I owned two different pairs of AIIIs. I bought the first pair in the early 80s and the AIIIi version in the later 80s. They're great speakers! As you mentioned, there are two separate sections, the upper pieces contain the mids and tweeters, with the lower cabinets containing the upward firing woofers. The AIIIi were better. I think that in addition to better interfacing between the two sections, they improved the drivers and the crossovers. They can be bi-amped or you can use a jumper that connects the two sections together. Snell was always known for their cabinetry and their speakers were as pretty as they come. The one problem you might face is that the speakers are very large, very heavy, and while their footprint isn't so big, they are very tall. They ship in four separate boxes so freight cost can be a factor. If you can live with their imposing size, they will give you tremendous pleasure. They will throw out a huge sound stage. They also have a lot of grille cloth in the two sections, but it's not that difficult to replace if you have Snell's directions. I had a couple of kitties that loved to sleep on(in)them because the design of the upper cabinets resulted in a kind of hammock, which they loved to lay on. I ultimately replaced my Snells a couple of years ago with some Avalons and sometimes wish I would have kept both pairs, but my wife got sick of them being in our living room too! I honestly don't think that you can go wrong. I sold mine for $1200 + shipping and the guy that got them got a deal...a great looking and sounding speaker that was(is) considered a classic.
