Thread: Review - Audience ClairAudient 1+1 v3 speakers

Dear Dpod4: I am happy for your satisfaction with the Clairaudient 1+1v2+’s. I am sure the v3 is everything you said it is. I bought a pair of 1+1v2+’s and sent them back to Audience. I read all the rave magazine reviews that compared them to the Quad 57’s. They are all hogwash. The Clairaudient’s are not that good. They do great midrange and that’s about it. They do have a filter that negates the typical frequency cancellation of a bipole speaker. It does use caps and/or resistors. So for all practical purposes it has a crossover. But in this case the filter changes the time alignment of selected frequencies. In any case there is some frequency manipulation going on.


I found them unable to produce high frequencies and found their bipole radiation pattern unnatural. I also thought they were overpriced for what they are.

Originally Posted by spenav

Hi Joe

I am sorry you miss the greatness of these little speakers. I am not sure what exactly went wrong. I owned the V2+ and have enjoyed them immensely. I am not sure about your insistence that these speakers have a crossover since by definition a crossover network is "to split up an audio signal into two or more frequency ranges" and since they only have one driver there is nowhere to send the split frequency to. I cannot confirm the benefit of the V3 upgrade since mine are still getting it done but what I can confirm is that, set up properly and with good electronics upstream these little speakers are nothing short of amazing. In my humble opinion, these speakers are wasted in a computer set up. Tried them instead on stand with a couple of good subwoofers. They rival speakers costing 10 to 20 times their price. I have compared them to a speaker costing $23,000 and frankly I prefer them. But that's just me. I wish you had a chance to listen to them properly setup, I am sure you would change your mind.

Please don’t assume I did not set them up properly. That is simply an assumption. I had them in my main soundroom with Pass electronics. They simply did not outperform my Shahinians. I happen to know what a crossover is. Nevertheless this speaker contains a filter to manipulate it’s frequency response. Call it what you will. I never said this a bad thing, I just think when an audiophile makes an observation as to “why” a transducer performs as it does they are treading on unstable ground. There are just too many design parameters to simply state why something is the case. In most cases it is a number of factors.

My comment about the Clairaudients is simply to put things in perspective. I am OK with the fact that some audiophiles think these are greater than sliced bread. And if you like them better than a $23,000 speaker that’s fine. I can point out a good many $100,000+ speakers that are horrible in my opinion. I had every intention of keeping the Clairaudients. I lived with them for about three weeks. I gave them a chance to break-in and made no hasty decisions. In my final analyisis I did not like them.

Originally Posted by spenav

In your case however, I understand that you are already having great joy with your Shahinians, so it's all good Life's short, let's enjoy it while we can.

Agreed. Fair enough.

Originally Posted by Joseph R.

Dear Dpod4: I am happy for your satisfaction with the Clairaudient 1+1v2+’s. I am sure the v3 is everything you said it is. I bought a pair of 1+1v2+’s and sent them back to Audience. I read all the rave magazine reviews that compared them to the Quad 57’s. They are all hogwash. The Clairaudient’s are not that good. They do great midrange and that’s about it. They do have a filter that negates the typical frequency cancellation of a bipole speaker. It does use caps and/or resistors. So for all practical purposes it has a crossover. But in this case the filter changes the time alignment of selected frequencies. In any case there is some frequency manipulation going on.


I found them unable to produce high frequencies and found their bipole radiation pattern unnatural. I also thought they were overpriced for what they are.

You need to list them in your speaker bashing thread if you already haven't.

Hey Joseph what speakers are you currently using.

Originally Posted by Joseph R.

Dear Dpod4: I am happy for your satisfaction with the Clairaudient 1+1v2+’s. I am sure the v3 is everything you said it is. I bought a pair of 1+1v2+’s and sent them back to Audience. I read all the rave magazine reviews that compared them to the Quad 57’s. They are all hogwash. The Clairaudient’s are not that good. They do great midrange and that’s about it. They do have a filter that negates the typical frequency cancellation of a bipole speaker. It does use caps and/or resistors. So for all practical purposes it has a crossover. But in this case the filter changes the time alignment of selected frequencies. In any case there is some frequency manipulation going on.


I found them unable to produce high frequencies and found their bipole radiation pattern unnatural. I also thought they were overpriced for what they are.

How far did you have them from the wall behind the speakers? Too close, and the results you found will be the case. I cheat and use a little linear bass boost. But, a sub woofer will make them leaps ahead.

I have my 1+1's for about four years. I upgraded to the V2+ version. One thing I was missing. I kept them too close to the rear wal in fear of not getting enough bass reinforcement. My system has also been improving over those four years. The other night I decided to move them about eight inches further from the wall. I was listening to JJ Cale and Eric Clapton in concert... I could not get over how the sound was all around me... And, the musicians could all be pin pointed. At one point I was ready to throw in the towel like you did. So, I understand your dissatisfaction.

I might add.. I have a special custom made speaker stand system that allows me (I listen desktop nearfield) to adjust the speaker height and angle. When you are listening at only about two and half feet away, the height and angle of any good bookshelf can be critical. The 1+1's are no exception. One quarter inch too high, or two low, can make the difference between listening to good speakers, vs listening to a live performance.

My two ¢'s . GeneZ

Originally Posted by GeneZ

How far did you have them from the wall behind the speakers? Too close, and the results you found will be the case.

At one point I was ready to throw in the towel like you did. So, I understand your dissatisfaction.

I might add.. I have a special custom made speaker stand.......


My two ¢'s . GeneZ

At the risk of repeating myself, I certainly understand and appreciate audiophiles that have a love for these transducers. And I do not post to this site to “bash” anything. But I have used every technique in my arsenal of 51 years(in this hobby) to get these speakers acclimated to my system, to no avail. I am simply sharing my experience. My new retirement digs have forced my sound room into a smallish space. So near field listening is the rule. These speakers and others did not satisfy. Funny that I ended up with a 40 year old BBC LS3/5a design. My new Falcons fit the space. Are they perfect. No. They have flaws like every other speaker. But for my ears they are most enjoyable. So by all means Gene, Mep et al, enjoy the Audience 1+1’s. But for others, just know these are not the “Quad like” classics they are touted to be. That doesn’t mean you won’t like them. It just means they are on par with everything else out there. No spin, no hype.

Got a PM request. So.. Here are a few photos of the custom stand ... Its my old drum rack with a few mods.

Originally Posted by Joseph R.

At the risk of repeating myself, I certainly understand and appreciate audiophiles that have a love for these transducers. And I do not post to this site to “bash” anything. But I have used every technique in my arsenal of 51 years(in this hobby) to get these speakers acclimated to my system, to no avail. I am simply sharing my experience. My new retirement digs have forced my sound room into a smallish space. So near field listening is the rule. These speakers and others did not satisfy. Funny that I ended up with a 40 year old BBC LS3/5a design. My new Falcons fit the space. Are they perfect. No. They have flaws like every other speaker. But for my ears they are most enjoyable. So by all means Gene, Mep et al, enjoy the Audience 1+1’s. But for others, just know these are not the “Quad like” classics they are touted to be. That doesn’t mean you won’t like them. It just means they are on par with everything else out there. No spin, no hype.

I have had moments that I thought they sucked... They do require careful setting up to fine tune them. Most would not want to bother...

Originally Posted by Dpod4

I received my two pairs of Audience ClairAudient 1+1 v2+ back with the v3 upgrades. I have been able to track the upgrades since I sent originals in for V2+ upgrades. I thought that upgrade was big but this second upgrade is phenomenally bigger. This tiny speaker has always been a “blow my mind” component with how crazy good it is - coherent as the Magico and Raidho speakers I have had in my system. Maybe even more coherent!

With this new upgrade the most immediate thing I noticed was how these speakers woke up, came alive, bristle with energy and dynamics. Almost like they are active / self powered so every cell of every driver is stomping its hoof to get going. While retaining the single voice, refined, transparent delicacy of before, now it feels like the dynamics and energy of the speaker has tripled, without taking anything away.

I also noticed there is more extension especially in the lower registers. Combined with the increase in dynamics the “slam” factor has increased while the “musical” natural sound has not been lost. These are so revealing without being strident in the least. In fact, I often think it must be the absence of a crossover that allows such a coherent accurate picture to be painted and to be so listenable without fatigue. As if my ears and brains are not having to struggle with artificial stitching together of frequencies that other speakers have to do when handing off different frequencies to different drivers.

Need to know. What does your system consist of? What kind of cables, etc? I list mine in my signature... All these are players in what gets to be heard with the 1+1's.

Originally Posted by Joseph R.

They do have a filter that negates the typical frequency cancellation of a bipole speaker. It does use caps and/or resistors. So for all practical purposes it has a crossover. But in this case the filter changes the time alignment of selected frequencies. In any case there is some frequency manipulation going on.

May I ask? How did you find that out? Who explained that to you?

How can a capacitor, or a resistor produce a controlled frequency time delay??? We're concerned about nano seconds??

Originally Posted by GeneZ

May I ask? How did you find that out? Who explained that to you?

How can a capacitor, or a resistor produce a controlled frequency time delay??? We're concerned about nano seconds??

I did my homework. But by all means feel free to fully disagree. I don’t mind.

Originally Posted by Joseph R.

I did my homework. But by all means feel free to fully disagree. I don’t mind.

OK... But, you are not explaining how you know this. Did you personally physically open a speaker?

Even if so? Their capacitors are some of the finest in the world and used in high end crossovers and electronics.

The problem of a crossover is not its capacitors as much as is the blending of two different speaker characteristics and distortions where the two drivers meet the crossover.... and timing changes because of driver positionings.
You do know that, don't you? Its not an issue with single drivers.

You have a right to dislike the speaker. But, do not misrepresent it.

Their capacitors are as transparent as can be gotten.

Two levels. Both finest in its class.

https://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/auricap_e.html


https://www.soundlabsgroup.com.au/c/...+-+Teflon.html

Originally Posted by Dpod4

I received my two pairs of Audience ClairAudient 1+1 v2+ back with the v3 upgrades. I have been able to track the upgrades since I sent originals in for V2+ upgrades. I thought that upgrade was big but this second upgrade is phenomenally bigger. This tiny speaker has always been a “blow my mind” component with how crazy good it is - coherent as the Magico and Raidho speakers I have had in my system. Maybe even more coherent!

Thanks for the review...

Its July 10,2019. My speakers are being shipped to Audience for the V3 upgrade. They were already V2+ modded.

If these speakers work for your taste in your system its hard to consider anything else. I can enjoy other speakers. But, if Audience's design goal is in agreement with your audio DNA? Its a profound revelation to behold.

From Georgia...

Originally Posted by thomaspynchon211

They just updated the website again now, the v4 upgrade is now there. I wonder if anyone here has got the upgrade, if anyone has, it would be great if you could let us know what you think of the upgrade.

It would be helpful if you simply gave a link to what you read... There is no mention of the 1+1 V4 on the Audience page. I saw one ad with a retailer claiming the V4, but the changes were identical to what the V3 achieved.

Thanks..

Looks like the biggest change would be found with the new passive radiators...

Apparently.. the drivers themselves have not been changed if you have the V3.

Originally Posted by Dpod4

This is best cohesive sound I’ve had in a HT / Audio setup.

That's great, and I am happy for you. As for me I've moved on.

Joe

Originally Posted by Smile

Being pedantic: PPS

Nice word ! Thanks.

Originally Posted by Smile

Being pedantic: PPS

Just so happens his new post got to me at a perfect time.

Have now contacted John McDonald and he had Joe Flatt gave me my RMA.

It was perfect timing in various ways for me to consider such an upgrade.....

I did not go through with it. My internet provider AT&T mandated that I switch from DSL to their new fiber. They provided a new and better modem. No more long runs of copper cable to pick up RFI and EMI. The sound improved so much I just decided against another upgrade.

I also switched the Modem wifi off which seemed to quiet down some more noise on the motherboard, and only use an audiophile Ethernet cable from the modem to the DAC.

Enjoying what I am hearing now.