Hank,
First of all, I judge speakers solely on how they satisfy my desire to hear the best possible reproduction of the sound of a symphony orchestra in a concert setting. Number one on my list of disqualifiers is colorations I find unacceptable.
ALL speakers (equipment) color the sound of acoustic music to at least the extent that all reproduced music currently available sounds reproduced (electronic). The broad variety of sounds produced by the many different instruments of the modern orchestra poses an enormous challenge for any sound engineer seeking "the absolute sound."
The speakers I now use are Shahinian Hawks which were designed by a fellow, Richard Shahinian, whose basic template is the same as mine: the live sound of the orch. in a real environment.
Against that standard, and more against the sound of the Hawks, to my ears the 1.6's sound unacceptably colored, especially with massed violins playing above the staff. What I hear seems like a slight "ee" emphasis that, again, FOR ME, displeases.
I am absolutely certain that this coloration is not equipment nor room related. I have tried damping reflective surfaces which is something referenced by a lot of others on this site as a frequent cause of such colorations as I am talking about.
Sometimes I think the problem may be one of too much midrange for my taste.
In any case, my listening partner, active on this site but anonymous in this posting, loves the speakers and found no serious anomalies or colorations on the same material I played.
Otherwise I agree with hundreds of others that they are impressive transducers.
Chacon a son gout, as some French are inclined to say.
