Absolutely agree on that. But I have had a little different experience with them. Your assesment is right on initially and I felt the same way. But in a peculiar way they had a certain tone that I found attractive. What I heard up front was a very cardboardy bass; syrupy mids and flat highs. No personality. I actually put them away for a year because of that. I am doingf some renovations so I needed to disassemble the stereo and in it's place I figuered to throw the BS 1's in and give them another listen. I ran the tuner for a bout two weeks 24/7. The speaks began to open up and the cardboard is gone. The highs are more evident now and the sound is much more spacious and they actually image. Now I am using the Pi Theater 4's downstairs so I have a continuos reference to guide me in listening. The tube amps as I say have not been kind to the Loth's; but after slipping the Carver in they really sound fine. I am listening as we speak and I must say it is very strange to see such a wide difference from what I thought. Now I have to experiment so I am going with the chip amp next. So; I agreed with you on the sound for a long time but I am a little curious about this sea change in tone. I would like to try a class A SS amp next. What do you think?