Seeking $15,000.00 speaker to replace Quad 988's

Lrsky: His amplifiers will NOT drive the SoundLabs.

Kjl: Be wary of SoundLabs as the panels have to be replaced quite often. I know a number of people who have had continuous problems with them and getting service on them is not easy.

Sonically the are nice, but the room size is very critical. My recommendation for more info if you have an interest, would be Audio Kinesis. Duke is a gentleman and very knowledgeable.

The AG horns have an immediacy and transparency to match the ELSs. They are renowned for their dynamic range and ability to fill a room. No problems with driving them - they only need 3-4 W!! The bass problems with the subs is much better in the newest models. They can sound pretty crap if not set up well - beware!
However, when properly set up, they'll have your feet tapping. Get a pair of Avantgarde Duos - probably the best compromise in the line up and within your budget.

If you don't mine a suggestion from a dealer, I would suggest this (I will be doing something like this in my system soon but with RM40s instead of RM/x)

I would go with a pair of VMPS RM/x speakers $12,000 list with four of the VMPS Larger subs @ around $900 each which put you at $15,600 list (much lower street).

I would "stack" the subs to have two pair of two stacked on top of each other and run them in stereo.

Run the top of the RM/x with your tubes. Go SS to run both the woofers of the RM/x and the Stacked Subs.

If you want to hear 7th row center at Carnegie Hall. Its yours, and as lifelike, detailed and pristine as can be.

The RM/x will give you the detail and sound quality you want and the Subs (which are incredibly musical) will give you the weight and size your after.

And part of the magic is caused by the "stacking" of the subs and moving the woofers up to ear level. It is "unbeleivable"

Hi Jonathan,

I have about three to four dozen Sound Lab customers, and most have never had any problems. I have a friend in Las Vegas whose 17 year old Sound Labs still work fine and have never had anything done to them. There have been times in the history of the company when the quality control of the insulation material on the stators (which Sound Lab buys from suppliers) has been inconsistent, resulting in arc-through and requiring repairs. Sound Lab has taken care of every one of my customers who has had a problem.

Many if not most of the problems people have with Sound Labs arise when a used pair is shipped without the proper crating. I'd say over half of the problems I hear about arise from this scenario.

A year or so ago Roger West and a team of chemical engineers developed a new, much more durable insulation material that also has much better dielectric properties. The reason for his undertaking the development of the new insulation material was twofold - first, to improve reliability; and second, to improve efficiency. The new material has been incorporated in Sound Labs produced this year. The result is no insulation breakdowns except for when the speakers were damaged in shipping. The new insulation material also allows an increase in the number of stators and a higher operating voltage, so the efficiency is significantly higher than before (I measured a 9 dB improvement in sensitivity when I changed the cores in an older pair of A-1's).

I'm quite confident the big Thor amps with 8 EL-34's will drive the Sound Labs. That's the output tube complement of the Wolcotts, and Thor does not skimp on output transformers or power supply. And with the higher efficency and more friendly impedance curve of current generation Sound Labs, they can now be driven by a much wider range of amplifiers than before.

So while your cautions may be valid if the customer is purchasing an old pair of Sound Labs, a new-build pair is in several ways a very significantly improved animal.