Hi KEW:
Interesting that you were able to compare them to the Paradigm Signature 2 which were the speakers at the top of my list in the price range I was looking for before I posted in this thread.
Did you try any of the below speakers? Wonder if you noticed what I did and what your thoughts were on the Focal Chorus 806 V (which were in my $1500-$2500 MSRP per pair budget).
I did not try the 806V, by the time I listened to the 1028Be's I had decided that I needed either Be or ribbon tweeters.
This decision, right or wrong, was based on listening to the Paradigm Studio 20's (which I had bought because I liked their sound and I wanted a common reference point for evaluating other speakers in my home) and the RBH 61-LSE
Face-Off III: RBH 61-LSE — Reviews and News from Audioholics
What I found was that the soft-dome tweeter of the 61-LSE had a beautifully open sound, but the Al tweeter of the Studio20's brought extra shine to cold steel (triangle, chimes). The problem with the Al tweeters was they had a slight "sizzling bacon" distortion component to the sound on cymbals. I would guess the absence of shine was because the soft dome didn't have as much extension. Graphs of FR show the soft dome going to the High Frequency limits of hearing and I don't pretend to have special cat hearing, but this is what I heard!
I next tried the Sig 2's and it's Be tweeter was the best of both worlds! It was completely open and clear like the RBH soft-dome while having the "shine" of the Studio20 without the distortion (this is not egregious distortion, mind you).
On the basis that the RBH has one of the better soft-dome tweeters and that the Studio20 has one of the better Al tweeters, I made the decision that Be was a optimal tweeter for me. Later, I listened to ribbon tweeters and they have the same character as Be (but dispersion is not as good).
For my main system, I want the dispersion because I am walking through the room, moving around while music is playing. In other words, I am living life and every now and then the music grabs my attention! So I probably end up at about 95% background music and 5% critical listening. For someone who dedicates time to listening and stays in the sweet spot, ribbons are an excellent alternative. I am replacing my Songtowers with Philharmonic3's and am curious to see how much better the dispersion is with the Raal ribbons.
Here is my writeup of the Studio20's vs the RBH 61-LSE
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/611254-post54.html
HTH
Cheers,
Kurt
One thing to add is since Paradigm's sales are relatively high volume, you can often find used Sig 2's on Audiogon for a good price. But if you want extreme articulation, the Solo6's are the trick.
