First impressions

[Divasson]

Two comments:

1) of course 20' listening cannot beat 4 months of ownership (and tweaking and finding the right spot and acoustics). So I am happy to stand corrected on that count. However, the shop owner (who doesn't have to sell an Expert to me, because he already did! Instead, he might want to sell a phantom) thinks just the same as I did.

2) The fact that I did not feel Phantom to be as good as the Expert line doesn't mean that I found it bad for what it is; and that in my situation and current lifestyle, it would make a much better fit for 95% of the time. So it is still very high in my buying list! They are goods for different purposes.

I guess what everybody is scratching their head about is in your first post you said they sounded 'plasticky'. That comment had me and probably the rest of the forum confused.

Black components sound dark
Silver components sound bright
Plastic components sound plastickey

Funny, but it didn't sound "whitish". :-)

Seriously, all loudspeakers have their own signature. I am accustomed to the transparency of the Gallos (with the drawback of their lack of "body"), and the Phantom had much stronger bass, but less transparent.

But to have music in the main hall, without having to sit in the sweet spot, the Phantom is the closest thing to a private disco. What's more: forget about speaker cables, connectors, fussing with the system (all advantages), playing vinyl (a drawback). But I play it seldom - maybe when the kids grow up and i don't have to take care of them all the time.

Now, if what you want is to have a jazz quartet in your room, or have a window to an orchestra, you're better served with an Expert + good loudspeakers. Most of the time, you will not be able to do that (if you want to keep your family in good shape)