Loudspeakers

Getting big bass from a loudspeaker, many think, requires huge drivers able to shift a lot of air. However, big drivers mean big cabinets to house them, and both skill in their tuning as well as capacity on the part of the amplifier. The former, at least, is something Danish company Raidho has clearly got under control with its X2t, although these £12,500-per-pair floorstanders opt for 135mm bass drivers – one covering bass/mid up to 3.5kHz, the other purely bass to 140Hz – for a slender form factor. The cabinet is just 143mm wide, and the whole speaker only 300mm wide including its aluminium outrigger feet, of which more later.

This second-generation version of the X2 – enhanced crossover, Nordost internal cabling and a complete re-tune from the original – is the step-up model from the X1t standmount [HFN Apr ’17] and its slightly larger X1.6 counterpart. As well as the ‘standard’ model here, there’s also an Anniversary version, marking the manufacturer’s 25th birthday. This special edition is limited to just 100 pairs, available in a choice of high-gloss Walnut Burl, Emerald Green or Midnight Blue, and with further crossover enhancements and Furutech terminals, albeit at a hefty premium over the ‘normal’ piano black or white versions.

House proud

You can also have the standard X2t made in other colours to special order. Like the Anniversary model – and indeed all Raidho loudspeakers – the X2t is handbuilt in Denmark, the company making not only the finished speakers, but also all its components, in-house. The assembly of the speakers is also a craft-like process, with one worker assembling each speaker from start to finish – no sign of a production-line here – and each and every speaker being benchmarked against a ‘Master Reference’ model.

Elements of the X2t will be familiar from previous Raidho speakers. The tweeter is the company’s ‘ribbon’ design [see boxout], and is mounted, along with the bass drivers, in a series of alloy baffle plates. The alloy cones of the bass drivers are treated to create an oxide (ceramic) skin, and then given a tantalum coating ostensibly to make ‘the membrane much stiffer and harder without adding any weight’. In practice, ceramic is far stiffer than the super-dense element tantalum, though the latter will offer superior damping properties. Raidho uses a titanium (and titanium carbide) coating in its X1t...

The crossover, meanwhile, uses selected components and point-to-point wiring, fed from a single set of compact terminals, above which is the X2t’s bass reflex vent. This is an unusual, elongated finned design, and split either side of the spine at the rear of the curved, tapered cabinet [see pic, opposite]. Spreading the footprint of the speakers to aid stability, the alloy outriggers feature ‘decoupled’ feet, each resting on a race of ceramic balls. There’s no provision for adding spikes but the 23kg all-up weight of the speakers will hold them down on carpets.

Above: The bass reflex vent is split either side of the spine at the rear of the curved, tapered cabinet

Raidho’s manual for its X series is somewhat generic, suggesting the speakers sound best 3-4m apart, 1m from the rear wall, away from side walls and with a degree of toe-in to taste [see p41]. Their height (106.5cm) and slender figure should make them suitable for use in a wide variety of rooms – after all, they’ll take up no more floorspace than a pair of compact standmounts, while looking considerably more elegant.

The X2t doesn’t quite meet its claimed 87dB sensitivity [see PM's Lab Report], but when driven with amplification meeting Raidho’s requirements – 50-150W – or indeed the gutsy Constellation power amplifiers [HFN Jan ’25] in the HFN Reference Listening room [HFN Yearbook ’25], it proves more than capable of delivering a sound to fill even large spaces. And having heard a number of very large speakers in this room, what this sylph-like design manages is even more impressive.

X marks the spot
Playing Johan Strauss II’s ‘Egyptischer Marsch’, from the 2026 Vienna New Year’s Day Concert [Sony Classical 19802996699], the X2ts sounded warm and rich yet sprightly. The rhythms of the Vienna Philharmonic, under Yannick Nézet Séguin, were tightly controlled within the cosy, well-heeled ambience of this traditional event. There was no denying the scale of the orchestra, and while the sound wasn’t perhaps as open and airy as one might expect, the sense of the packed hall was palpable.

These speakers have a warm balance, and that served well Eric Lu’s recital of Schubert’s Impromptus [Warner Classics 2173286931], where the pianist really captures the way the composer builds these little works, revealing a wealth of detail under a seemingly calm surface. The X2ts delivered a well-focused image of the piano with excellent definition in each note, and just the right amount of space around it to develop a sound into which one can sink, and enjoy.

Above: Supported on adjustable outriggers, the X2t’s gloss black (or white) cabinet hosts two 135mm tantalum-coated alloy ‘X’ bass/mid drivers and a proprietary planar-magnetic tweeter, all set into an alloy baffle

Similarly, that richness underpinned the insight into the instrumental lines of the Ébène and Belcea Quartet’s Enescu & Mendelssohn Octets [Erato 2173299729]. Some may find the forthright presentation a bit too detailed, and wish for an even lusher approach, but I’ll take speed and clarity every time – it was a thrilling, involving listen.

Changing tack to the simplicity of Vince Gill’s ‘This Lonesome Old Cowboy’ [50 Years From Home: Brown’s Diner Bar EP; MCA Nashville], there was excellent intimacy in the opening, with Gill on his vintage 1942 Martin D-45 guitar still confident when the solid bass, drums and pedal steel kicked in. A wonderfully old-fashioned sound, but with all the clarity of a modern recording, it was hard not to be drawn in.

Give us a mo’

The same goes for Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’s ‘Make Up Your Mind’, from their Room On The Porch album [Concord Records CRE02896]. Yes, you’re never going to lose track of what the bass player in the band is doing, but both the soundstaging and imaging here were impressive, not to mention the instrumental timbres. Raidho’s X2ts certainly appeared to relish the clean, crisp nature of the recording.

Push the low end of the speakers with something all about the bass – in this case Polish bassist Wojtek Mazolewski’s self-explanatory Solo album [No Paper Records download] – and you discover that, for all its richness, the X2t’s bass is well-controlled. It sounded resonant and characterful below the higher notes Mazolewski conjures from his instrument on the atmospheric ‘Slavic Forest’, while with the snappier rhythms of ‘Rodeo Spirit’ there was no shortage of drive.

This fulsome sound worked well with the new mixes on the 50th anniversary release of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here [Legacy download], including the take on the title track with violinist Stéphane Grappelli. The sound was both well-weighted and open, and while the beginning is very ‘left and right’, this didn’t prevent the X2ts from delivering a lovely sense of presence. What you hear is a very explicit recording, with massive heft when the band kicks in, and Grappelli’s violin beautifully realised against all that prog rock scale.

Hammer time

Mind you, I wasn’t sure these were the right speakers on which to play Hawkwind’s ‘Brainstorm’, from the live Space Ritual album [Atomhenge ATOMCD111053]. Even in the 2007 remaster it’s a chaotic mess, with only Lemmy’s charging bass truly obvious. Actually, come to think of it, that’s just how the band sounded live in my Laurence-Corner-greatcoat-clad teenage years in what was then the Hammersmith Odeon, so perhaps it’s all the more accurate than I’m giving credit!

Above: The X2t’s cabinet curves to a slim spine at the rear with both the 4mm cable terminals and fluted slot-port positioned near the base

Raidho’s X2ts made another Hammersmith memory – the live version of the title track from Be Bop Deluxe’s Live In The Air Age set [Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 16-2760] – sound fabulous. The tightly knit band behind Bill Nelson, particularly the crisp, deep bass of Charlie Tumahai and Simon Fox’s drums (both long gone), recalled perfectly my excitement of turning up at the gig and seeing The Rolling Stones’ mobile studio parked down the side of the Odeon.

Teenage rock trainspotter, moi? Maybe I was – but these slender, chic Raidho speakers have all-round ability, and can raise the pulse with the way they make music.

Hi-Fi News Verdict

The X2t creates the illusion of a more substantial bass than it actually has, but the effect is a benign one, and typically serves the music very well. Moreover, it’s hard to overlook the appeal of the open, explicit and involving sound, especially when it’s delivered from slender, stylish and particularly room-friendly enclosures. As an alternative to behemoth loudspeakers they make a very persuasive case.

Sound Quality: 85%