I agree with Mikeam on the sound coming out of my Whispers. Its pretty special and I have no desire to upgrade internal wiring or anything else like that. I have also owned Focus and currently own Focus 20/20s which are operating as rears in my setup. The 20/20s offer a fuller sound than the older Focus, but nowhere near the detail, transparency, soundstage and sense of air around the instruments conveyed by the Whispers. The Whispers will reveal upstream problems pretty ruthlessly, but in a clean, highly resolving system, which I've finally pretty much achieved, the sound is tremendous.
The only nit to pick involves the Steridian equalizer, which was/is pretty much of a design nightmare. It has been discontinued in favor of an outsourced, much more expensive equalizer, from my understanding. In addition, the old Tech Support guys(Chris, et al) are gone, as well as Bob Howard, so there's no telling what kind of support is available.(Fortunately, I haven't need any after finally sorting out a Steridian problem a number of months ago.)
The only nit to pick involves the Steridian equalizer, which was/is pretty much of a design nightmare. It has been discontinued in favor of an outsourced, much more expensive equalizer, from my understanding. In addition, the old Tech Support guys(Chris, et al) are gone, as well as Bob Howard, so there's no telling what kind of support is available.(Fortunately, I haven't need any after finally sorting out a Steridian problem a number of months ago.)