I hardly ever think of solid state amps as "fast" sounding. To me, most of the better solid state amps sound just a touch lifeless when played at lower volume levels. Speed and lower level dynamics are not the strengths of most of the better solid state amps I've heard.
The 40.2s I heard were set up something like 10 ft from the wall and a little more than 3 ft from the side wall. In that kind of wide open free space, the imaging was fantastic. A lot of depth, decent center image specificity and a quite large and enveloping soundstage. There is something about physically big speakers; they deliver a big sound--large soundstage, sound that seems to fill the room, and a kind of weight that works particularly well with large classical works.