I realize this thread is way old, but I happen to own both sets of speakers, so I might be able to offer some insight here (I was asking this same question when I bought my speakers, so this might help someone else). I started with a pair of the Signature Monitors and immediately loved the sound I was hearing. The soundstage was excellent, extending beyond the edges of the speakers and having good depth as well. The imaging was very precise, and it was very easy to identify the location of the individual performers in real space. As others have already said, the SEAS drivers are very nice -- very clean, fast and dynamic. I have long been a ribbon tweeter fan, but the Millenium tweeter has become my favorite. Vocals, guitar, drum shots -- all of these had a realism I had not heard in my system before (I previously had a pair of Legacy Focus speakers, which are certainly no slouches, especially in the mids).
The only negative of the Signature Monitors in comparison to my Legacy Focus was that on complex material, at high volumes (higher than most people would use), they would become slightly compressed and strained. The Focus remained unstrained and uncompressed at extremely high levels, and though I do not often listen at these levels, if I was going to replace the Focus, I wanted something capable of similar dynamics.
I called Ty and talked to him and was soon convinced I needed to try a pair of the Super Towers (I have a medium-sized room -- 18' x 13.5' x 8'). Ty described them as very similar to the Signature Monitors, just with 'more' of everything. I already had a Legacy Pacemaker sub, so I wasn't really looking for anything that would reach the lowest octaves -- imaging, soundstage, speed and dynamics were my main objective. At any rate, Ty sent me a beautiful pair of Super Towers in the Rosewood finish (this is the first speaker my wife has actually commented on how nice they looked!). I must concur with Ty's assessment -- they were very similar sounding to the monitors, but had much 'more' of that sound. The soundstage is simply incredible with them. It is huge -- tall, wide, deep -- but not unrealistically so. Vocals are as good as I have ever heard -- period. Same goes for guitar (both electric and acoustic) and piano. Drums are awesome -- the details of rim shots, cymbals, etc. have to be heard to be appreciated. My son is a drummer, and he could not get over the detail. What I found myself doing often was trying to sit down and 'analyze' the music, but ended up engrossed in the music. I used to rarely listen to an entire CD from start to finish, but with the towers, I find myself rarely skipping songs!
As for dynamics, they are near that of the Focus. With the sub, crossed over anywhere between 90 hz down to 50 hz, they seem limitless. Since I have a sub, I have them pulled them out about 4' from the rear wall, and about 18" from the side walls. They are about 10' apart, and I sit about 10-11' away. This location seemed to be best for imaging, soundstage, and smoothness of all but the lowest frequencies. In this setup, they are fairly flat down to the mid 40s (I can move them back closer to the back wall and get them pretty much flat down to the mid 30s, exactly what Ty specifies). Again, with the sub, they can play extremely loud without ever sounding strained or congested. Even without the sub, they are still very dynamic, and up to the standards I was used to with the Focus in all but the lowest octaves.
For my ears and preferences, the Super Towers are everything I was looking for. If you have the funds, I would highly recommend stepping up to the Super Towers. However, I could certainly live happily with the Signature Monitors as well (I am using one as a center channel and the other as the rear speaker in my 6.1 setup).
I should also say, as have many others, Ty is simply terrific to work with. I talked to him about upgrading to the Woodmeres, but with my current room, system and preferences, he steered me away from them (and costing himself a decent chunk of change).
The only negative of the Signature Monitors in comparison to my Legacy Focus was that on complex material, at high volumes (higher than most people would use), they would become slightly compressed and strained. The Focus remained unstrained and uncompressed at extremely high levels, and though I do not often listen at these levels, if I was going to replace the Focus, I wanted something capable of similar dynamics.
I called Ty and talked to him and was soon convinced I needed to try a pair of the Super Towers (I have a medium-sized room -- 18' x 13.5' x 8'). Ty described them as very similar to the Signature Monitors, just with 'more' of everything. I already had a Legacy Pacemaker sub, so I wasn't really looking for anything that would reach the lowest octaves -- imaging, soundstage, speed and dynamics were my main objective. At any rate, Ty sent me a beautiful pair of Super Towers in the Rosewood finish (this is the first speaker my wife has actually commented on how nice they looked!). I must concur with Ty's assessment -- they were very similar sounding to the monitors, but had much 'more' of that sound. The soundstage is simply incredible with them. It is huge -- tall, wide, deep -- but not unrealistically so. Vocals are as good as I have ever heard -- period. Same goes for guitar (both electric and acoustic) and piano. Drums are awesome -- the details of rim shots, cymbals, etc. have to be heard to be appreciated. My son is a drummer, and he could not get over the detail. What I found myself doing often was trying to sit down and 'analyze' the music, but ended up engrossed in the music. I used to rarely listen to an entire CD from start to finish, but with the towers, I find myself rarely skipping songs!
As for dynamics, they are near that of the Focus. With the sub, crossed over anywhere between 90 hz down to 50 hz, they seem limitless. Since I have a sub, I have them pulled them out about 4' from the rear wall, and about 18" from the side walls. They are about 10' apart, and I sit about 10-11' away. This location seemed to be best for imaging, soundstage, and smoothness of all but the lowest frequencies. In this setup, they are fairly flat down to the mid 40s (I can move them back closer to the back wall and get them pretty much flat down to the mid 30s, exactly what Ty specifies). Again, with the sub, they can play extremely loud without ever sounding strained or congested. Even without the sub, they are still very dynamic, and up to the standards I was used to with the Focus in all but the lowest octaves.
For my ears and preferences, the Super Towers are everything I was looking for. If you have the funds, I would highly recommend stepping up to the Super Towers. However, I could certainly live happily with the Signature Monitors as well (I am using one as a center channel and the other as the rear speaker in my 6.1 setup).
I should also say, as have many others, Ty is simply terrific to work with. I talked to him about upgrading to the Woodmeres, but with my current room, system and preferences, he steered me away from them (and costing himself a decent chunk of change).