I can really vouch for Bill's efforts. Herculean is a good summary, but the inert mass of these has led to the most delicate of outcomes.
My biggest takeaway from these spkrs, and I'm still trying to weigh up what it all means, is the "backward layering" soundstage.
My Zus don't image particularly strongly, so I was particularly taken aback by this aspect. I have heard horns be quite assertive in forward staging, Barry's Duos and Animas eg, and horns that are crazy depth holographic
like the Denman Exponential.
And I have heard weird "bubble-like" soundfields from setups like ML Prodigies on Musical Fidelity KW solid state beasties.
I have been procuring a way more naturally deep stage w my Zus, but even now it is quite locked into the plane of the spkrs so that I'm never not aware I'm hearing the Zus in the final event.
Bill's horns are the first spkrs I've heard which project music to completely detach from them, but also to backward layer so dramatically.
It's so outside my scope of home playback to effectively not know music is coming from the spkrs but also not have the music pushed out, or "delivered" to me.
So Bill's presentation is to effectively have a loudspeaker-free sound, and you the listener both look onto the stage, but are also invited into it
This is not a function of lack of focus, or smoothing of leading edge, or hazing of black backgrounds, or blunting of dynamics, or any other such hifi checklist BS.
It's effectively a presentation that is so beguiling to start (no sound detected from the horns, how cool is that?!) and effectively carries on the trick of unrushed unforced presentation that is a hallmark of the best live acoustic.
I will admit, I struggled with it on first visit...not that I didn't like it, more I was unprepared for it and it's far from my more usual presentation, and far from what many horns do.
Now, third time of asking, I'm aware of it, and finding I'm liking it.
I'm not sure if Barry agrees w me, but this level of backward layering does alter dependent on the LP played, so I felt it wasn't imposed as a coloration or affectation. So while my Allan Holdsworth sublime jazz guitar from 1975 was revealed in all it's ambient glory with plenty of tonal depth and air/studio cues, Yes full tilt prog from the same year was flatter and more direct. And both were hugely engrossing.
Despite my initial hesitation, I do feel this move to backward layering would give a whole new perspective on much jazz and classical, allowing me to properly discern the musical essence on so many performances that my Zus only get so far with.
