If you regularly read this monthly column or frequent our YouTube channel, you are likely aware of our ongoing globetrotting quest for primary-source material for our websites and videos. Frequently, the SoundStage! Network’s video team and I travel across North America and Europe to visit hi-fi companies, talk with key personnel, and learn about and listen to review-worthy products. We hope to expand our travel scope to Asia soon as well.
Morten Kim Nielsen and Doug Schneider
Our most recent trip, in March, took us to Denmark, where we visited three loudspeaker companies: Dynaudio, a company we last visited in 2016; Lyngdorf Audio, also a maker of hi-fi electronics, which we last visited in late 2023; and Raidho Acoustics, our very first visit. Apart from what I had seen at hi-fi shows and read in Jeff Fritz’s review of Raidho Acoustics’ XT-5 loudspeaker (now discontinued), I knew very little about Raidho Acoustics and looked forward to learning more.
We visited Raidho at the invitation of Morten Kim Nielsen, the company’s sales and marketing director since 2021. Prior to joining Raidho, Nielsen held various positions both within and outside the hi-fi industry, including roles at Dynaudio from 2007 to 2019 and at Densen Audio Technologies, another Danish hi-fi brand, from 2001 to 2007. In a phone call I had with Nielsen a week before our visit, he told me that what attracted him most to Raidho Acoustics was the brand’s exceptional craftsmanship—Raidho Acoustics’ speakers are primarily hand-built—and meticulous attention to detail.
Raidho Acoustics was founded in 2001 by designer Michael Børresen, an engineer-entrepreneur who has been involved in the hi-fi industry for more than two decades. In 2009, Raidho was acquired by Dantax, a Danish public holding company with origins dating back to 1971, whose portfolio also includes the Danish brands Scansonic HD, Gamut, and Harmony, all operating under Dantax Radio. Dantax’s headquarters and main factory (formerly owned by Scan-Speak, which Dantax took over in 1977) are in the small town of Pandrup. This is where Raidho Acoustics is now based.
Raidho’s current speaker lineup consists of the high-value X series and the premium TD series. Every Raidho speaker is manufactured at the Pandrup facility, Nielsen informed me, including the crossovers and drivers, which I found surprising. Typically, small companies such as Raidho Acoustics, which has only about a dozen employees, source drivers from external suppliers. Driver design and fabrication is a complex and costly process, and it is simpler and often more cost-effective to obtain drivers from specialized companies. To ensure drivers are designed and built to Raidho’s precise specifications and high quality standards, the company produces all drivers in-house—its signature ribbon tweeter, midrange drivers, and woofers. Only the cabinets are sourced from an external supplier.
The meticulous handcrafting of crossovers and drivers and all assembly and testing take place at the Raidho facility. We captured much of these processes on video. The labor-intensive production process, which relies on skilled technicians rather than assembly-line workers and on bespoke components, is reflected in the price of Raidho’s speakers.
While our videographers roamed the factory floor, capturing various aspects of production, Nielsen set up a demo of three speaker models, using Simaudio Moon electronics and Nordost cabling. We first listened to the X1t standmount, Raidho’s smallest and most affordable speaker, priced at €6,000 per pair in Europe (excluding stands). It is a compact two-way design featuring a 3″ tall ribbon tweeter and a 5.25″ midrange-woofer. Despite their diminutive size, the X1t pair produced impressively full-bodied sound that was spacious enough to fill Raidho’s relatively large listening room (approximately 20′ by 24′). In a smaller space, perhaps half or two-thirds the size of that room, the X1t could be ideal.
Next, we listened to the TD6 floorstander, which is currently Raidho’s largest and most expensive model, priced at €230,000 per pair. This tall, slender tower features a ribbon tweeter at the center, flanked by two midrange drivers and three woofers on each side. The TD6 pair delivered an immense sound with a powerful bass that occasionally overwhelmed the room. Nevertheless, it was a palatial, full-range sound that was exceptionally clear.
Nielsen then introduced the TD1.2, a two-way standmount speaker that sells for €21,000 per pair (without stands). With a 6.5″ woofer and a significantly larger cabinet than that of the X1t, the TD1.2 is capable of producing deeper bass and a higher overall output than its smaller sibling. But what impressed me most about this speaker was its midrange definition and extended treble and, like the other two models, its remarkable spaciousness.
Of the three models we listened to, the TD1.2 was the best fit for Raidho’s demo room. Keep in mind that the TD series includes several floorstanding models smaller than the TD6 (viz., TD2.2, TD3.2, TD3.8, TD4.2, and TD4.8), any of which might have been a better fit for the room than the TD1.2 was. I’d love to listen to the TD1.2 more, but I’d also like to hear one of the smaller floorstanders at some point.
Our visit to Raidho Acoustics provided me with a deeper understanding of the brand and an insight into its production operations. I was intrigued by what I saw and heard and suggested to Nielsen that we would be interested in reviewing one of Raidho’s speakers. And so, this article and the accompanying videos are likely not the last you’ll hear from us about Raidho Acoustics, yet another Danish hi-fi brand of high-quality speakers that are a pleasure to look at and listen to.
. . . Doug Schneider
das@soundstage.com
