The XV3 are better than the XVi. I was a bit leary of the upgrade and only made the decision because Dr. Matthew Webster explained why. I had heard the XV3 at Axpona and Newport, however, those setups did not sound better than my XVi rig. There were hints but overall, no. Matthew had done some YT interviews where he said the XV3 were more "musical" and "magic." That usually meant sacrificing detail for a smoother sound, not something I wanted to do. The XVi could sometimes be a bit too edgy but overall were the best speakers I had heard. The XV3 have gotten rid of that occasional edginess without giving up any of the detail. If anything, XV3 play even more of the recording. It seems that edginess was sort of a distortion that obscured. The XV3 don't have that distortion.
The XV3 and XVi are four tower speakers. The XVi were designed so that the bass towers were behind the main towers. The XV3 are designed to be side by side. Luis from 3mA audio in Houston, TX did the set up. The XV3 are closer to the front wall and leave a lot more useable space in the room. Luis' setup sounded really good, better than my XVi and better than the XV3 I heard at Axpona or Newport. Holger Stein of Stein Music and his wife Gabby came by a couple of days ago. Holger put up some Stein Music Acoustic Discs and the sound got even better. I will be adding some additional Stein Music devices.
Orchestral classical music is more orchestral -- clearer, bigger soundstage. Jazz music is more jazzy. .Pipe organ is more impressive. Vocals are remarkable.
This is unapologetically a Boulder/YG system. Boulder 1110 preamp, Boulder 3060 amp. Digital Source: Baetis Reference Mingo streamer/server, Playback Designs MPT-8 transport, Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC. Analog sources: Reed 3C turntable, Reed 3P tonearm, Airtight Opus 1 cartridge, Boulder 1008 phono stage, JCorder Technics 1520 tape.
Ron made a WBF video on how to set up a hifi and said that a Boulder/YG setup would be too detailed and not engaging, that it is better to trade detail for engagement. This Boulder/YG system maxes out on detail. Holger and Gabby agreed that it is very engaging.
