New Antal esw any better????

I would also be interested if anyone has heard the esw Antals. I have had the Antal XS for almost a year now and have learned that their brighness can be tempered somewhat with tube gear. However, the lack of low end is still a definite drawback. I have heard that the Dali Ikon 6 is a good alternative to the Antals - has anyone had a listen to these? Thanks.

There is a review on the Antal esw in the current March Stereophile. And yes, ST does report more refinement and stronger bass. New bass drivers, and they do go lower.
I have Antals 202 myself. Been quite a journey with them, and I couldn't be happier. But I sure didn't get there right away, too bright. Addressing the source more than anything changed that, and there is no brightness or listenting fatique anymore. Yes, Triangle did improve on this with the 202 tweeter over the XS, but I think a lot of the bad rep they have received is because they are so sensitive to less than stellar digital source. Crap in, crap out. But more refinement in the tweeter of the esw might make them less sensitive to this.

Even the old XS line sounds great with tubes and a powered sub, in my opinion. I confess to salivating at Sam's comment (in the 3/06 issue) that "there's something else the new Esprits did better: time information. ... The spatial presentation was greatly improved; it simply sounded more real." I'm plotting to check out a pair of these myself once they begin to surface on the used market. No local Triangle dealer here in New Mexico, so add my voice to the chorus of those seeking firsthand experience from 'Gonners.

Arni - What equipment do you now use that works well? In my small 11 x 13 dedicated listening room, the XS were still often excessively bright even when I tried a PrimaLuna Prologue 2.

Jfacker - I've tried a sub, but couldn't get a smooth, coherent blend of the low frequencies. Its fine with HT, but I didn't like it with 2-channel audio. What powered sub are you using and how did you set it up?

Thanks.

Nanotweeter,
My digital source is EVS (Ric Schultz) modified Samsung universal player without any op-amps; very analog-like sound. Before that I had a transport-dac setup that was too bright.. but tolerable after inserting Monarchy Upsampler in the digital chain and improving digital cabling (A Zen MC2). I initially had Conrad-Johnson Sonographe amps, but upgraded to the Unison Unico, which has also made significant improvements; there appears to be a great sinergy between the Unison and the Antals, stronger bass, magical midrange, and somehow more extended yet "milder" highs.
I have experimented with a sub for the lower frequencies, which is tricky given how "fast" the Antals are. The results have been surprisingly good with the Pinnacle Subsonic, which is a bipolar 6.5 inch-same size drivers as the Antals and seem to be able to keep up.