Here's what's interesting: although String Bass has receded into the background more and there is less sense of the harmonics, Cymbals and drums display much more sense of the initial "hit". More "metallic" in the case of the cymbals and the air of the kick drum is felt much more in the chest. The decay of percussion and pizzicato strings seems to contain less "hang" in the room.

There is a marked difference in the treble end of the leaner sound, too. Familiar voices sound, errr....less familiar. DK's voice on Stepping Out has a lighter quality than I'm used to but Love Scenes sounds much the same.

I'm trying to make the system more of a reviewers tool. Making small changes in set-up more transparent. The spiked boxes are best at that but I enjoyed listening to the boxes-on-the-floor, more.

So now on to the next experimental set-ups: removing the sandboxes so the speakers are flat on the rug and then spiked to the floor.

I'll let you know where to send the "get well soon" card.

In case anyone is wondering why all the effort, it follows logically from, A)having done the room treatments and what that revealed, and, B) my new gig as a reviewer for the audio E-zine Dagogo.com. Not only do I get to audition gear at home but in reaching for a higher quality speaker system I have so far succeeded in acheiving the best sound I have yet heard from my gear. Between the sound panels, bass traps, spikes/sandboxes and crossover tweaks I am now able to listen at "realistic" levels with absolutely no mid-range congestion, treble harshness or boom-booms.