[Art Vandelay]

Just back from Edgar's and a very pleasantly spent afternoon listening to the 801D4's.

I'm pretty familiar with his listening room along with his very impressive Wilson Alexia V2's. The 801D4 didn't fail to impress either.

Starting at the bottom, the bass was very impressive, not because it stood out but because it was so tight, pure, and fast, sounding as agile as a small speaker but with seemingly limitless dynamic ability and extension.

Mids were equally impressive too. Voices were presented naturally and with perfect energy balance through the crucial presence region, and instruments were rendered with amazing life-like authenticity.

The treble range simply flowed from the mid band and was sweet and detailed, and obviously extended.

Imaging was also a treat, with a nicely focused center image emerging from about the tweeter height, and as with previous iterations there was no shortage of soundstage scale. We played a few discs with surround effects and the 801D4's reproduced them flawlessly, with perfect localization, and in doing so were one of only a select few speakers to manage this in EK's listening room.

To sum up, the 801D4's are a step forward and take the listener a definite step closer to reality. Because of that they manage the disappearing act as well or better than any speaker I've yet heard.

Although I didn't get the opportunity to compare directly against EK's Wilson's, from previous listening experiences I would say that the 801D4's come very close to the same overall level of performance. The Alexia's are possibly a smidgeon more expressive through the mids, and the 801D4's a smidgeon more open at the top. The Alexia's have a little more heft at the bottom but I'm not sure that they quite match the 801D4's articulation, speed and purity below about 100Hz.