1) The drivers came right out of the box and was probably used for the very first time.
2) The drivers were not installed into the baffle with a tight fit. Only enough screws (and nails!) were used to keep it from falling off.
3) The cabinet had no insulation installed.
4) A port has not been cut from the cabinet.
5) The back panel was fitted on tightly, but was only clamped in place. There was a gap along the entire length of one side between the rear panel and the rest of the cabinet due to the speaker wires entering the cabinet.
6) This is my first experience with high efficiency speakers. Some of these impressions may be old news to you, but they're new to me.

So, under these less-than-ideal condition, what were my impressions?

- The speaker produces very high SPL. I purposely did not use the word "loud" because to me, it did not sound "loud". I've always associated the term "loud" as a negative term. When the volume is too high and the sound starts to break up, distort, or become painful, that's when I say "That's loud." But with this speaker, the music just has more presence .... more "there". So much so that it completely drowned out my Polk R30 on the other side (Yes, Polk R30. That's why I'm building a new pair of speakers). I did not realize how high the SPL was until I put my left ear against the driver for a closer listen. An hour after doing that, my ear still has a slight ring. The speaker is a lot like my Grado headphones. It's very easy to lose track of how high the volume is because the sound level climbs without any hint of distortion. I think "big" is a better description of the music than "loud".

- Macro dynamics is excellent. Sure, you can crank these speakers up to very high average volume. But it's the swing between peaks and valleys and the contrast between them that brings magic to the music. Again, music sounds "BIG".

- I have not decided if the speaker is "bright" or "detailed". But I am hearing a lot more in the top end than ever before. I've always known that Diana Krall's Live in Paris had a lot of noise in the background, but through these speakers, the noise was very prominent. I'm sure this will change when the drivers break in and the cabinet's completed properly, with insulation, fitted rear panel, and port.

- Whether the speaker is currently "bright" or "detailed", it's showing me that there's a much bigger gap between my turntable and CD player than I thought. The vinyl front-end consists of a VPI Jr., PT6 arm, Grado Gold, and a DIY phono stage based on Hagerman's Bugle. The CDP is a $200 Sony player I got 10 years ago. The brightness was a lot less noticeable with the turntable than the CDP. Funny thing is, when I use the Polks, the CDP sounds "right" while the TT sounds too warm. Could it be that Polk tunes their cheaper speakers to sound good with cheap CD players? Bottom line is, now I have to upgrade my CDP. Curse you Wayne!

The amp I used was an ASL 1001 integrated (KT-88 x 4) in triode mode (24W of power). Hopefully, after this weekend, I'll have all the parts cut and screwed/glued together properly, and be able to give a proper listening impression.

.... More to come

gar.