Josh, The SoloVox can do rock. I swear. Perhaps not Metallica or Tool at levels that would freak out your neighbours, but I've heard it with Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins and it wasn't so bad. One thing about the drivers - PHY-HP makes these specifically for the SoloVox so you can't buy them. Keith from Auditorium 23 has these made for this speaker only. Ian

Hi, Just a brief follow up on this very nice review by reference. The PHY driver in the SoloVox is indeed proprietary. Keith Aschenbrenner is the longest standing PHY dealer and has a special relationship with the designer. The 'close' siblings are very good in their own right but are really nothing like this one. There are any number of PHY drivers and they can be very different from one another -- though all are expensive :-) You might want to check with Keith himself who knows more about them than anyone I know -- and not by a little bit either. I failed perhaps in my review to make the following as clear as I ought to have. Even though the speaker is necessarily compromised at the frequency extremes, once the driver breaks in and the speaker properly set up, you just have no sense that you are missing anything. The sound is anything but light. It is as full bodied as you could imagine; and while there is surely high frequency info that is not being reproduced, again you just don't notice (regardless of age :-)). As for the aesthetics, that is always a matter of taste. I find them beautiful and elegant, but then again the speakers that just arrived in my home today are 1957 JBL Hartsfields -- which are considerably more aesthetically challenging. My wife just left mumbling something under her breath about divorce papers :-) Again, THANKS. Happy to answer any questions that any reader may have or direct you to someone who is likely to know more than I do. Jules

Good to know about the rocking qualities of the SoloVox. Yeah, it's a very interesting speaker and driver technology. PHY-HP and Aud23 have their hands in sorts of interesting things. The PHY-HP KM 30 claims to be the only full-range, time-aligned coaxial driver on the market. Wild stuff. And, Jules, sorry to hear about the divorce papers. But, hey, anything for audio. I'm thinking about changing my motto to "SonicFlare: keeping men single since 2005."

I would absolutely love to hear these. But the price tag is just ridiculous IMO. I suppose that's just because you can see everything. If the box were sealed up and one didn't know what was inside, I am sure we'd all probably happily pay it. That's how insane we are. ;-)

B, I think the price tag is only ridiculous if no one is willing to pay it. I agree that there is a lot high-end equipment that is overpriced and that it is hard to justify the pricing sometimes. Cables are a major problem for me. $5k for a cable? Come on. The SoloVox, which I have listened to 5-6 times for extended periods, are expensive, but not a rip-off at all. Auditorium 23 didn't come up with these overnight and having edited Jules' interview with Keith, I can tell you that this project took years to bring to market. They are a very unique product designed for a certain type of system and when they are on...they really make music come alive. Try to find a pair to listen to. Kind regards, Ian

Hi Josh. I am currently reviewing the Bastanis Prometheus for Dagogo.com. It is an open baffle speakers that uses a full range driver. I am so far mightily impressed. See more here: http://www.bastanis.de/diy/prometheus+mkii_en.htm

Very cool review - I like this coverage, keep up the great work!