Hey Evan, I'm not sure but I think AudioKinesis is the only one of these posters still present. This is the first I have read through these posts.
Back then I think SL was still using the older panels and not the PX ones.
They also had not started making 9 and 8 foot tall speakers. I can not help but agree with most of the comments here except two. The 8 and 9 foot versions are full range line sources right down to 1 Hz. If you pair them with the right subwoofers distortion levels are even lower and they go crazy loud. Like NIN in concert loud. Normal size 645s will certainly gain a lot in headroom with subwoofers but not project mid bass as powerfully as the 8 footers do. Depends on how loud you like to listen. My system has no problem hitting 105 dB without any evidence of distortion. Any louder is just plain abusive. Next is imaging. One poster related he was disappointed in their imaging. I suspect there was either an asymmetrical room issue or a crosstalk issue in the system used. These speakers due to their unity of dispersion across the frequency band cast the best image I have ever heard. However I carefully measure both channels and make absolutely sure they have identical frequency response curves. All of this and subwoofer management are done digitally. In a carefully set up symmetrical analog set up you can get close to identical performance if not totally identical but this depends mostly on the room. With units like the Trinnov Amethyst, Anthem SLR and DEQX HP5 you can get the best performance in any room. IMHO the benefits of digital system management far outweigh any downsides. There are of course many who do not believe this. Most of them have never heard such a system and are making assumptions based on their dislike of anything digital. Whatever.
Back then I think SL was still using the older panels and not the PX ones.
They also had not started making 9 and 8 foot tall speakers. I can not help but agree with most of the comments here except two. The 8 and 9 foot versions are full range line sources right down to 1 Hz. If you pair them with the right subwoofers distortion levels are even lower and they go crazy loud. Like NIN in concert loud. Normal size 645s will certainly gain a lot in headroom with subwoofers but not project mid bass as powerfully as the 8 footers do. Depends on how loud you like to listen. My system has no problem hitting 105 dB without any evidence of distortion. Any louder is just plain abusive. Next is imaging. One poster related he was disappointed in their imaging. I suspect there was either an asymmetrical room issue or a crosstalk issue in the system used. These speakers due to their unity of dispersion across the frequency band cast the best image I have ever heard. However I carefully measure both channels and make absolutely sure they have identical frequency response curves. All of this and subwoofer management are done digitally. In a carefully set up symmetrical analog set up you can get close to identical performance if not totally identical but this depends mostly on the room. With units like the Trinnov Amethyst, Anthem SLR and DEQX HP5 you can get the best performance in any room. IMHO the benefits of digital system management far outweigh any downsides. There are of course many who do not believe this. Most of them have never heard such a system and are making assumptions based on their dislike of anything digital. Whatever.