Emerald Physics: Same as the Quads in the fifties?

I accept the fact that you're honest, but I honestly don't take your statements that seriously. Along with the original AR turntable, the Altec VOTT and one or two others, the Quad 57 is a true landmark product. I don't see anything remotely suggesting that the Emerald Physics is or will be a member of that group. Over time my opinion will be proven right or wrong. Two things I am right about, today, is that you called the EPs revolutionary and characterized their performance as remarkable.

BTw, I too have never heard the Emerald Physics, but they appear to be a very interesting design that offers high value.

Onhwy61, with all due respect, you're still misrepresenting my statements. I did not say EP are revolutionary. I commented on the answer of another audiogoner, and said that his answer seems to suggest EP are revolutionary. There is a big difference between your characterization and what I actually said and meant. Again, since I believe that products like EP are likely to get negative reviews when they come out (most dealers do not carry them, most speaker companies would be in trouble if they were truly revolutionary) I just wanted to hear the opinion of people who had tried them and experienced them. That's all.

Klangfilm and other companies made similar designs in the 40s 50s. Nothing at all revolutionary about this design. The only thing is using DSP to get bass out of the loudspeaker. Takes modern tech to do that but I prefer generating bass without DSP EQ. To me that's like a band aid. A way of making loudspeaker smaller more affordable. I would listen before you make such bold and wrong claims about this loudspeaker. Sure they can sound good but a proper designed compression horn system with tweeter and proper bass will sound much better but also will cost more. Does seem doing things right from the start costs more. But for the price the EP is a good deal. Not ground breaking best in world or any such nonsense but a well designed affordable loudspeaker. Weather you would like a EP in your system is all up to you. Your post did make me laugh so thanks for that.

Do you think the analogy is appropriate?

Only time will tell whether this is a flash in the pan.

There are very few products that stand the test of time.

Since you profess an interest in excellent speakers, I'd suggest you try to find a speaker that is largely unchanged in a long time (say 30 years) and is still manufactured and yet still continues to sell at over $10K. That speaker will not be perfect but it might do a lot more things right than it does wrong.

Shadorne, I like your suggestion a lot. In fact, I own a pair of Piquet-restored ESL 57, which are "only" 35 years old.

The purpose of my thread was precisely to find out if by being conservative as you suggest, I would have missed a major breakthrough. The hope when you post a question on audiogon is that you get answers from true audiophiles who have tried the product you're interested in, and you did not have a chance to try. The risk is that some of these audiophiles might have businesses on their own, and interests that contrast with an unbiased answer. I am not sure I got this kind of unbiased answer, but the majority of the answers seem to agree that EP are quite good, and quite a deal in terms of performance/price ratio. Whether you can call that revolutionary or not is a different story, and perhaps you're right: only time will tell.

That said, and independent on this thread, it would be very nice if there were two classes of Audiogoners: those with a business, and those who don't have a business. That way, when you get an answer you know how to weigh it.