I had CLSes and subs of various types for 16 years, during which I felt little compulsion to change. I was in love with the "breath of life" thing that CLSes do so well (i.e. voices and instruments that occupy the midrange have a kind of dynamic litheness that I had not heard elsewhere). However, these speakers were manifestly unable to handle orchestral crescendi, opera, rock or jazz at full tilt, regardless of amplification. Regardless of this deficiency, I did not replace them because I didn't want to do without what they did do, and couldn't find anything that could do it to my level of satisfaction. Then I encountered the Wilson Watt/Puppy 7s and all of that changed. Here was a speaker that was every bit as capable of achieving what the CLSes + woofers did for voices and midrange instruments, but they could do it for all instruments at any conceivable volume level. Obvously, there is more to this story but that is it in a nutshell.
