We played most of the same records from the same sources again and some more, in fact a lot more. Our first impression after the class A tube amp with linear power supply had morphed into a class D amp with SMPS was that the difference in tonality wasn't as big as anticipated. There was just a little more space between instruments now which depended on the recording to become a soundstage effect. The presentation of all kinds of music was fast, clean, dynamic and above all well proportioned. Sitting in the projection area, pin-point details were aplenty. Places where sounds and transients originated were easy to identify on the virtual stage. We played a little with toe-in but came back to our original setting as the most satisfactory.

We don't always listen in the sweet spot and also like to listen from our dining table further back in the room. That off-center table sits to the far left some six meters from the nearest speaker. Even there the sound was a joy. On live recordings, the illusion of wandering around the back of the venue was stunning. The blend of closer left and farther right channel was very realistic and the tiny time delay added to the 'live' feeling. One funny observation was that on a Leonard Cohen live recording, the engineer had the audacity to use electronic fade out. From our listening point, this dreaded fade caused the background singers to walk to the back of the stage like a natural fade.

In all our time with these very original-looking loudspeakers, we had the impression of hosting a much larger system. That was no wonder when you consider the total cone surface of  ~577cm² per side just for the widebanders. Add to this the non-obtrusive well-tempered bass response and the fact that the system is a full-range open baffle. We also loved the inherent versatility. Not only does the LA17 PA work in semi and fully active modes, with DSP and various inputs, it can be set up in any room. You can have a big system in a small room or a big system in a large room. Our 100m² room with 3.5m ceiling is far from small but even our 6wpc tube amp was able to fill it with headroom to spare. We hit up to 90dB in the seat for a short period. Next to being a great-sounding system, the footprint is petite and the looks are very friendly. Add free shipping and expert setup in the EU and you can't go wrong. We really had a wonderful time with our Slovenian visitors!