Paul,
Regarding Spike’s suggestions Aeon-i & SL3. I suspect both of these might be a good fit for you. As for the Aeon-is, I loved mine until I traded them in for the Vantages. The As sounded, well, somewhat sweeter than the Vs. The highs were not quite as extended, the bass did not go as low and had less punch and definition. But e.g. voices male and female, alto saxophone, horns in general, or violins, all sounded fabulous.
In contrast, the Vs are more “neutral” in my opinion. They are more versatile, can sound energetic or laid back, as the music demands. The As were leaning towards the laid back side. The Vs can rock if needed, the As not so much. Which, given your preferences, might be just right.
A guy I knew a couple of years ago had listened to Vantages and Ascent-is, and chose the Ascents. His description of the differences between the two was very similar to mine. But what was a weakness to me was a strength to him, and vice versa. You might feel the same way.
Now regarding the SL3s, they have pre-XStat panels like the Aeons, so they should sound a little warmer than the Vs. And IIRC the crossover frequency from the bass to the panel is much lower. (270Hz vs 450Hz? Not sure, and too lazy to look it up now.) The lower xover frequency should help bass/panel integration. I have not heard SL3s, so this is just a theory. However, a problem I had with the Aeons was the height of the singer’s voice with respect to e.g. a guitar. I sounded like a very short singer played that guitar right under his chin. There just was not enough height distance between voice and guitar. I suspect that the high over frequency of the Aeons is responsible. The Vantages are not much better in this respect. If memory serves, they cross over only 50 Hz lower than the Aeons. The 1.6QR Maggies are better here. Their cover is in the treble region, which creates different issues. They also tend to bloat the individual acoustic events within the sound stage into bigger halos, making them sound larger than they should be. Both Aeons and Vantages can recreate a more believable reproduction. The SL3 might beat both in terms of sound stage height reproduction (unconfirmed theory). The Aeon-i also has a conventional dome tweeter in the cabinet back well which is intended to bounce more high frequencies off the front wall and increase the perception of spaciousness. That tweeter can be defeated, which is what I did. It may be useful in some rooms or please some tastes. Did anyone read all the way down to here? Sorry about the verbosity.
Regarding Spike’s suggestions Aeon-i & SL3. I suspect both of these might be a good fit for you. As for the Aeon-is, I loved mine until I traded them in for the Vantages. The As sounded, well, somewhat sweeter than the Vs. The highs were not quite as extended, the bass did not go as low and had less punch and definition. But e.g. voices male and female, alto saxophone, horns in general, or violins, all sounded fabulous.
In contrast, the Vs are more “neutral” in my opinion. They are more versatile, can sound energetic or laid back, as the music demands. The As were leaning towards the laid back side. The Vs can rock if needed, the As not so much. Which, given your preferences, might be just right.
A guy I knew a couple of years ago had listened to Vantages and Ascent-is, and chose the Ascents. His description of the differences between the two was very similar to mine. But what was a weakness to me was a strength to him, and vice versa. You might feel the same way.
Now regarding the SL3s, they have pre-XStat panels like the Aeons, so they should sound a little warmer than the Vs. And IIRC the crossover frequency from the bass to the panel is much lower. (270Hz vs 450Hz? Not sure, and too lazy to look it up now.) The lower xover frequency should help bass/panel integration. I have not heard SL3s, so this is just a theory. However, a problem I had with the Aeons was the height of the singer’s voice with respect to e.g. a guitar. I sounded like a very short singer played that guitar right under his chin. There just was not enough height distance between voice and guitar. I suspect that the high over frequency of the Aeons is responsible. The Vantages are not much better in this respect. If memory serves, they cross over only 50 Hz lower than the Aeons. The 1.6QR Maggies are better here. Their cover is in the treble region, which creates different issues. They also tend to bloat the individual acoustic events within the sound stage into bigger halos, making them sound larger than they should be. Both Aeons and Vantages can recreate a more believable reproduction. The SL3 might beat both in terms of sound stage height reproduction (unconfirmed theory). The Aeon-i also has a conventional dome tweeter in the cabinet back well which is intended to bounce more high frequencies off the front wall and increase the perception of spaciousness. That tweeter can be defeated, which is what I did. It may be useful in some rooms or please some tastes. Did anyone read all the way down to here? Sorry about the verbosity.
