Ooh, NY Rave guys were not impressed with Strata Mini's at all..
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=41254.msg374334;topicseen#new
I'm now a little more worried about RSL II. I've auditioned Strata Mini's several times, and yes I agree it's more and more difficult to integrate many different numbers and types of drivers in one coherent greatness. RSL II is as complex a speaker to pull off as I've seen. Hopefully, MLS has done some Magic with RSL II 
Jon,
Didn't you hear the Mini's at the recent Southern California GTG?
What did you think?
George
Yes, but since the GTG, I've auditioned them again elsewhere also. It seems to me there are several common "mistakes" Mini owners make with their setups:
1. Putting them in rooms too small for them. They have to be in a surprisingly larger room than Mini's size would indicate, WELL away from the walls. Otherwise, the powered 8" bass produces bass quantity way above normal, passive 8", overpowering and muddying the sound.
2. Setting the powered woofer way too high compared to the treble/mid. I know the temptation to turn up the bass is strong, but I would advise NOT using a "bass test track" to tune the bass. I would pick a nice male vocal, such as Leonard Cohen, and start at lowest bass setting until the lower-midrange/upper bass sounds correct.
3. Using tube amps of slight to moderate "romantic" signature. I'm a tube lover through and through, but on Mini's, I would choose a very neutral SS or digital amp with lots of current. Don't bother with your nice-enough 30 watt EL34 amp, for example...
4. Using "warm" cabling. I would tend to avoid heavy-gauge stranded copper type of cabling with lots of dielectric. High-quality (non-silvery sounding) thin-awg or ribbon silver is what you need here IMO...
I think a Mini owner has a lot of work cut out for him to set up and dial-in these speakers in their system. You simply won't be able to pluck them into your existing speakers' location with same gear/cables and expect them to sound great. I do believe, however, they CAN be made to sound very good with above precautions in mind in line with the great Reviews they've been getting, offering tremendous value at their $2000 pricepoint.
