And I had the exact opposite experience & opinion. I went listening Paradigm Studios & even some B&Ws - had absolutely no expectation to see much less hear Signatures, and very bluntly I thought they were all hype and a grab at the upper-scale $$$ market. Spent easily an hour going through parts of some reference CDs, then the sales dude led me downstairs to their basement audition room with SIGs, B&Ws, etc. Heard little Signature 2s powered by McIntosh electronics - and was stunned by the soundstage, presence, whatever you want to call it. I did not find them too bright or tricked out - they were simply exceptional. They did not have 4's at that time (and I really can't explain away the $$$ for 8's) so I wound up leaving with the 2's as a new entry on the short list of wants (but no, not on order).
I did get back to the place when they had 4's out and hooked up, but there must have been a busload of tourists that heard about them 'cause the downstairs room (the one that I've decided is just 12 steps closer to Hell ;~) was packed and not too condusive to a decent audition (and certainly no 2-vs-4-vs-8's comparison was going to get done that day).
Ah, well - we're all different, and I probably have beans in my ears or else some degree of hearing loss, 'cause even w/ the whole busload crammed into that room the 4's sounded darned decent to me. YMMV...
I did get back to the place when they had 4's out and hooked up, but there must have been a busload of tourists that heard about them 'cause the downstairs room (the one that I've decided is just 12 steps closer to Hell ;~) was packed and not too condusive to a decent audition (and certainly no 2-vs-4-vs-8's comparison was going to get done that day).
Ah, well - we're all different, and I probably have beans in my ears or else some degree of hearing loss, 'cause even w/ the whole busload crammed into that room the 4's sounded darned decent to me. YMMV...