GHM, if you are not the muscle type, do be careful with these speakers. They are heavy and large! Both of them came on what looked like refrigerator size boxes and luckily, my wife was not there to see what they contained! I got rid of all the boxes before she got home.
What will impress you most about these speakers is their sheer cohesiveness, when it comes to producing sound between the 30-20KHz. I do horn another speaker, which has Fostex drivers and what I realize about fullrange speakers is present midrange magic, but they do leave me wanting for more in the lower ranges. With the FTA-2000s, they leave me awestruck with their inherent ability of swinging up and down, fast with a very "robust" sound that goes very low. You will not even consider using subwoofers with these puppies.
These speakers solve what has been the biggest problems with a single fullrange driver, their inability to produce decent lows. In my room, they do this in spades. Although JLM seems to be facing a problem with dark bass spots in his listening room.
What you heard me other owners and at this point myself, is nothing until you get to listen to them. I am sure you will agree with most people's enthusiastic assessment of these speakers.
I have a 19" CRT TV around 15" away from one of the FTAs, no picture distortion. Call that lucky. You should not have many problems with them. Now, the problem you might face can be two fold, 1-WFA. 2-naggy neighbors, who will complain when you get down with the Alnicos.
JLM or someone who ask about the resale value of these puppies, they do not have too much of it. They are crafted by someone in Arkansas who knows his stuff and do provide world class sound at the price of a pair of monitors made in the Far East. The only resale value I see is of the drivers, but what I experienced for the past 1-2 weeks with these speakers is the following, no one has heard the F200As properly until they get the cabinet work right. Sorry to sound like an addict, but guess what? I am of these puppies.
System:
source:
Scheu Cello with Morch DP-6 blue dot and Denon DL-103.
McIntosh MR-78 tuner
amplification:
Forte Model 2 preamp as phonostage.
First Sound Paramount Deluxe HotRod MKII
Pair of Op Chip Scott Nixon Monoblocks mods by Parts Connexion, Canada.
40 watts per channel.
Room treatment:
1 season old dog hair.
Large 4 year old mutt
run down wooden floors stripped of their vanish for their continuous use.
sound:
No sound, just "there"
or
more like the sound of 1950-1980s stereos via some hyper speakers.
audience:
One honestly happy jaddedphile.
PS: Had the opportunity of listening to some Tannoy Concentric horns in a pseudo onken like cabinets, I forgot the model, but felt that the FTA-2000s has an edge in clarity and bass, not bad for 1.5K vs ~6K retail.
