I heard these today, all I can say is WOW! These are some of the best speakers I have ever heard.
Power, dynamics, tonal accuracy, resolution, refinement, imaging, stage depth, so many aspects of the sound were superior to many other speakers I've heard. This is a revolutionary design and a big breakthrough. The "next step" is an appropriate subject line, or maybe the first step in a new chapter.
When I commented to Rick that I was a little surprised at how detailed and refined the treble was despite so many tweeter point sources all with signals in phase which should be smearing the detail. But they weren't, treble was very detailed and refined, even with pro amplifiers. Hardly any power is needed so fancy amps didn't seem so critical in this active amped configuration. Bass was likewise detailed, solid and punchy, and even held good center image at low frequencies when I moved way off to the side.
Tone does not change at all when I stood up or moved toward the speakers. Left to right movement reveals a slight tonal change but I only noticed it on one trumpet recording with which I am very familiar. Soundstage is more realistic than any other speaker I've heard, especially impressive with instruments in the far rear of the soundstage. Rick played a track from Mapletree sampler with a bari sax playing way back behind the guitar and bass up front. With a compression-free, live stereo recording it was as if he was standing in the back of the shop playing his horn, the illusion was convincing. Full symphony orchestra likewise has a very realistic scale. Huge hall reverb is reproduced perfectly and no shortage of dynamic power or sustained high SPL. Presto on Shostakovich 9th Sympony showed off the ease with which the big speakers peel away all the layers and lay it out in front of you for easy listening. Blasting french horns and solo woodwinds presented equally well. It was playing louder than live, otherwise the illusion is very much like live symphony about 10 rows back. But of course, turning it up is better than live. Awesome!
Flutes and piccolos that sometimes overpower a room sounded just like they do live. they did not overload the room. You get the dynamic peak, but it does not hurt like it does with any other normal speaker I've tried. They sounded like they do with the live symphony.
Don played a funky disc with electric bass and drums to show off the dynamics and bass transient ability. I love dynamic acoustic music, but the dynamics attainable with electric instruments is beyond my tolerance and these were overpowering to me. For rock or synth music these speakers could rip your head off.
I felt the music come alive on every track, always tapping my feet and moving around with the music. These aren't just technical curiosities they carry a tune. Music is very involving and "musical."
The bass clarity was similar to my old Ushers with twin Eton carbon woofers. On Paul Chambers' solo at the beginning of So What I could hear all the rumble and wonderful bass detail and room echo that I could on the Ushers, which has been the best ever for that track. These need a subwoofer to give full feeling in the lowest octave. But we listened with no sub and didn't feel we were missing anything on the music tracks.
Congrats to Don and to Rick and the rest of the team for this masterpiece. I hope you're able to "bottle it" to share with the rest of us. Thanks for the chance to hear the early version and to meet Don.