soliloquy 5.3 and 5.3i

Thanks for saving me the trouble, Rene. I've heard both versions and liked both, but the metal drivers did take longer to break in on a speaker that had a notoriously long break-in time in the first place. Other than that, both are excellent speakers for the money. I don't think drivers are available for either speaker anymore (you may want to check with Walter and Underwood) so you'd be limited to repairs if something went out. I think there were claims that the i version was an improvement, but again, I did not hear any significant differences myself. I owned a late model pair of the originals just before they went to the i version, and helped two friends purchase 'i' versions which I heard throughout break-in. I don't recall ever having the two in the same room so couldn't really say with authority that I'm right. I believe it was only the two midrange drivers that were different. Those speakers were a great bargain for what you got, and were very easy to drive. On the used market they are usually a steal.

thanks a lot

Metal dome tweeter in the i versus soft dome in the original if I recall.

The 5.3i was a brighter top end after break in with a frequency range that was down 5db at 30kHz.

In addition the new woofers (white cones) had graphite added to the composite, which made them tighter and more pistonic under high output conditions.

Crossovers were the same.