03-02-13: Mapman
I live right up the street from Goldenear. My first speakers ever a pair of Lafayette Criterions had heil AMT tweeters. Would love to hear those these days off of a decent rig. Might have to give these a listen locally.
As before, the caveat with auditioning GoldenEars is that because of their low price, many dealers pair them with mid-fi receivers, but they are of such high resolution they should be paired with good electronics. From reviews I've read, they really sing with tubes. And founder Sandy Gross powers his own pair of Triton 2's with a nice SET amp.
I was *really* taken by these Aon3's, however. Here's a stand-mounted speaker presenting a 9"x14" front that sounds for all the world like a mid-sized floor stander, complete with a 90dB sensitivity, linear, clean bass into the high 30's, and yet imaging and soundstaging more like the standmount that it is. I can't get the smoothness of the treble out of my mind.
I have a $2500 pair of 42"x9"x12" ported floorstanders in my living room, and the $998 Aon3's could easily sit in for them with no loss in dynamic range or bass extension, while improving on resolution and smoothness.