Speaking only for myself, I have listened to the CLX's driven by Krell Evo 600 and 900, MBL 9010 and by Boulder 2060. Without question everyone at the audition far and away preferred the Boulder. As Boulder's flagship? 600 watt Class A amp, it provided a purity of tone that drove the speakers exceedingly well. Much better than the Krell which exacerbated (relative to MBL and Boulder) the fact that the speaker provides a wonderfully engaging holographic soundstage (but feels a touch "hollow" through the midband.
Overall, back to the speaker itself, it is a captivating sound without doubt. Midrange magic is alive and well...augemented by its soundstaging. The soundstage, 'breath around voices' is unique and one of the great things many of us love about panels. However, I think this panel will benefit from the Descent sub which is now being shipped with a CLX setting on it.
Compared to SF Strads, original Wilson Grand Slamm (all same price here in UK as CLX) the ML CLX feels hollow in the midband. The bodies sound ethereal, yes, but compared to Strad, do not feel as 'there' in 3D as I thought until compared them. As panels, Apogee Stages and Quad 2905 also had more 'body' to my ear. 2905 def not as refined as the CLX by a fair margin.
In sum, imho, once the Descent is added, the CLX could be an absolutely killer combination of panel magic, dynamics, bass and true body in the music. Without the Descent, I would enjoy but not ultimately choose the ClX for that price. Enjoy!
