Borresen Acoustics Børresen X1
The Børresen X1 brings holographic imaging, a smooth ribbon treble and surprisingly muscular scale to the stand-mount class. HIFI HUFF heard deep, clean bass, liquid vocals and effortless room-filling projection, while Stefan Gawlick praised its striking transparency and authenticity. With careful setup, this is a refined, high-value route to genuinely immersive high-end sound.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
93/100
Build Quality
92/100
Value for Money
95/100
Pros
Exceptionally holographic, layered imaging that allows the compact cabinets to disappear into the room.
Smooth, airy and highly resolving ribbon treble paired with liquid, full-bodied vocals.
Strong value and luxurious build, including substantial bolt-on stands and technology derived from pricier ranges.
Cons
Placement is critical: poor positioning can produce one-note bass and speaker-bound imaging.
Drivers benefit from an extended warm-up period, and listeners wanting deeper bass may prefer the larger X2.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 93/100
The X1 is described as an unusually full-scale stand-mount, combining punchy, weighty sound with exceptional openness and finely resolved detail. Careful positioning and suitable partnering equipment matter: one reviewer encountered boom and constrained staging before setup was optimized, while others heard truly expansive, immersive results.
Bass
90/100
HiFi Huff heard big, clean, punchy bass with deep impact, saying it sounded as though it extended into the low 40Hz region despite the compact two-way format. The presentation is repeatedly praised for mid-bass body and speed, though Fidelity found one-note boominess when the speaker was poorly positioned and suggests the larger X2 for listeners wanting still more low-end reach.
Mid
94/100
Reviewers describe a notably substantial and communicative midband: vocals are called liquid, full and haunting without sounding bloated. HiFi Huff found the speaker beefy rather than lean, while Fidelity praised its clarity and realism with voices and acoustic recordings.
Treble
94/100
The ribbon tweeter receives especially enthusiastic praise for its smoothness, air and revealing detail. HiFi Huff calls the top end among the finest and smoothest heard, while also finding the overall presentation non-fatiguing rather than analytical or sharp.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
When correctly placed, the X1 is reported to disappear easily and project exceptionally holographic, three-dimensional images with strong depth and layering. HiFi Huff found instruments floating freely around a sharply focused central vocal image, although Fidelity's initial setup produced speaker-bound sound and little staging.
Dynamics
91/100
The X1 is said to fill a room effortlessly, with punch, projection and enough composure for energetic pop and rock. It responds clearly to better amplification and sources, and Fidelity notes that the drivers benefit from a substantial warm-up period before fully opening up.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
92/100
The cabinet, piano-lacquer finish and dedicated bolted stand are described as remarkably substantial and refined, with HiFi Huff comparing the execution favorably to far more expensive Focal models. Fidelity also highlights the heavy, secure speaker-and-stand assembly and the sophisticated composite cabinet and driver construction.
Value for Money
95/100
At roughly €5,000 per pair or around €6,000 with stands, Fidelity considers the X1 a comparatively attainable route into much of the technology and character of Børresen's costlier models. HiFi Huff is even more emphatic, arguing that competing speakers do not come close to its performance near the $5,500 price, even allowing for the additional stand cost.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Speaker & Stand
- H x W x D: 113 x 29,5 x 39 cm H x W x D: 44,5 x 11,4 x 15,4 inches Weight: 23,7 kg 52,3 lbs
- Speaker
- H x W x D: 42 x 20 x 39 cm H x W x D: 16,5 x 7,9 x 15,4 inches Weight: 12,9 kg 28,4 lbs
- Stand
- H x W x D: 71 x 29,5 x 39 cm H x W x D: 28 x 11,4 x 15,4 inches Weight: 10,8 kg 23,8 lbs
- Frequency response
- 50Hz – 50kHz
- Sensitivity
- 86 dB /1W
- Impedence
- >6 Ohm
- Recommended Amplifier
- 50W
- 1 x Tweeter
- Børresen RP89 Ribbon Planar Tweeter
- 1 x Bass/Midrange
- Børresen DCC5 driver
- Finish
- Black or white piano lacquer
Manufacturer's Description — Borresen Acoustics
A revolution in quality, performance and price
Børresen has developed a new intro-level speaker series at an affordable price, making the Børresen speaker universe accessible to even more people. The Børresen X1 loudspeaker has been designed on the solid foundation of Børresen Acoustics’ development traditions, design philosophy and technological know-how.
Technologies and Components
The Børresen X series loudspeakers are not only a new intro-level into the Børresen universe, but also represents a real revolution in quality and performance in its price range. These speakers are created based on all the knowledge collected in the process of the creation of the M, 0 and Z-series. You´ll find components from these exclusive series in this Børresen X series loudspeakers – for instance the brand new Spread-tow carbon membrane, the highly praised Børresen ribbon tweeter and the use of copper caps in the magnetic motor system.
X series membrane – Bass/midrange
Børresen DCC5 driver
This membrane is designed to achieve maximum stiffness with minimum noise. The technological requirements for this unrivaled high-end membrane performance made it necessary to design, develop and assemble all components in-house.
The X-series membrane that consists of three skins laminated into a single unit: two layers of spread carbon fiber, with a layer of aramid honeycomb spacers in between.
The combination of these materials gives this membrane its unique properties. The spread-tow carbon fiber was designed to provide a skin with optimal stiffness. This unique feature of the membrane reduces sound-disturbing vibrations and resonances to unprecedented levels. The aramid honeycomb also has the best stiffness-to-weight ratio in the vertical direction. A flat response membrane in terms of resonances paved the way to build a very transparent loudspeaker with a reduced size of the magnetic motor system to optimize costs.
X series magnet system – Bass/midrange
Børresen DCC5 driver
In the X-series magnet motor system, we use double copper caps on the pole rings to achieve high flux and low inductance. The use of copper caps has been adopted from the Børresen Z-series. Copper produces a response to flux changes – the better the counter-effect of these copper rings, the flatter the inductance curve, and the lower the electro-magnetic resonance. In addition, lower inductance also means fewer spikes in the impedance curve. Both result in a lower load on the amplifier. To ensure high efficiency, the X-series has two pole rings. This causes the loss of some flux, which reduces efficiency, but this is compensated for by a larger magnet.
X series Børresen tweeter
Børresen RP89 Ribbon Planar Tweeter
The tweeter chosen for the Børresen X-series has the same design used in all other Børresen loudspeaker series. However, there is a reduction in magnet and iron mass. This is possible due to the extremely high efficiency of the original tweeter design. As a result, the efficiency has dropped only slightly from the exceptional 94 dB to 89 dB, but this is still an amazing efficiency for a tweeter.
The tweeter operates from about 2.5 kHz upwards. The moving mass is extremely low at 0.01 grams. The fully concealed tweeter can operate at an impressive speed. The high robustness of this tweeter allows it to handle very high transients without causing any deafening dips.
X series cross over
The Børresen X-series is equipped with a parallel crossover built with the same high-quality components from the Z Series. This makes for a very mechanically stable crossover that minimizes its self-resonance.
X series cabinet
The surface of the cabinet is finished in black or white piano lacquer and reinforced with carbon fiber inserts. The cabinet is made of a heavily braced wood composite material that has the property of eliminating sound distortion. The material used for the cabinet also reduces mechanical influences, especially hysteresis. The sonic result is clearly audible. The X-series is equipped with bass reflex ports. The tweeter is vented to compensate for the air pressure that builds up. The bass section consists of tuned ports calibrated for musically relevant frequencies.
The X1 stand
The stand of the X1 speaker is designed with a clear aesthetic reference to design elements from Børresen’s sister company Aavik. The X1 speaker is meticulously designed with a stand and foot made of a natural-based composite material, to ensure resonance control that stays uncompromisingly true to Børresen’s design principles.
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- 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
- A Tube High Fidelity — online and in-store — Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands (website)
- Alta Fedelta — online and in-store — Lombardia, Italy (website)
- ARK Audio — online and in-store — Borensberg, Östergötlands län, Sweden (website)
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- Audio Gallery — online and in-store — Las Rozas de Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain (website)
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- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- Audio Salon — in-store — Boca Raton, Florida, United States (website)
- AudioMagic.pl — online and in-store — Warszawa, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
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