Lack in harmonic richness

Chris - what you seem to be describing is not a problem "thin or threadbare" but a lack of "air" or an overly "dry" sound. Remember your upper midrange is probably second to none - it probably decays near instantly anbeing very "panel fast" with none of the nasty resonances that are commonly found in other heavier cone speakers.

See this for a good definition of speaker qualitative terms.

Half the problem in audio is getting on the same page with descriptive terms.

If you are not getting enough "air" or "ambience" then you probably have a room and placement problem.

Panels tend to beam (although A-1s are curved and will be less "beamy"). Your previous speaker also tended towards a narrower dispersion. Both could be reasonably be expected to give you a tendency towards less "air" and a "drier" sound.

As some have suggested an EQ boost in upper mid treble or an amp with a high output impedance (tube) will bloom more in the upper midrange/treble (anywhere that impedance rises most).

Alternatively, try getting the speakers to reflect a bit more off the side walls in order to enhance the reverberant (ambient) sound.

Good luck!

Viridan,

Thanks - I was not aware of that - I thought panels often had some of the cleanest waterfall plots period. I'll dig into it further and see what I can find on it. I am not a panel fanatic as I find they lack dynamic range and bass extension but I have deep respect for the quality with which they often produce midrange. I appreciate your correction/comment.

I've experiemced the same results with some systems and it can be caused by several things i.e...room acoustics, speaker placement (null points), component(s) impedance mismatch, cable mismatch/not compensating for impedance differences, power cord design, speaker sensitivity and amp/speaker interface or the dreaded "Neutralitis" that is designed into some components and speakers. Live music is incredibly dynamic and full with lots of overtones and bloom...if ya aint hearing it, then your deaf or in a crappy venue. It is an art form with no gaurantee of synergy. One of the reasons I love MIT cables is because they eliminate the cable component/spkr interface mismatch problem...one less thing to worry about!