Sonny how are the Loreleis coming along ?
Hey Bunky...
Sorry for the delayed feedback on the Loreleis...but here it is as of last night...
So, its been running now for about 150 hours, and its getting better all the time. I've compared it to the Herons on Jazz, Classical and Vocals.
I must say that the Loreleis win out on the details, the high end, especially the symblance and the vocals...but being a long time Meadowlark owner, its seems that's natural as the Loreleis put you on the 1-2nd row seating while the Herons, you're back in the 15th row, etc.
Bass, well, it has no problems snapping the basslines on the Patricia Barber cuts, fast and full. Its amazingly taut, though its sitting on the foam that it was packed in, since I have not received the spikes from Klaus as of yet. Cello sounds natural and tonal quality is good, violins are wonderful and horns, i.e. trumpets/saxaphones are natural, however, I think the Herons do give it more body than the Loreleis.
For Jazz music and small ensembles, I would give the edge to the Loreleis as it brings you into the club...never missing a beat on the separation of the instruments...You always are able to distinguish the symblance even if Patricia is singing and the bass is strumming. On the Herons, the symblance aren't as defined, or distinguished...maybe that has something to do with its laid back approacy, or because the Seas tweeters on the Loreleis are just better than the Audax tweeter, I don't know.
On classical, if you're listening to ensembles, quartets or chamber music, the Loreleis are amazing, it brings the same tonal balance in jazz to the instruments violijs, cellos, etc...but when it comes to big bombastic pieces, like Stravinsky's firebird suites...it can't match the shear umpf of the Herons. That's not saying that you would know...I only reconignzed it because I can do an a/b with a bigger speaker, the Herons. When the drums kick in and the whole symphony is strumming, the Herons, with its four drivers, three-way design) was able to better separate the instruments and provide a more dynamic and shear size to the orchestra, while the Loreleis would have sounded phenomenol, if the Herons weren't there to compare to.
Overall, I am still trying to audition as much as I can to get a fair shot to both speakers...Granted, if the Lorelei has its spikes, it may make a it that much better...
I will give you more feedback as soon as I get more butt time on the couch...
Sonny!