Hyperion HPS 968 or Coincident Total Victory IV

Thankyou Paulfolbrecht and Treljia very good info .

Abill

I'm going to offer a few more comments for the benefit of the OP.

I really dug that Hyperions/211 combo. With the exception of a bit of bass bloominess - that 95% of ported enclosures suffer from - it did everything right. Or so I thought. Anyway, the Hyperion drivers are very, very smooth in the mids and highs, and the speakers flattered all music.

However, coming off of Lamhorns, I felt that dynamics were stifled - and I shouldn't have been surprised by that, and wasn't.

That was why I procured the 200W monos - I wanted to find out if it was a lack of power. IT WASN'T. The speakers were unable to reproduce strong macrodynamics, like an efficient horn can, no matter how much power they were fed.

I then setup my AER Lamhorns with the 938s for some back to back. I recall playing one track in particular - Barber's Mourning Grace - and the difference in the percussion impact between the two speakers astounded me. I decided that no matter how *good* (pleasant) the Hyperions sounded, I couldn't live with a speaker that so stifled dynamics.
In my quest for speakers that preserved the proper macro dynamics of acoustic instruments but did not suffer from any of the weaknesses (which, frankly, can be very small) of SD horns, I came upon two setups that met the challenge: Audio Note AN/Es and Supravox field-coil drivers on OB.

I've never had the pleasure of serious time with the Hornings or any time with the Carder speakers.

16 watt SET is a hi-power SET;) Not all loudspeakers require massive power. If designed right 16 watts can sound as powerful dynamic as 1000 watts. But no free lunch loudspeaker will be large costly. I listen to most every type of music I feel no limits to what I play or at what SPL range.

here is a thread discussing the inability to get replacement parts for the hyperion 938, i don't know about the hyperion 968.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=63562.0

Everyone has different listening preferences for sure. Reviews can be more than suspect based on actual experience with gear reviewed. I can understand you. I like to hear at home , what I hear in the hall and SET don't do it for me:O)