, but bad designs like this are just begging to be criticized.
Excellent comment. These speakers really are badly designed and Erin does very well to not simply state this out of respect to the owner.
It’s yet another example of the perils of buying high-end audio and why more expensive products deserve to be exposed for the technical disasters they really are, and the absolutely terrible value for money.
The “high end” audio really confuses me as a beginner speaker builder.
Seeing that null made me also think that either the mid driver was connected wrong or I don’t know what. My Proac speakers are designed like that. Of course I changed the crossover , cause I can, and made the response more linear on and off axis.
I have no clue, even as a beginner as I am how the crossover designer got hired for this job. Nuts is all I can say. I could do just as bad of a job, but I don’t do this for a living.
Actually scratch that. I would never be satisfied with the crossover if my measurements looked like that. And almost anyone can measure with good resolution even in home at those high frequencies where on of the nulls is at.
Why they tell beginners not to make a 3 way to start off. Getting good resolution for the mid bass to hand off to the bass driver is HARD if you don’t know what you are doing and take either ground plane measurements or have a klippel.
@@Nightjar726 I think the cabinet designer also has questions to answer! That high Q peak at 80Hz is not good and something odd is happening there which you can see in the compression tests at 70-90Hz. Also the number of resonances shown in the impedance indicates serious problems with the cabinet design. Its just a complete mess
@@mattholland315
The cabinets emit near zero audible noise in actuality. Try listening to an appropriately setup pair for yourself. You’ll be surprised.
A very honest review Erin, you're the go person in the hifi world for very honest reviews, without any strings attached , that means so much. Most other reviewers are dependent on giving only good reviews. So, keep up the good work!
Your reviews are getting so good Erin! Such a great mix of technical insights and subjective impressions! Amazing! Thanks for doing this! Was expecting better results from Borresen I must say. Still looking forward to hearing it at a dealer now that I've heard your take on this. Meanwhile, I'll continue to enjoy my Raidho bookshelf speakers. Their sound is magic!
Thanl you for sharing the speakers! Awesome to have objective reviews!
My pleasure! Thanks for your support!
Really good review
Not too many reviewers capable of that level of analysis..Thanks 👍
I appreciate that!
Thanks, Erin! This kind of content really brings me closer to understanding how measurements and listening impressions go together.
Thanks to the donor for sharing his new toys AND the not insignificant cost & effort to transport to Erin.
Erin - thanks for a great review & explainer. The discussion about how performance characteristics translates to listener experience is really interesting.
Thanks to Fuad for stepping up.
Thank you Erin.. as always.
As a speaker development engineer I am surprised that a company could ever design and sell something that poor of design. It looks it was put together by someone who did not know what they were doing, and only by ear. This makes me worried about their other products and especially their flagship costing €100.000
Yeah terrible design. Apparently all those who own and love their Børresens have never heard a ruler-flat Revel or Wharfedale. If only they knew they could get better performance for
A fraction of the cost. 🤨😂😂😂
BØRRESEN are all for low mass membrane and extremely low inductance motor. They somehow believe and market these things as the ultimate in achieving high end sonic goals. They completely ignore air displacement and all other specs drivers do have in order to produce quality sound, also available in budget options like Peerless or, if carbon fiber is really needed for the membrane, SB Acoustics Satori drivers, that are already at 350$+ per driver and still much better and cheaper.
The surprise is that they do know what they are doing... Maybe they voiced them like that
@@jungtarcph They are protecting their more expensive and much better speakers, like the O and M series. That is why it is always wise to spend the money on brands that do not have extremely expensive stuff because you are sure they are not crippling them to drive you on crazy stuff.
Huge huge respect to the viewer for bringing these to you. I love the look of these and will be trying to hear them in 2 weeks time.
What a GOAT owner! Respect!
From the Netherlands thanks for the both of you.
speaking of the designer.. for $11K a pair, that thing is a mess..
I don't know who is responsible for that design, but he's no Peter Comeau or Andrew Jones, that's for sure.
Love this review. I have learned quite a bit. Thanks to owner for sending the speakers and thanks Erin.
By now I've heard the Borresen X2, X3, X6, Z1, Z3, C3, T1, 05 SSE, and the M3.
Also spent much time talking to both Lars Kristensen and Michael Borresen at various shows, plus private audition. I'm very familiar with the sound of all their models.
Always thought the X series sounded completely off, especially the X3 and X6. Initial listening impressions were that it sounded bloated and boomy, but still gave an impression of speed. Turns out the design emphasizes the leading edge of notes but bass lingers on too long as you described, creating a bloated sound. On the X3, I also felt it sounded rolled off. Turns out it was the upper mid range that was missing and not the treble. The data here confirmed what I was hearing and been warning others about.
That Borresen speakers (especially the X series) can't do real music, the timbre and tonality sounds way off. Which is why their show music tend to favour synthetic sounding music with no real reference point to real life instruments. I once had the chance to play some of my music on them, and was left disappointed.
That said, in the X series, the X2 actually sounded the best and most linear. I'm sure if you get the chance to measure them, I'd be proven right. And the older Z series like the Z3 also sounds much more linear.
Chronologically, ever since they introduced the X series, all subsequent new releases like the C, T, and M series all inherit this weird sound signature. It was driving me crazy and I thought I was the only one unimpressed.
The old Z, and 0 series were the best sounding of all Borresen speakers. Specifically the 05 SSE is among the best speakers I've ever heard. Comparable to the TAD reference flagships.
With all that said, I'm glad I didn't sell my Magicos for Borresen, which I contemplated for a while after hearing the 05 SSE.
Wow, thanks for your sharing
Thanks for sharing the detailed commentary, it is good insight. What magico do you use?
@@JamesWilliams-gf8gm magico A3, and I was deciding between upgrading to the S3 or go for the Borresen Z3 cryo.
I now think Magico S3 is the superior choice.
Also if you ever had the chance to listen to the new Borresens (anything released after X series), go place your hand on the speaker cabinet while playing loud music. They resonate like crazy even on their flagship M3. Magico on the other hand, doesn't resonate at all.
@@A-gksnot surprised about the resonance. That thing a t 80 hertz is certainly coming from the cabinets. I doubt that the drivers them selves are the source and clearly there is a resonance there. I aldo doubt that the ports are the source either since the sustain is very long.
Judging by the off axis measurements there seems to be an issue near the crossover to the tweeter too. Seems like it's crossed over below the effective range of the wave guide or tweeter. Maybe both. They really should have been able to get away with a fairy high crossover frequency. It's only a 115 mm mid bass although it probably should be a strict midrange that could be crossed over at 3,000 to 3,500 hertz with minimal beaming.
@ ok, thanks for the feed back. The A3 always seemed like a nice speaker.
Thank you for donating these for analysis!
This is a great review. I have been wanting to hear the Borresen X series ever since I first heard about them. Many thanks to the owner for taking such a huge effort to bring these to Erin for testing. This is what I love about the audiophile community. It seems to me after seeing the test results that this speaker has not been fully engineered. The deficiencies are too high for a speaker worth almost $12K.
You should try listening to them, setup as the designer suggests. You might just discover and conclude there is more to sound quality than a few graphs and flat response.
Yes, yes, yes - a huge THANK YOU to both of You guys! It is so good to see not only cheap stuff reviewed!!!
First kudos to the guy who bought the speakers and brought them to Erin.
Hope he's a Cubs fan!
Great review.
Love the honest take and not pulling punches.
This speaker is a hot mess. Thanks for publishing this Erin and thanks to the owner!
That frequency response is absolutely awful.
All the data is bad. Big resonances, terrible frequency response, horrible directivity.
@@MattZildjian They must have cherry picked the demo tracks they used at the show. Or depended on uneducated ears. But how could attendees at an audio expo remain uneducated?
Marketing - facepalm!
But they have Sliver Pole Pieces. The baskets are cryogenically frozen at near 200 degrees, to fuse and strengthen the metal. They're made in Denmark. Does that not count for anything?
Apparently not!
@@alexw890how was 35 hertz to 50 kilohertz terrible frequency response?
Outstanding as always Erin and thank you very much to the owner for going through all the time & effort of getting the equipment delivered to you. I hope he isn't suffering from "buyers remorse" now.
So is he driving the speakers to GR research?
Someone in my FB group posted pictures of the inside of these cabinets because he had taken it apart to redo the crossover. So Danny wouldn’t be the first if that were to happen.
😂 savage
Danny would be so disappointed :D
@@ywsx6489 lol, might be a good speakers for Danny honestly. I would just fix it up with a miniDSP SHD but I know that is blasphemy. It can’t really be fix but the in-room could be greatly correct digitally.
@@JamesWilliams-gf8gm Dirac on my SHD, and countless hours of research and reviews, is how I was able to identify problems in my room. Much more depth than my empty back wall can provide naturally. Just a different rabbit hole now, absorber vs diffusion for back wall.
Erin, thanks for the great review. I had not seen many reviews on this company from the real users, only few reviewers were repeatedly posting on these from the shows or dealer’s’ shops.
This is fantastic.
Shout out to the owner for driving them to you. Very generous. Great take Erin. Thank you.
Have you asked yourself why would he do it?
Thank you so much to the owner! Otherwise, we would not have these extremely helpful measurements that have taught us so much about the actual performance of these speakers. But just looking at them, I can see why you bought them - they look amazing. Absolutely beautiful styling. The sound, sadly, not so much.
THANK YOU 🙏🏼 for driving this to the owner. We NEED people like you to keep the industry honest. I’m actually debating between these and the Arendal 1528 towers since they’re the same price. Gettenburg loved these as did everyone else. This appears to be an excellent speaker meant to augmented by some Rel subwoofers
I had the pleasure of listening to Bore’s stand mounted C1…an absolute stunner!😅
agree 100%
Great review. All I have heard is people gushing about these speakers, to the extent I wondered if I had jumped the gun buying Wharfedale Elysian 4s as my forever speaker. I always wondered, physics being what it is, how they would get low bass out of 4 inch drivers. Now I know. They dont. Your extremely thorough assessment is a refreshing step off the hype train. To me, the mid range is crucial to my enjoyment of a speaker, so their tuning in the mids would put me off also.
Thanks to your viewer for giving us the chance to hear more about these undeniably beautiful speakers.
How do you like the Elysian 4? I have the Elysian 2 and Borresen X2. They both play big. Bass is about the same but midrange a bit better with the Elysian 2. Bass is punchier with X2, but a bit bigger, bloomier with Elysian 2. X2 doesn’t seem as bright. The Elysian 4 are probably better all around and I wish I had those. Especially after seeing this review. My plan is to keep either the X2 or Elysian 2 after trying them with tubes as I don’t want them to sound as bright.
@@ratingsdadSorry.Just saw your comment. I love the 4s. They are the closest I have come to a true all round speaker which works with every genre of music equally well. They do need a fairly decent size room, and to be out from the wall a bit. I suspect they are similar to the 2s, but just more. Bass is excellent and I would be very happy woth it, but I already had twin subs and I stuck with them for a marginal improvement in punch and fullness with some tracks.
I ran with two amps, an Allnic 300b SET at 12.5 watts and a Kinki studio at 215.
Initially I was entirely happy with the 12.5 watts, but then I realised (long story) that neither the amp or speakers were giving their best. Moving things about to a 35 watt tube amp showed what they could do with tubes.
Lastly I put Isoacoustic feet on them and they work great on my wooden floor.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the owner for borrowing these speakers for a review. At that price point, I would expect better, but then again everyone’s hearing is different and many may like how these speakers sound.
It's absolutely mind-blowing to me that people would pay so much for something subpar that could be bested by something costing one TENTH the price - and I guarantee you there are many speakers, not to mention DIY and kits, that could beat this in frequency response and most certainly SPL and bass extension, and even relative off-axis performance, for $1,100 bucks. Audio truly is a wild market, and some companies are raking it in undeservedly. Even in 2024 with all the measurement capabilities we have, people are still sold on brand name and old myths/logic about component pairing and genre pairing and praising certain speakers for one or two strengths they might have even amongst all their faults, when we know how to build something approaching an ideal speaker within a given set of constraints, and that such speakers exist.
I would never buy anything without seeing klippel measurements these days, from Erin or ASR or some similar data from someone else. Full distortion and compression measurements, full frequency response data and dispersion plots/graphs, everything. Then again I think most speakers are a rip off compared to what you can do DIY, and I'm also willing to sacrifice some off axis performance for a HIGH output design with serious bass. 15" woofers and big mid/tweeter horns all day baby, it's the only way.
I’ve owned many a speaker that retail for a fraction of the price, including many of the measurement darlings (Revel, KEF etc). The Borresens outperform all of them, and it’s not even close in most cases. Drag along a pair of KEF R3s or Revel Performas with you to test against the X3s. You’ll realize within minutes that Michael Børrsen could teach a few things about good sound to Klippel and Toole. It’s funny, nothing in the textbooks and measurements suggests these speakers would image well, yet Erin admits they do.
@rotorfix that absolutely may be the case, but even you must admit imaging is only one aspect of total overall sound quality. Everyone's priorities are different when it comes to which aspects they deem important, maybe imaging is top for you, and it certainly is very important. I think it's fair to say though that ideally we'd want a speaker that does ALL the things well (approaching perfection). Maybe Erin doesn't like the tradeoffs even with the good imaging, which imo is down to left/right driver matching, and I think AMTs are just good at it.
So I understand where and why Erin is critical, for the price, it seems some things could have been executed better. Personally I'm not AS concerned as Erin is about off axis performance and frequency response, yes those things are very important, but specifically the off axis performance I can sacrifice there, and as for frequency response I believe in DSP parametric EQ to the extent that I think all people who do not use it are utter fools, it is the most powerful tool in audio and absolutely necessary, whether for corrections or taste/source material based changes.
So the weak point of the borrensons to me is not what Erin talks about, for me they're simply not big or powerful enough, they have tiny little baby toy woofers that I loathe and despise, and I know that's just a me thing, I get it, but for ME I only like big speakers and small speakers are not valuable or worth the money... High cost should accompany large size and high output capability. And I like 2ch setups where a sub is fully optional and if one is used it can be crossed very low, below the typical 80hz nonsense.
The borrensons look cool AF if they were just bigger and could do another 10-20db of uncompressed undistorted output down to say 30hz at least, then they'd be cool. I'll also take size and scale of the music over pinpoint imaging if I had to choose ... But really I believe you can get the pinpoint imaging effect purely by the tweeter design in the high frequencies, and that range can have a narrower dispersion, while the mids (or/and) woofers can be much larger and wider in presentation... Wall of sound down below idk the 1-2khz range, hard to pinpoint but call it 2khz, and then the pinpoint imaging comes from how the system operates above that. Heck even just 8-10khz plus in a three way, a good tweeter is going to go a long way to giving you the full imaging experience. Meaning you can have a large baffle wall-of-sound type speaker and throw a particular tweeter design on there for the top 2 or 3 octaves at most that does the pinpoint imaging thing and get the best of both worlds.
I have 15" pro woofers, horn mids, and a true ribbon tweeter on top, and while this particular diy creation has issues and is not my end game (in the works), there are things they do well that roughly correspond to what I've attempted to describe... Pinpoint up high, yet massive wall of sound giant soundstage presentation, and massively powerful tight and deep bass capability down to 30hz. I just want an improved version of what I've got, not a skinny baby tower. I want speakers that COULD fill an auditorium but happen to be in my living room. Low excursion equals low distortion... High sensitivity equals great dynamics and micro dynamics and low volume sound quality too, ironically.
Something similar to one of Erin's favorites, the giant 20k$ JBLs with the 15s and the horn, or a geddes speaker, but tuned lower. There's another brand that makes crazy huge speakers for home theater I can't remember the name of too. Or genelec stuff, maybe danley type stuff. Not Klipsch heritage type stuff tho.
But I hear you; Erin's pet peeves in measurements doesn't mean your speakers don't sound great, and might well be better than an r3 meta overall. But I'd rather have the source point 888 for SURE!
Erin hits the nail on the head here!! Awesome speakers that have the standard, and respectable AGD sound! Just slightly misses out on a little bit of "life" (probably due to some of the things Erin refers too). Erin's praises are spot on, and his critique are respectable and accurate. I got much love for Erin and his reviews, and how he blends subjective and objective to give us the most possible coverage. It should also be noted that the X2 and X3 line are AGD's entry level and budget space, so we get some trickle down tech, but I am certain sacrafices had to be made. They do however carry all a good portion of the soul of the AGD vision and bring a lot to the table. 😉PS - Those Warfdales are frkn superb! A buddy of mine dove in and upgraded all the crossover parts in his and WOWZA!!!!..... ;) Cheers Erin! Happy Friday peeps.
At this price I don´t like the word sacrafices 😉
Thanks, James!
@@justasimplefox - Well , price is relative considering the Borresen flagships are $500,000.... ;)
Hmm - any possibility of a future collaboration, say to assess how your/your crew's OBs measure?
@
You don’t wanna measure those. 🤣🤣🤣
Just enjoy them. lol. 😂
This test means for me once again: Many high-end users, and these are the older ones, over fifty, on average probably even over sixty, are easily impressed by the look, workmanship and price, marketing by manufacturers, dealers, high-end prose of the test journalists. "So great looking and so expensive must be great!!"
For me, the test and the measurements show that you don't even have to consider this loudspeaker.... well done test👍👍👍
Thank you to the owner for bringing them to you. Thank you Erin for testing.
Appears that the bass reflex tuned far to high. Plus a port resonance?
I've read so many opinions how awesome they sound on audio shows :) also some reviewers loved them very much, but they love everything they review, which I find interesting :)
It's almost like most reviewers are sponsored by the manufacturers or something /s
@@Karto86 not to mention the drooling over on audiogon.
2 Borressen rooms sounded ass in Munich.
I heard the X1 at Soutwest Audio Fest, and they were one of my favorites, at the time. Retrospectively, I think it was just the best pick for a hotel room audio show, or that "showroom sound" mentioned. Great imaging and that enveloping/holographic sound, with plenty detail, but nowhere near enough time to get intimate and sus out the things you get with time and music tracks in your own home. Bass was impressive for the small bookshelf, but for one of their bigger towers in the lineup...
@@YitbosSwede nothing wrong with liking them or being honest about liking them. Demo music is crap and hard to tell what is going on with the system.
Erin is the hero we need but dont deserve ❤
Damn, that frequency response is one of the worst I've ever seen. Wow!
I’m not sure it’s the worst I’ve seen but it’s certainly up there.
Bad for $300 speakers. For $11k speakers ...
@@Clint3571 Don't forget the fact that most if not everyone that buys these will say a $500 speaker is crap, when a $900 pair of ELAC Debut 3 DF53s walks all over this thing.
@@ErinsAudioCorneryou were incredibly diplomatic in your subjective comments. But you know as well as anyone else on here who understands even a modicum about loudspeaker analysis that these are absolute garbage and awful value for money. I feel sorry for the owner. Imagine spending $11k on them!
@mattholland315 probably show special price so they didn't have to be shipped back and buyer heard the speakers at the show so had a good idea of what they sound like.
Mad props to the owner, that's dedicated!
I'm sure if you spent $170,000 on their cables it would fix that little mid-range suck out right away 😅
You know what’s crazy … there are people who have that kind of money to do just that. Imagine …
@@ErinsAudioCorner would you ever consider reviewing cables? I have seen some channels even reviewing $1000+ USB cables which just blows my mind.
For this speaker, I recommend a mix of 20% gold, 70% brass and 10% silver wire along with 15 strands of horse hair dipped in milk and dried in the moonlight, preferably during the full moon.
Gold brings out more bass with the brass accentuating the upper mids with silver providing some kick in the high registers. Horse hair brings out the violins and female vocals. Drying the fibers in moon light is key though as sunlight impacts a harsh tonality to the female vocals.
@@MattZildjianTheres a reality to it. Good cables really elevate your system, digital cables are just as important. But it does matter who you buy them from. Popular cables or good sounding ones...
one of these days I’m going to host a legitimate blind test with some friends on this very thing.
Thank you the owner for your enthusiasm 🎉🎉
A big thanks to the børresen's owner! The drive alone is a sign of huge dedication...
Big thanks to the gentlemen that provided these speakers.
Interesting measurements on this one. I usually just assume a lot of these "higher end" & boutique companies voice their equipment & speakers with inaccuracies or nonlinearities on purpose to sound different. But I don't see how something like this speaker would be enjoyable long term..or even short term. Especially for that type of bread. To have holes or major dips in key areas & ringing/stored energy in certain frequencies makes no sense.
For this type of money I would want a linear presentation..or maybe even a slight boost down low but definitely with ultra low distortion drivers & tweeters. The enclosure on this model is pretty cool though. Pretty sweet. Although its not even practical with its uptilted tweeter.
Sound is subjective ultimately..so there will always be someone that likes this type of presentation.
For half the price you could get a pair of ugly Genelec G Fives & be blown away. Take the saved money from the speakers & amp & get a top of the line source & experience some true hi fidelity. I think there are a lot of better choices out there over these speakers reviewed. But we all like different things.
Dear Borresen, please hire Erin for your finale speaker crossover adjustments 😅😅😅 I've to say, was twice on a private Borresen hifi show and with much, much higher priced speaker you have tested. My conclusion: can agree to some of your observations, but for me it was more negative that there was no emotional attachment to me at alll, no matter what genre was played. As you said, some love Sonus Faber, Focal, B&W and others Borresen or Rhaido etc, it is sooo subjektiv and everyone needs to test by themself and learn what they like, dont trust any YT review, nor overhyped brands 😊 listen, listen, test, test, compare! thanks a lot!!
WOW,, 👍😎👍
Thanks Fuad,, 💖🙏💖
Thanks Erin,, 💖🙏💖
As much as I really liked them every single time I heard them, the FR is dog poop. The soundstaging, imaging and how they overall present the music is really great. Wonder if they would lose all those great attributes if they were made to measure flat.
Love ya Erin! You know how to review, and you make space for a person's subjective preference!
Wow, finally (!!) a detailed and honest review about those, after all the hype train. Thanks to you and the owner!
Shows how many influencers should not be pedaling high end audio
My X's not only play well recorded "audiophile" music VERY well, but they ROCK! REALLY LOUD. AC/DC, Zeppelin, you name it. My "flat" speakers never could do that.
There are many neutral speakers that can play loud...
Play loud is a function of sensitivity, dynamic range compression rejection and harmonic distortion rejection.
The X is mediocre at all those parameters.
An example of a neutral speaker that can play loud and bold with zero compression is the JBL 4367. Much better use for your money than that atrociously made speakers
@@KofiBaffour-t8o clearly, you didn't read correctly.
Thanks to both of you for a great review.
I wonder if the owner felt the same way?
I also take my hat off to the gentleman who brought these speakers. Thank you!
one of the best audio product reviews i've seen. i like michael borresen and i used to own some Raidho speakers that he designed. but they had the exact same issues you're describing. (unlike you, i was not a fan of that mid-bass bump.). he's got to aim for a flatter frequency response when designing speakers.
A smooth midrange without a deep dip is critical. Like a neutral speaker with good dynamics. Tight bass to .... 40hz or so if fine on most recordings. For home theater a sub is fun! Like a wide sound stage as long as the speaker pair are matched in response and phase relationships are reasonable. The placement of instruments Is in the recording mix and if it's not in the recoding no speaker can give you "pinpoint imaging." Like a wide sound stage .... but again the room effects everything. Your reviews are the best out there in helping me have a good idea what a speaker will sound like when I get it home. Dynamicism isn't a word. Speaker "dynamics" is perfect! 😅
Thanks for the speakers owner! 😊
Thank you to both of you! 🔥
Thanks Owner!
How much air a 2 x 4.5 "driver can move? not much ...it has a big cabinet that should help..
He should return them .
11K was for the aesthetic .
Thank him for letting you test it !
As a long term designer of consumer products, I suspect these exemplify the triumph of marketing over engineering. It would be interesting to know how well they are selling and how satisfied owners are, IOW are they a business success? Vanity products do have their place.
They are selling very well from what I know, but i doubt the hype will last long
You're describing 99% of the "audiophile" world, aesthetics over performance
Thanks for include the waterfall plot, I can predict a lof ot things about a speaker looking at the waterfall plot. I would love to see it in every measurement. Greetings!
A thousand thanks to the to the owner of this pair of Borresen speakers. This is the first time I've seen a Response Linearity graph on a speaker spec. Looks like this speaker needs a subwoofer when played above 80 db. I guess this is to be expected on any speaker that has a form-factor that is a stack of essentially mid-range drivers. Now I understand why the GoldenEar speakers have a side mounted woofer.
so if the midrange has a hole on it it should be under warranty!! They should replace it 😉
I reviewed the X3’s with an Axxess Forte 1 amp and I experienced exactly the same hole in the midrange. They were smooth in the upper registers and overall had a relaxed and natural delivery. I also agree with your experience with the low bass. I would have expected lower end extension given the size of the cabinets. That is not to say that they were not impressive loudspeakers but there was a vagueness in that midrange which might put off someone who wants a more exciting presentation.
Thanks for sharing
You just became ny favourite audiofile reviewer!
Thank you to the owner for all you did to make this review possible!
Excellent review (as always). Thanks to the owner of these speakers for getting them to you, that was real commitment. And those Super Linton's look very good... oops, wrong review. Not sure what to say about the Borrensen's. There's design decisions and then there's that 80Hz ringing.. Yikes.
Thank you to the lender!!
Homie probably suffered a lot of sleepless nights tearing his hair out wondering why they sound nothing like he expected. Probably figured might as well drive to Alabama before going completely crazy.
Hi Erin. Thanks again for your excellent videos. I own a pair of X3’s with a Naim system and I love the envolving sound. Do you recommend a pair of Rel subs to improve the lower end?
Hi, I have the REL HT 1003 MKII and they integrate perfectly with the X2. This review has been more painful than people saying that your wife is ugly and you love her with all your heart, it doesn't matter, she makes me happy...
You are right. I respect Erin’s job and he is great guy, but I’m clear that not always good measurements means great sound. Kef speakers including the reference line measures very well but boring and metalic sound. For my room and electronics my borresens are outstanding!
also when I put the sliders under the speakers and subs the bass tightened up nicely, if you try it post back to let me know.
We have a peak frequency response range of +/- 20 db. Is that a new record??????
I’m very surprised with this review, You have just saved me a lot of money 🙏
Haha. Feel free to send it to me then! 🤷♂️😂
You should judge bye your own ears.
@@coxysailor I do agree that ultimately you should make your own choice.
But it’s worth taking note of the opinions of those with much more experienced ears than myself. A purchase of this price is not insignificant, and something I would likely live with for a fair while.
I would think that over time my ears will become much more attuned to the sound and would possibly/likely start to notice the same things?
Greg Weaver (The Audio Analyst) gave these a glowing review, and I respect his opinion greatly too, so there’s some contrast there. To be somewhat simple and crude, I would say Greg listens for Musicality, Erin listens analytically, and both are valid.
I love the Axxess/Ansuz/Aavik ecosystem, and like the idea of an integrated range for component matching, but this does make me consider the Sourcepoint 888’s more.
Can please someone explain this to me. Borresens speakers where one of my most favorite speakers at AXPONA. That was not only my opinion but couple of my friends and family members
Lots of people replied to my posts asking what they thought of them. I discuss it in this video.
Hi Eric, I’m excited to see you have a pair of the Fidelia speakers from the Uk.
I do hope they measure well. 😊
Wow, I heard the bookshelf models at an audio show and was surprised by the super deep bass even in a larger room. Granted they didn’t play many types of music, but I would never expect them to measure this erratic.
Poor guy who bought an 11 000$ pair of lemons for speakers! Wow! I really feel sorry for him but he's certainly not the first person to make an impulsive buy and live to regret it. As usual, your videos are most illuminating! Thank you!
Thanks so much to the owner!
There is no necessary positive correlation between cost and performance; as is the case for many other things. Subjective-only has become the license and apologetics for mediocre, or worse, products. Some are even able to say that they like, or don't care about, distortion. I started my audiophile avocation being consumed by specifications, (not so much measurement, specifically). Then, for a long time, I wasn't concerned with either specification or measurement. I finally got tired of attempting to line up distortion among different pieces of gear get to something I like the sound of, otherwise known as synergy. And then, you're still left with distortion. Once I first got the room out of the way - the BIG one, like REALLY BIG - and started paying attention to (the too few) channels like Erin's (who is the best) where measurement and subjective are combined, I now am able to get consistently great sound. We are living in the platinum age of audio. It's never been better, ever. Ever. It's even amazing.
Thank you (owner)! I hope you'll have more high end stuff to test Erin.
Dang! Real hero work! Driving from Chicago to Bama!
It disappointed me too when I heard it and I could not understand why. A reminder to us all that the hype happens. Anyway, thanks to both the owner and to you, Erin, for your great review.
Another excellent vid combining subjective and objective info combined just right. My reviews are strictly objective as I don't have the gear nor the knowledge to do the objective testing he does. I would like to see the X1 tested some time. I was interested in them, no so much now...A "house sound" is one thing, but extensive ringing from a 11k modern speaker? Not acceptable.
Thank you!
Erin, I hope you will be testing the Purifi SPK16 Reference Design passive 2-way once available. It looks like it could be something, although sensitivity will be low of course (hey, it’s Purifi!) and thus possibly also peak SPL.
I hope so too.
It looks like they are selling luxurious furniture rather than audio quality.
Ouch! For the coin these cost they are certainly flawed. Thanks for the review Erin.
If I were Børresen, I would come out with a video and talk about my speaker and explain why it's awesome. Being silent is hurting.
Big props to the guy that drove all that way to help get a product tested. I'm not sure about this one. Granted its out of my current budget anyway. The objective results show a lot of issues. Can't say money buys you the best all the time it seems.
Could this speaker be salvaged somehow? I'm thinking first do something with the box tuning and box resonances, then remove the passieve XO and connect to something like the Hypex FA253, and design new XO in that?
After seeing the measurement, It looks quite strange with a scoop mid and 2K HZ region.
But would still pay a visit to demo it since some reviewer said it sounded so good.
Thanks for your sharing about Borresen. It's so hard to see some reviews about this brand
Anyone reviewing audio gear without taking measurements cannot be trusted. Their opinion is worthless
Thank you so much ❤❤❤❤❤
First, thanks to the owner for all of his work transporting us the speakers to Erin. But that frequency response is scary!!
10db dips in 2024 is what i'd call a piece of shit.
19:51 - what is important is you talk about 11K speakers with carbon drivers and a ribbon tweeter pretending to be a top notch product. but objectively they are worse than many speakers under 1K. it is unacceptable. no need in being polite about them.
Wow, this is refreshing. Great work!
Thanks a lot!
Thanks Erin for your review. I was wondering what you thought about in room measurements in reviews? The advantages I can see are:
1. Provide a link between the NFS/anechoic data and the subjective findings
2. Provide some degree of validation of the predicted in room response from the NFS
3. Justify speaker positioning decisions
Thanks again!
I used to, but I stopped doing it for a couple different reasons.
@@ErinsAudioCorner Understood- thank you. Presumably in car measurements are the norm in car audio.
Hello from Germany. Thank you very much for your review. I went to the booths of Borresen during High End 2024 in Munich several times and never liked the sound. Designed to give some "hifi bling" but one of the most unnatural speakers to come across my ears.