YG Acoustics add in Stereophile

I also heard that it was the Alexandria X2. I believe the mbl 101E was also involved. Do not know for sure.

However they measure, they are great speakers.
I ended up trading my W/P8s for the YG Kipods.

Bflowers I was taken with the Kipod's combination of extended but linear frequency response and holographically precise imaging. Email me and I'd be happy to discuss it further.

Paulfolbrecht, I appreciate your purchasing principles.
So why even bother to listen?

What if you actually liked them?
That's what happened to me BTW.

Atmasphere, as an owner of these speakers I think your analysis of the design path of the crossover is probably correct.

And I have heard the midrange driver bottom out as you did. But it only occurred once when my former Wilson dealer was testing the system at his request. I have never caused it playing any of my music at all levels at any time.

I agree that the single advantage of this design is clearer mids and highs.
Much clearer IMHO.
So much clearer that resolution is largely independent of volume.

But the speakers do not function well with tube amps.
Even your superb designs, I suspect.

Kusina and Kevinm, it is most definitely possible to overdrive the midrange unit of the Kipods but it is highly improbable that it would ever occur in any listening session unless you were trying.

YG knows this and offers an optional outboard high pass filter but I can't imagine ever needing one.

The Kipods are perfect for my tastes in music in my listening room.

They are certainly the best I've heard.

On this planet, anyway.

Tbg, I do agree with you. I love the Kipods but the Anat Reference II Studios are exceptional. Their American manufacture makes them a relative bargain but it was their performance that sold me.

As you may surmise, they sound far better in a "home" environment than at CES.
They do not require much room treatment at all to sound their best, unlike many other superb speakers I have had in my home.

So I bought them. Could not be more pleased.

Especially since the dollars went to Colorado, a place and people I admire and am pleased to support.

Not that I have any less appreciation for the advantages of the opportunistic global outsourcing transforming our "hobby".

I doubt seriously that my opinion of this transformation could possibly ever sink lower.

But I am aware that many toil diligently toward that end, unwittingly.
And even more unconsciously.

Even in our little hobby there are now sociodemoeconomic factors to consider, unless of course you just have to have that beryllium tweeter at sweatshop prices.

Our daughters here will soon be handproducing them anyway and since they won't have healthcare no responsible society will be able to compete.

I am not looking forward to that soundstage.

Henryhk, yes I do believe that YG speakers require a somewhat longer break in period that the average high end contender but it is not outrageous. They sound perfectly agreeable right "out of the box" but bloom progressively at least through 120 hours. I stopped timing after that because they sounded so good at that point that I just didn't care and got completely lost in the music.

I do believe that YGs like lots of clean SS power. I use a McCormack DNA 500 rated @ 500W into 8 ohms, doubling to 1kW into 4 ohms. I have always contended that this amp is a "giant-killer" priced @ $7k even before I owned the YGs.

Dick Diamond, YG's Director of Sales & Marketing, kindly visited my home to assist with the placement and voicing of my new Anat Reference II Studios and I do not think I am exaggerating his enthusiasm for the DNA 500's performance by recounting his intention to mention this amp to Yoav Geva himself as a contender.

Osgorth, no offense taken here.

Hey, at least you listened; which I suspect is the goal of the whole "World's Best" thing anyway. Got me, a long time Wilson aficionado to compare them in my home just to confirm the hubris.

To my surprise, they actually were the best I'd ever heard.
So I bought them. Kipods first, now Anat Ref II Studios.

But the ever-shrinking world still has room for plenty of "bests".
May each find their own.