I had been a long time user of the LS2B Mk 2 and basically tried just about 80% of all the 6DJ8/6922/7308 tube types available under the sun. My system did not change too much for about 8 years.
I had changed quite a bit with my system in the past 2 years, first w/ the preamp to an LS-25 Mk I (completed modded by GNSC), then my amp from Mark Levinson #333 to Pass X350.5, then speakers from Thiel 3.6 to Verity Parisfal Encore, then all interconnects and speaker cables from MIT to Synergistic Research.
Would I undo any of those changes. No. But it took me forever to make those decisions back then with the same concerns you have. It's one of those things. If you don't hear it, you won't know what you are missing. I was pretty happy with my system before. But every time I made a change (not saying random changes but carefully decided ones), I was awe struck with the improvements.
The LS-16 and LS-25 came out around the same time. You will definitely hear an improvement. You probably won't even need to do the A-B-A test to tell the difference. The difference between LS-16 and LS2 Mk II may not be as big as what I had heard with mine, but you will realize that the technology has surpassed LS2 Mk II by quite a margin. As good as LS 2 Mk II was, It's been what, 15 to 20 years since its introduction?
Besides the usual suspects of removing a veil, bigger and deeper soundstage, more detail, better image, etc., the most memorable improvement that I remembered noticing within the first minute was the deeper and bigger bass.
FrankC
I had changed quite a bit with my system in the past 2 years, first w/ the preamp to an LS-25 Mk I (completed modded by GNSC), then my amp from Mark Levinson #333 to Pass X350.5, then speakers from Thiel 3.6 to Verity Parisfal Encore, then all interconnects and speaker cables from MIT to Synergistic Research.
Would I undo any of those changes. No. But it took me forever to make those decisions back then with the same concerns you have. It's one of those things. If you don't hear it, you won't know what you are missing. I was pretty happy with my system before. But every time I made a change (not saying random changes but carefully decided ones), I was awe struck with the improvements.
The LS-16 and LS-25 came out around the same time. You will definitely hear an improvement. You probably won't even need to do the A-B-A test to tell the difference. The difference between LS-16 and LS2 Mk II may not be as big as what I had heard with mine, but you will realize that the technology has surpassed LS2 Mk II by quite a margin. As good as LS 2 Mk II was, It's been what, 15 to 20 years since its introduction?
Besides the usual suspects of removing a veil, bigger and deeper soundstage, more detail, better image, etc., the most memorable improvement that I remembered noticing within the first minute was the deeper and bigger bass.
FrankC