Buggtussel Question


Hi folks. My search for a nice pair of floorstanders has landed me in an unexpected place--the Buggtussel Amygdala. I hadn't really considered this speaker as I have not been particularly impressed with other transmission lines that I've heard but I found a local dealer and spent some time with them last week. I was pretty darn impressed--and this after spending over a year trying to find something in the sub 8K range that really moved me. The Amygdala's did. Very musical--the different instrumental lines had a seemless blend. Very coherent--solo piano and voice very well rendered. Excellent bass--unlike other trans lines I've heard that go deep but lack pace and definition, the Buggs were tight, tuneful and really reached down pretty low with impact. Great imaging--the Buggs threw a nice soundstage with good scale and precision. I only had one major concern after leaving the demo--some recordings sounded a bit hard in the upper mids. The Buggs are not very forgiving. Great recordings sounded great but lesser recordings really showed. While I think that a speaker that reveals differences in recordings so very clearly is generally more neutral/accurate than one that homogenizes, I don't want to be wedded to half of my collection because the bad recordings sound edgy and hard. So, to the question--to those that have had experience with the Buggtussel Amygdalas--how did you find their sound? Do my observations square with yours? If you disagree on the upper mids do you think the room or ancillary equipment is responsible? What gear are you running with the Buggs? What ever fans or anti-fans of the Buggs want to share would be appreciated.
dodgealum
I had Cingulates and did not experience the upper mid problems... in fact I thought the range was handled very well. The tweeter is very accurate, though, so garbage in, garbage out. In my opinion, don't pay any attention to poor recordings. Buying gear to accomodate crappy recordings is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I thought the Cingulates were terrific performers, one of my fave standmounts (#3 on my list- after Merlin TSM-M and Onix Ref 1).
Avoid spekaers with this upper-mids behavior like the plague. Don't know why but lots of speakers nowadays have it including the Spendor 3/5SE (not much but it's there). You will never be able to enjoy music because even if it's not happening at the momment you sit waiting for it. You are always going to be sitting in a semi-state of tension and apprehension.

Check out the Harbeth line and also maybe the Spendor 1/2. Could also look into whatever ProAc replaced the 2.5 and 3.5 with, and Vienna Acoustics.
I received an email from Dr Blair not long ago, he explained the company lost its headquarters and is in the process of locating a new facility - he said stock was on hand and he would provide support to anyone should they need it.
I had the same problem, among others with my Solitarious (which I didn't keep for long). I emailed you privately about this, so as not to create a "stir".

All I can say here is, I was thrilled when they were gone.
Were all the upstream electronics reasonably broken in? What about the speakers themselves? Did the demo involve a solid state or tube amp? The only time I've heard a Buggtussel demo was with tube monoblocks (at CES), and this combo sounded quite smooth and musical. Perhaps SS amps (if that is what you heard) are not an ideal match?