Posted by RobP on April 10, 2003 at 13:06:08:
Not trying to start any kind of debate over the merits of panels v. horns. I've owned Maggies in the past and currently own Avantgarde Duos with Audiopax SET amp.
I am finishing our basement and have free reign over the music venue at one end of the room.
Sound Labs has always appealed to me and while the attributes of the Avantgardes are too numerous to mention, they do have a two problems: bass integration and a very slight horn coloration.
Obviously the A-1's wouldn't have these problems. And I can appreciate that the music is presented differently and may not have the tremendous drive and intensity of the DUO's, in bass and macro-dynamics.
I'm willing to give some of that up to get the top to bottom coherency and tonal balance but this forum has me shaking my head and saying, "why do I want to get involved with these speakers"
Why? well, throughout these posts there are numerous references to suspect reliability and electrical and mechanical problems: stators breaking, membranes melting (what is the deal with the hair dryer routine?), componet parts that come apart at adhesive fused joints, crackling and run-away bias settings that destroy the panels, the list just seems to go on and on. And apparently constant factory "improvements and upgrades".
On top of that, these speakers bring amplifiers to their knees and according to one post causes the Wolcott amp to clip at 90dB peaks! What about all the music that lies beyond those 90dB peaks?
Please don't conclude that I'm against these speakers, in fact, I'm still strongly considering them and keep in mind that I acknowledge the shortcomings of the Avantgardes but I just don't know if I want to deal with all of these issues.
I would love to hear users honest assessments of problems they've had (or haven't had) with Sound Labs, maybe these issues have been blown out of proportion.
It would be great if any owners of Sound Labs who have owned horn speakers in the past can give their impressions on sonic differences.
I'm sure this post will raise some ire but I really am serious about making the switch, but the "fussiness" of these speakers has me concerned.
OK, let me hear it...