Tweekerman, I have heard all the speakers you mention and I must agree with Plato -- the EROS, IMHO are in another league (for MY taste and MY preferences in MY room). I am not here to brag about my system , tell you what IS or IS not the "best" of anything or to say that anyone choosing the MLs or Dyna's is wrong.
Being single with no children, (and due to the prices I get on gear) has allowed me to put together a fairly high level of electronics. Right now I have all Lamm electronics (M1.1 amps, L2 Reference Line stage and LP2 phono stage), Sonic Frontiers T3/P3 (transport and DAC), VPI TNT-V with JMW 12.5 arm & Van den Hul Colibri with Valhalla and Silversmith cabling (along with a plethora of isolation devices, PCs and an Audio Magic Stealth and PP300). I mention this because many people think that I should have a set of $15,000-$30,000 speakers to match the electronics -- but I ended up with the EROS. I sold a $10,000 pair of highly respected full range dynamic speakers (Hales T-8s) after hearing what these EROS did in my system.
The EROS have as big of a soundstage as my T-8s but have much better midrange, better focus, tremendous speed and, surprisingly enough, excellent bass from the transmission line woofer (which I believe is the most seamless integration of a hybrid design I have ever heard). Now to be fair, I did add two REL Stentor III sub-bass systems to the EROS. I did NOT do this because I thought the EROS didn't have sufficient bass, but did so after a very impressive demo by Allan Haggar of Sumiko (REL importer)of a what the REL Stentor III did for FULL range speakers. Mine are crossed over way down at 23hz.
The EROS has much more of a "reach out and touch the performer" feel than any other speaker I have had. I also have heard some of the Soundlabs recently and they are wonderful at many things. In Novemeber, I heard a set of Soundlab M-1s with VERY good electronics and cables and, with female vocals and acoustic music, they were simply breathtaking! But, these are not only $13,000 speakers, but on the punchy, hard driving, 70's soul and jazz/funk I love to listen too (e.g., Tower of Power), they sounded, to my ears, horrible. They could not play at louder spl levels and the band had NO punch - the bass was overbloated and the horn section sounded like they were 500 feet away and weak. I have NO such problem with the EROS at all -- they can play the acoustic music with finese and detail and yet get up and boogie with the punchy stuff. Finally, the clarity and lack of congestion and smearing with the EROS is amazing.
Last Friday, Allan Haggar of Sumiko came to my home to help me set-up my second REL. He has heard many systems and commented on how he had never liked MLs but could not believe how dynamic and yet non-fatiguing the EROS were. But what really struck him (he is a classically trained musician) was how the large scale classical and his favorite HUGE scale organ CDs had no congealing, smearing or compression. He said he heard details he's never heard before from his reference discs -- (to be fair, since I know my system, the Valhallas also contributed to this).
Downside of the EROS? Well, first of all, VERY small sweet spot. The panels being flat and not curved like the MLs, give up the wider disperion that MLs have but, IMHO, make up for this smaller sweet spot with much better sonics. If you want to listen while walking around the room or with three other people - fahget abodit, unless they are in your lap! :-) Second, they need power, notwithstanding their rating (although not as much as say a Soundlab M or A series).
I also agree with Plato on the MK-I vs. the MK-II (I should point out that I have the MK-II panels and both the MK-I and MK-II bass amp/x-over units). I, personally, like the MK-I amp a litle better but it's a close call and subject to further auditioning (Roger Sanders will disagree I'm sure). All in all, my opinion is that the EROS should NOT compared to the Dynas or Ascents, neither of which in my system are in even the EROS league. I believe the better comarison for the $6,000 EROS is with the much more expensive SLs or MLs.
Finally, they don't come any better than Roger Sanders at Innersound - class act, ALWAYS willing to help even if it doesn't produce profit to him and always accesible.
