I just bought a pair of these. I’m in the process of installing my system in a new house, but I couldn’t resist doing a quick and dirty hookup to my BAT VK-300x integrated amp and Sony SACD player. Sitting on a shelf about 10 inches in front of the wall behind them, they produced too much bass. I used the supplied foam plugs, as recommended, and things were in balance. I would say they did a creditable job of reproducing the fundamentals of a double bass in Ray Brown jazz quartet “Soular Energy.” The vibrating body of the bass was convincingly reproduced at moderately loud levels (80 dB average) in a medium sized room that is part of an open floor plan house. Interestingly, the “weight” of a full symphony orchestra was less convincing, so I don’t think I’ll sell my sub (which was not connected). However, jazz and rock was well done as was solo acoustic piano. The top end is extended, but not aggressive. Sadly, as is often the case when a component is upgraded, other weaknesses in the playback chain become evident. In my case, the failures of Red Book CD became more evident (poor high frequency transients) although SACD playback was very nice. Hopefully, when I get everything hooked up to my 1.5 kw balanced power supply, CD playback will improve. This is a very, very good speaker but probably needs more expensive amplification than one would normally consider for a $1700 pair of speakers. The BAT listed new at $7000 when I bought it some years ago.
KEF LS50... The ultimate anal-ytical speaker for living rooms?
I am looking for a VERY revealing with razor-sharp imaging type of bookshelf, but not the cost of TOTAL loss of musicality.... In other words, not necessarily full range, but at least balanced - not something that starts to roll-off at 200hz... They would be listened to mid-field, 6-7ft away in a somewhat open space. Could it be the ls50, or is there anything else around their price-point? Thx for suggestions...