Raidho speakers

[Stranraer]

Evening all.
I don't remember seeing anything at all about the above on this forum but I picked up a pair of c1.1s this weekend and am absolutely astonished by them.
I thought the Neat Ultimatum XLSs were my forever speakers but these little monsters comfortably live with them and more, in a box roughly half the size.
Anybody else had any experience of them ?

[Barry]

They get good reviews and the stands certainly have a distinctive look to them. Apart from that, I know very little about Raidho.

Glad you are pleased with them - why not write a review when you have settled in with them?

ATB

[Macca]

Expensive speakers, think I have heard them at shows but can't recall.

There's a review here https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/raidho_c11.htm

[Puffin]

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/first-listen-raidho-acoustics-c11-mini-monitor/

I remember Paul Messenger raving about Raidho speakers years ago but I have never heard any.

[hifinutt]

yes heard 2 pairs and yes they are rather good
been a fantastic pair in classifieds recently but cant find them now

[Lawrence001]

They're quite dinky aren't they? I was tempted as I love ribbons but I do like my bass. Are your Ultimatums standmounts? Still I assume they are isobarik and would have lots of bass for their size, which you would miss?

[Stranraer]

With thanks for the interest I'm not really equipped to write a review but happy to jot down some notes / comparisons to the Ultimatums which were meant to be my end game, though Lawrence has pretty much nailed the situation, but first Those Stands...........
A veritable bargain at 2011 prices of £2,700 they go against everything I've spent thirty years striving for in a stand. Solidity.
According to Raidho the C1.1s need some "give" in the stands for best results and a few reviewers agreed saying that anything too inert deadened the sound, so the eight pillar sand filled behemoths I had the Ultimatums on were never an option.
The (non-adjustable !!) feet of the Raidho stands have a slight wobble to them, the main body is rigid but thin.
They are as light as a speaker stand realistically could be.
The top plate is interesting with a small steel cup drilled into each corner, about half a centimeter deep.
In this cup sits a small, free moving, ball bearing. You literally just drop it in.
On top of the bearing is placed what is best described as a three dimensional golf tee kinda thing (but a flat, not pointy end) with a larger, flat, felt covered head.
This tee is in no way fixed. It just wobbles on top of the bearing like a one legged, flat headed man balancing on a football, with the top part protruding from the oversized steel cup. It looks comically badly designed.
Obviously with one of these affairs at each corner, the weight of the speaker (and for the size, there's a lot of weight) presses down on these tees and all is stable.
The speakers themselves are about two thirds the size of the isobarik Ultimatums and beautifully made with a deep, deep laquer on top of premium wood. There's litttle to no vibration even at volume.
The tweeter's a ribbon, a first for me.
As much as the Ultimatums are a thrilling listen, clearly loving the music, I've always wanted pinpoint clarity, imaging and soundstaging and finally I have it. There's still some experimenting to be done as the Raidhos are crazy sensitive to placement so I'm trying all sorts of distances from walls, toe in etc, but as they sit I'm gobsmacked by the result.
I listen almost exclusively to "modern" music. Rock, funk, jazz, electronic, Americana, folk.
Through the Raidhos the listener becomes hyper-aware. Every note from a guitar or keyboard is crystal clear and uber-defined.
I can tell exactly how a string is plucked, how a key is hit.
The breath into a flute is audible.
Every beat of a drum, every crash of a cymbal is there.
I listened to Moon's Won't Get Fooled Again and felt like I was on his drumstool. The clarity is unreal.
Seperation of guitar lines and multiple vocals is breathtaking.
Classic tracks by The Doors are ethereally beautiful.
So they really are special, but......
Lawrence asked about the bass and I do sometimes listen at somewhere between speaking and shouting volumes, loving the physical feel of a down n dirty bass line when the mood grabs me and the neighbours are out.
The Ultimatums really shift some air and this is where they win hands down.
With the Raidhos I can isolate a bass line, hear every note and nuance. I'm hearing things I've never heard before. But when things get messy the bass can get slightly lost in the mix.
Bizarrely it's not the very lowest of notes. These Raidhos can play way down without complaint, but I don't feel them and strangely some of the higher notes of a bass guitar's register can go missing in action.
They're there if I concentrate, but they're not really participating, and if I could trade 10% of clarity and detail for 10% more heft in the lower regions I would.
So........... it's Senna versus Prost, Klopp v Guardiola, AC/DC v Radiohead., Ferrari v Porsche.
I admire and respect these Raidhos to the max but don't think I'll ever love them like I do the Ultimatums.
The Raidhos do the maths, The Neats are poetry. Joyous.
It's amazing to have both experiences and the Neats will be going as the Raidhos are a whole new way of enjoying the music, but I'll have a tear in my eye and pretty sure I'll end up reversing the swap in a few years time.