I see; maybe I am thinking of something else. Mine came in a ported box. Inside there was Three drivers; two oil caps and a couple coils as crossovers. The drivers had cloth surrounds and alnico mags. I agree with the smooth sound assesment. Very British sounding. It's hard not to like all those speakers from that era across the pond; Spendor/Rogers/B&W/Hartley etc. I still don't think that sound has been significantly bettered in all ways by anything in the current list. They definately have that musicality in spades. Funny but I can compare mine to my Altecs also; but we know the Altecs have a lot of energy in the upper mids from the 811/806, even though they roll off pretty quickly. Switching the Valencias into the new carpeted and bigger room with 10 ft ceilings has really made a huge difference in how the Altecs present. I know now they really need a lot of room to sing. I have to wonder why such different designs sound so right to me. Curious.