I placed the Model 100 twelve feet from the front wall, four and a half feet from the side walls and seven feet apart slightly toed in. The review started with the speakers mounted on bamboo boards with their own spikes. The performance was superlative across the sonic spectrum but still improved with the Sistrum Apprentice platforms on overall transparency, precise location of individual images and tauter bass. Every speaker I have had in for review always benefits positively when placed on these devices. I also experimented with different low-pass hinges, phase and volume on the bass amplifiers. It turned out that the standard NSMT recommendation for 60% level, 120Hz filter and 180° phase was best. Because the Model 100 is relatively compact and offers adaptable bass response, it can be tuned for highest performance in rooms of virtually any size.

The Model 100 turned out to be one of the most exquisitely pleasurable and engaging experiences I have had as a life-long music lover and reviewer. I have spent much time in front of highly regarded single-driver speakers but ultimately found the experience frustrating. Yes there was pristine beauty of timbres/colors in the region where most music lives. True, having no crossover led to an intimate connection with the emotional content of the music. However, I found these designs to have two flaws that would start to annoy and get in the way of my enjoyment. First, they never had the extended airy shimmering treble I find necessary to connect to the music. Second, no matter how that widebander's back wave was loaded, the power range and lower bass never quite satisfied like multi-driver designs which lay out the music's power in much more realistic fashion.

With my first selection of the legendary jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb's This I dig of you, I knew to be in for an extraordinary experience.

The Model 100 had all the pristine colors and tonality of a widebander throughout the midrange and was so transparent that the most subtle micro detail flowed out of a non-existent noise floor. Fully integrated with this glorious midband was a clean pure delicate treble on top. The different type of cymbal brush vs. stick work Mr. Cobb is famous for on so many classic Jazz albums was vivid and allowed the tiniest decays to be heard as they faded away. The bass in my vast listening space was somewhat shocking when this rather small speaker pressurizing my room in a manner that produced all the subsonic spatial aspects of the recorded space. John Webber's acoustic bass fiddle rendered with full extension, grip, definition and impact. All this presented in an engaging intimate way that brought me into the music and connected me with this soulful hardbop selection of jazz in octave-to-octave seamlessness.