Raidho X2t Floorstanding Loudspeakers Boast Tantalum Tech

Raidho's X2t 2.5-way loudspeaker takes the lessons learned from its impressive X1t standmount that we very much enjoyed at High End Munich and builds on them to create what the brand is calling a “significant new floor standing loudspeaker”.

The X series at Raidho stands for eXtreme performance for the price - but don't let that fool you into thinking that means cheap. That said, the X series almost has the same ribbon tweeter that sits in the €210,000 TD6 - so you could almost convince yourself that the X2t is a bargain. Money matters aside, Raidho states that the X2t is a substantial upgrade to the outgoing X2, which it replaces.

As you can already guess, that huge improvement is based around the X1t's special sauce - Tantalum - and the X2t boasts a pair of 5.25-inch Ceramix bass driver units sporting a Tantalum coating - the upper one taking on mid/bass responsibilities while the other is pure bass.

Tantalum belongs to a class of metals known as refractory metals, which are defined by their strong resistance to heat and wear. The upshot is that it makes the membrane much stiffer and harder without adding weight, thereby raising the breakup modes to an impresive 15kHz. Interestingly, we're told that Tantalum has a melting point of 2,996 °C, the fourth highest of all metals, don't you know.

Those rear-ported bass drivers are partnered with Raidho's proprietary ribbon tweeter, wholly designed and built in-house in Denmark. Moreover, this hand-made unit is technically a Planar Magnetic Tweeter due to the tracks in the foil.

The foil is 11 microns thick and weighs just 20 milligrams, giving it 50 times less mass than a conventional dome tweeter. The apparent result is virtually no resonances or distortion, and the breakup point is at an incredible 82 KHz! The resulting frequency range is a claimed 40 Hz - 50 kHz +/-3 dB and 87dB 2,83 V/m sensitivity.

Handing out the driver duties is a new crossover that the Danish firm believes exceeds many other loudspeakers up to €80,000 where component quality is concerned. Additionally, all the point-to-point hardwiring is done by hand, and the cabling is from Nordost. In fact, all the internal wiring is borrowed from the high-end cable manufacturer's lofty Valhalla range. The crossover points are specified as 130Hz and 3.4 kHz 2nd Order.

Raidho's 300 x 1065 x 490mm (WxHxD - including feet) X2t is an elegant floorstanding loudspeaker where even the bass reflex port is perfectly integrated into the design. We are told to expect the X2t to do everything the compact X1t does, on a higher level and at a larger scale, thanks to the extra, internal vented bass driver.

The Raidho X2t is available for €14,000 per pair in Piano Black, Birdseye Maple or you can specify any colour to order at an extra cost.

Visit Raidho for more information