jackman: They sound like a lot of electrostatics to me. Totally different presentation than your typical driver based speaker so your going to have people who like it and people who don't. I generally don't like electrostatics (taste thing) but I enjoyed the Final system. Part of it was that the room was set up for 5 channel with a plasma TV for viewing concert videos, something that I didn't think I would enjoy but found otherwise. I was also struck by how well they would integrate into the living environment. I large speaker just doesn't fit in many HT set-ups. The result is that many people end up buying Bose like monitors in the pursuit of keeping the wife happy. The flat panel speaker seems to me to be much easier to adapt to the living environment and it has a lot of "cool" factor for those who find that important.
Unlike most shows I spent a lot of time out in other rooms. Since the Final system was attached to our room after every trip I had the experience of comparing it after every listeing foray around the show. It held up very well in comparision.
I don't try to listen critically at these shows though. It is an act in frustration with the background noise and the horrible acoustics. I find the only way I can evaluate a product (especially a speaker) is in the security of my own home.
I'd also want to see measurements before coming to any conclusions because unlike many I don't trust my ears.
As for loud... they played loud enough for me. We were in a small room, listening to the 5 channel set-up so the absolute SPL potential of the system in 2 channel mode would differ. As with any speaker I'd say listen to them yourself and come to your own conclusions. Mine were based upon a rather superficial & limited experience (CES).
