Loudspeakers

Raidho’s nominal 6ohm rating for the X2t might suggest this compact floorstander is a ‘tougher’ drive than most ‘8ohm’ speakers. The 3.9ohm minimum at 123Hz, with a max. of only 9.4ohm at 76Hz and an average 6.2ohm (20Hz-20kHz) might also raise an eyebrow. However, with mere ±25° phase angles through the bass leading to a 2.35ohm/96Hz EPDR, this means the X2t is relatively amp-friendly. The trade off for cosseting your amplifier is a low 83.7dB sensitivity (re. 2.83V/1kHz/1m) – Raidho’s 87dB is too optimistic – allied to a corrected bass extension of 46Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz). The latter is exaggerated, in part, by the peaky bass tuning [green shaded area, Graph 1] and upper bass dip, just as the 55Hz-2.7kHz (–6dB) bandwidth of the middle driver is in decline before the planar treble gets into its stride – hence the –3.5dB dip from 2-5kHz. Cone driver resonances are also revealed through this region [Graph 2].

Listening 10-15° off axis realises a more uniform output [blue trace, Graph 1] where response errors fall from ±3.5dB to a flatter ±2.0dB (200Hz-10kHz), albeit at the expense of a high treble roll-off of –8dB/20kHz. Back on-axis, pair matching is a superb <0.5dB widening only to 0.76dB from 10kHz-20kHz – testament to the build and QC of Raidho’s planar ribbon unit [see boxout]. THD is a low <0.3% from 100Hz-5kHz but increases more markedly at the extremes to 1.5-2% from 8kHz-20kHz and 60Hz-100Hz (all re. 90dB SPL/1m). For the latter, those 135mm drivers are challenged below 80Hz, where the roll-off is steep, and where the rear vent, tuned across 26-115Hz, also betrays minor cabinet/port modes at 450Hz and 610Hz. PM