Bass went reasonably deep, hitting 40 cycles with conviction and reaching to about 35Hz before rolling off quickly. That did justice to the majority of music although falls somewhat short of pipe organ extremes and Telarc spectaculars. For those a subwoofer applies. The quality of bass was dependent on setup, with speaker height determining a balancing act between the driver's quick, clean and quite flat direct response against the port contribution for an authoritative foundation. I hit upon the best balance by following the manufacturer's height guideline which places the top of the speaker below eye level and therefore below the driver's direct axis. One additional factor to remember is that the MayFly is an extremely wide-dispersion transducer. Room boundaries have a significant effect. Careful attention to detail makes the difference between mush and marvel.

Dynamic behavior and detail were quite sophisticated. Resolving power was high especially across the microdynamic scale where the MF201A dug deep without resorting to the hyper detailing prevalent in designs which parade that error as virtue. Due to low coloration of the silk dome, the MayFly revealed information rather than expose it mercilessly. That kept the presentation informative and enjoyable over a wide range of material. Musical scale came off exemplary for its size but not in the fashion of a 300lb floorstander. Dynamics stayed proportionate over a wide range, demonstrating good liveliness at lower levels and an adequate account at reasonably high levels given driver size. It displayed satisfying expressiveness and kick so music demanding more exuberant playback short of PA requirements should fare well.

The MF201A was a soundstage and image champion, accomplishing good results with even my first rudimentary setup, then stellar performance once dialed in. The MayFly took full advantage of its coaxial driver and cabinet to create superbly delineated dimensional images across a Cinerama landscape. This was stable over an exceptionally generous listening area and given requisite attention to setup, without penalty in the amplitude domain. In this regard it matched any speaker I've had in house or come across in casual listening, be it omni, line source, dipole or widebander regardless of cost. To put this in context, the KEF LS50 coax is likewise revered for this ability but wher it suffers from bandwidth limitations, the MayFly in relative terms does not.

Soundstage height could be pushed floor to ceiling in panel fashion but at the recommended speaker elevation, was slightly more modest. Listening perspective was eye level progressing to balcony view at the lower stand positions. Dimensionality and soundstage character were chameleon in nature, taking on the attributes of the equipment in front. With the Auralic/SOtM combo the MF201A played the venue dark and sultry by offering seductively intimate performers that you could reach out and touch. With the Wyred, the hall was more lit, a vast soundscape was ablaze with intricate reflections and the marriage of venue and performer slight less up front but emotionally charged with dynamic life.