Montana speakers?

Hello, I own a pair of Montana Prototypes that have the same driver compliment as the EPS (1 tweet, two 4" mids, two 8" woofers). They look like giant SP's and weigh about 200lbs each. The cabinet is not the new style 6 sided cabinet. They are wonderful speakers. Sometimes the mid-range can get aggressive but most of them time they just sound like music. I am driving them with a Plinius SA-100Mk.III / ARC LS-22 combo. I traded a pair of Sound Lab A-3 electrostatics. I have never looked back. I have had these for over a year which is a new record. They blow away the ESL's in most respects. I have listened to speakers like Meadowlark Blue Herons and other speakers in the 5k-10K range and always walk away with a smile on my face when I compare the sound to the Monties. I think they would be a hard resale but I doubt anyone would want to sell them. Well I have gobbed off enough here. Buy them !

Thank you, all of you, for your responses. They are helpful. Acuujim: I have carefully listend to the Talon Khorus (in the company president's home -- with a fortune in Jeff Roland electonics). And I hesitate to say this about them . . . but I feel in honesty that I must. I have seldom been so underwhelmed (and disappointed, frankly, because I like their size and look and wanted to love them)by any $10K speaker in my life. The bottom end was tight and completely in control. But the midrange and high end left much to be desired. No sound stage. No dynamics. No detailed low level information. No life. Not music. I'd readily choose even the ReQuest, and especially the Dunlavy V or Wilson WP6 over the Talon. In fact, but for the bass, I'd choose either of the 2 top models of RBH speakers over the Talon and they sell for around $3K and $2K respectively. So, if that is my take on the Khorus, where does that put Montana's speakers? Carl: I would like to hear the Pipedreams and plan to this year at CES. Are you building some like them? Is it possible to build something like their $80K models for around $10K? Tubegroover: I've not heard the Merlins. Nor anything from Coincident, which I have the impression sound somewhat like them (is that true?). Brauser: Do I understand that you prefer the Dunlavy to either the ML, Wilson or Whisper? Can you elaborate? Catman: Have you heard the larger SoundLab speakers, such as the A1 or M1, or the Ultimate? Would you prefer them to your Monties?

Bookner, the midwoofers in the Pipedreams are around $50 a piece, so unless you are talking some radically high cost for cabinet construction (and of course getting world class finishing with veneer is nothing to smirk at either), then yes indeed you can build the Pipedreams top model for under $10,000 (not sure how much you could do the subs and their amps/crossovers for, that would definitely add to the cost, and you wouldn't have the time and efforts put into it, that Nearfield has already...which is what you're paying for buying them retail, besides the "necessary" dealer markup.) My project will be similar to their smallest model, and I'll just use whatever powered subs I have on hand, and run the "satellites" full range, most likely. I'll be using different tweeters, and a different version of the midwoofer, also...besides radically different cabinet construction and bass loading.

for a *do-all* speaker system that requires a large room, but not a large outlay for the speaker system itself, try a pair of vmps larger subs, a good electronic x-over (i think the marchand line-ip is a *steal* at their prices), and a pair of newform research nhb 645's. i currently get great results using meret re's in lieu of the nhb645's, but i should have a pair of these things to replace the merets in a couple months. i think it will be *great*, especially at the price. check out the audio review comments on newform's speakers, as well as their own website... doug

"Catman: Have you heard the larger SoundLab speakers, such as the A1 or M1, or the Ultimate? Would you prefer them to your Monties? By Bookner on 09-10-00" I have not heard the A-1's but I understand they have more bass. The A-3's had too much bass at times for me. I loved the looks and euphoric sound of the A-3's but I really like the Montana's. The Monties I have are prototypes where Paul (PBN) threw a bunch of really nice engineering and parts in the crossover, had incredible cabinets built. He used the revelator tweet but used custom Vifa drivers in the mids and woofers. I am not sure how they compare to the production versions. While talking to him he said that he was trying to come up with a speaker that landed between the SP and the EPS and sell them for $5995 but these sounded to close to the sound of the EPS ($7995) so he changed the design a bit by removing one of the mids and they became the SPX. All I know is that if the EPS or any of the higher models sound better than these I would consider them to be incredible. I found the Sound Labs to be finicky, the bias was always drifting and one would sound louder than the other. My pair was sort of old so that may not be the case with the newer ones. Sorry for gobbing off so much on these. I am sort of glad that they have only a small cult following in ways.