Ok morning, like a Class A, had to warm up overnight to write this.
So, when I went in, I was expecting it to be just a social visit, check it out for checking it out sake, as I was not that happy with the last pair and the other Apogee I have heard. To cut to the chase for GG, these speakers were awesome, as good as anything I have heard.
When i went in, the first thing I felt compelled to do was push at the speakers - the aluminium frames are awesome. I haven't really been following Justin's long thread, coz it is too long and detailed, so was surprised to see how sturdy these looked. It seriously looks like the whole think aluminium frame has been fixed into the ground. Immovable force.
Justin hadn't warmed up his system, but it sounded good right off the bat. We had to rip my stuff, and we let stream through Tidal then (Tidal sounds really CD like). The speakers were playing much easier, as if they were more sensitive than before, which is probably because of the energy saved by the frame. They are as good in the midrange as the Logans or the AA, though Justin has since upgraded his source to the Lampi 7 and only he can say how much of it is because of the speaker and how much due to the source.
The bass of the speakers is huuuuge. Great depth, back and forth, like a large fast moving cone. Justin's room is what I consider to the be the weak link here, it has good front and back depth, but sideways is narrow so no sideways stage. Also he has reflective surfaces, which I think he can damp using light absorbers like GIK 242s. I thought the bass was a bit high at times, but he likes more bass, and that can be tweaked in multiple ways including the Jriver room correction. Also from my experience with the Ref 110 and what I have seen with other tube amps, tube bass does get a bit bloated in the 50 - 80hz range, while it is kept sharper with SS.
The front to back stage, and top to bottom, was excellent. They are easily something that would be on top of my consideration list, if not for the fact that they will take one year to get ready after the decision to buy is made, and they are not extendable to Mch. They sound better than the stock Analysis, remember that the Analysis I liked were similarly modded, with crossovers of a higher quality than what Justin is using, and in better rooms, with more expensive amps.