Verity Parsifal or Magico V3 or Wilson Benesch ACT

I read your posts very carefully. I object to marketing slogans like "structure instantly absorbs the energy generated from the drivers". What does this mean? You know that you do want to hear the energy generated from the front of the driver right? No to mention that Sounds_real_audio was talking about drivers back waves which is different subject all together form cabinet resonance control, which I assume is what you are talking about.
What you are describing is a typical way to build light, yet stiff structures. You get the stiffness all right but Last-a-foam is a very rigid material that will do very little, if anything, to damped vibration. One more thing you do not get with these type of enclosures is the necessary mass to damped high freq vibrations. Go ahead and tap your WB, they have a high pitch sound to them, and that is not a good thing.

I had WB Act. Maybe I had not the right amplification (ML 27.5, ML 331 and than Aronov integrated) or cabling (top of the line Siltech and Goertz MI2 and Elrod, Nordost valhalla, Shunyata powercords), but I never was able to get them properly singing. It was a nice non-offending musical sound, but it lacked body and warmth of music. I almost exclusively played on them classical music.

Here is the ultimate primer on speaker-cabinet design to deal with resonances. It is an interview with what might be the best in the industry in this regard, Andy Payor: http://ultraaudio.com/features/2007_07_01.htm

I think I am going to wait until the Magico V2 is released to give them a listen. So far I have only heard the Verity and Magico Mini. Both sounded excellent, but they were in different systems with very different electronics.

I wish their was a dealer with the ACT's in the NY/NJ/CT area.

Dhaan,

Interpreting anechoic measurements is an interesting excercise. Depending on testing technique, results may vary considerably. Assuming that the graph you cited contains no measurement artifacts in the bass (no sure thing, at all), I'd still read this graph much differently than you do.

These speakers aren't 6-8db depressed in the presence region. The full treble region is shelved down about 3 db from the bass/mid and you are seeing that transition. This downward tilt in anechoic response is almost always a good thing for in-room performance. Unless your room has a major bump above 80hz (and many do) to balance the increased presence/treble energy experienced in most rooms, flat anechoic response theough the treble will sound awfully aggressive in-room. If you employ a Hemholtz resonator to correct for this bump (bass trap, bass busters, etc), you will certainly appreciate the Verity's response pattern.

The graph looks worse than it is because there is also a troubling looking suckout in the lower treble from about 3K to 5K. (This range begins in the highest octave on a piano and extends past C7, well above what I'd call "presence".) II've never noticed this issue on my (pre-Ovation) P/Es, but it may be unique to the Ovations. It might make these sound a bit darker than mine, but again, this is tough to predict in-room. In any event, I would never dismiss a speaker based on this anechoic test result.

Marty

BTW, have you ever actually heard them?