Tenor Hybrid v. VTL MB-450 Sig.

Bob, I hope you don't think I am making these comments because of ego. If that's how you rationalize it then that's fine. I've just been a happy customer for the past 4 years and would hate to see others make decisions based on (what I am many others think) a viewpoint that does not accurately portray the product and is counter to my experience. People waste a lot of money and time on bad advice in this hobby.

Now, if Brooks' house is indeed as big as you ASSume it to be then perhaps we should all meet there for a few beers??

Brooks, what was your question again?

Jim2: You might as well 'shush' - or 'tsk-tsk', or whatever it is you're trying to do - me as well, because I've wandered seriously off-topic and am apparently in need of censure. Rcrump didn't slam anybody, wasn't rude, didn't pimp his own products (covertly or otherwise), and wasn't out of line or being non-constructive by seemingly anybody's estimation save your own. Ease up my man, the yakfest is what this is all about, so let's just have fun and some respect for each other's various points of view. Discussions evolve, threads morph, new questions are raised, different quarters are heard from, and that's a large part of what makes it interesting. Remember the 'soup Nazi' on Seinfeld? No one enjoys a 'thread Nazi' even as much as a 'soup Nazi' (at least *he* had soup!) - especially without benefit of the comic relief.

[Speaking of which...Swampie: "Rcrumb" also draws those cool underground comix...what a diverse guy! ;^) ]

OK, my mistake, and RcrumP, I (and most of the regulars) know about CTC and TG Audio, just wanted to keep you in the game and make sure Jim2 and others satisfied. And I have never been included among a list of the fastidious, the somewhat fastidious, or the fastidious wanna-bes. The only time that word has occured in the same sentence as my name is in terms of an antonym (e.g., If anyone had seen his office, they never would have thought that Swampwalker was fastidious). Cheers to all, and lets not get our knickers in a knot!!!

And by the way Rhyno, the dynamic compression and loud level playback issues have been fully dealt with. A few months before the review in Stereophile, we made a flying production change to the VSM M and extended the front double baffle down the entire enclosure. This greatly reduced an energy storage issue which John Atkinson picked up on in his tests. The unfortunate thing is that the speakers tested by Stereophile predated the change because we needed to provide the speakers in a timely manner and to make a new pair would have delayed things another 8 to 10 weeks. Then about 15 months ago we offered up the 6th toe mod which places 2 cones on the front and one on the back. The additional support for the firing plane and superior dynamic coupling greatly enhanced the tonality (which Tubegroover and others can comment on) and the addition of the tuning weight and ERS for the BAM and digital sources enabled the speakers to sound much more robust and dimensional. These changes were clearly picked up on by the press comments of last years CES. That is also why many that read Robert's and your comments can't agree with you. Your product predated theirs and did not have the enhanced performance. The last and most critical aspect of the on going research was completed with the MX version. I would say that dynamic compression is now incredibly low and that you can now play these speakers louder than stink. Why else do you think I showed with Ken Stevens of CAT, the dynamics and volume King of high end audio. There was little doubt that the system in AP1652 was capable of some really extraordinary output and dynamic potential.
Anyhow, good to see you are still around and have fun with your SLs.
Regards,
Bobby@merlin

P.S. - I want to make it clear that I do not intend to argue against honest disagreement with my above post. Anybody who's read me from time to time on this forum will know that's somewhat of a specialty of mine. It's scolding and muzzling I object to. And lest I be accused of the same thing 'fore long here, this is my exit cue from this thread. Carry on...