jm lab grand utopia be--- any thoughts ?

For what it's worth, I heard the demos of these at the NY 2004 show (set up as a theater with an audience) and thought the the nova-be's were a little bass heavy and forced, but, curiously, the giant grands were more balanced and relaxed and refined. I remember a Mick Jagger solo & thought the vocals on the grands were very natural and 3D. They do not sound overwhelming despite their size.
Again, this was just show conditions, but I really thought the grands were in a different league than the novas. So I guess you get what you pay for with JM Labs. (I actually thought that, again from previous visits to the NY show, that the old Utopias & Mezzo Utopias had more listenable bass than the the new nova BEs.)
I've got Kharma 3.2s, just to let you know where my taste in speakers lies. I really can't stand loose or pushy bass.

I have heard these at shows in San Francisco and in Montreal a few years ago. At the SF show the demo was Dark Side of the Moon's "Money" track. I was not impressed. They simply did not rock, nor were they convincing. My wife looked at me and asked, "what's all the excitement about?" And how can anyone justify the cost of these when they don't even accurately convey the harmonic structure of timbre contained in the signal from any amp? I shudder to think of how the money that would go into a pair of these could instead buy a pair of Thiel CS7.2s or Vandersteen 5As some top notch electronics and sources with plenty left over for cabling and media. And all for one pair of these speakers. No way they are worth it.

I have Thiel CS6s and Vandersteen 2Ces, not top of each manufacturers' lines but darn sure more accurate than anything made by JM Labs, so, like Rgs92 above, you know where my taste in speakers lies. I really can't stand inaccurate harmonic content of timbre.

rgs 92-- i appreciate your candid comaprison between the novas and the grands. the novas do have some tendency to bloat the bass. hence the search.... :-)

stevecham-- well, what can i say-- we all have our tastes in what musical timber should sound like. i think that the new be line from jm lab is one of the better ones in capturing that elusive timber, but that's my take on them. thanks for you input ,really.