If you read Doug Schroeder's review in Dagogo you would find out his preference for the LFT's over the 1.6. I have tried a few other speakers of similar design; Magnepan MG IIIa and MG 1.6 but I preferred overall the LFT8b. Originally I had the earlier version LFT8a and although the mids and upper frequencies were excellent, the lower bass suffered with the woofer bottoming out on certain passages. Bruce Thigpen cleared this issue up with the release of the LFT8b around 2006. The bass is much tighter with the new (now 8+ years old) woofer and he also improved the ribbon tweeter at that time. They have more punch in the lower 32-100hz range than the Maggie 1.6 and I also thought them superior in that regard to the 1.7. They do like power though, I run them with the Moscode 600 at 300wpc and they work very well with that amp. The clarity on well recorded jazz and acoustic music has to be heard and they can rock despite some saying they don't play loud. Some demo discs I use are Jon Anderson "Olias Of Sunhillow", Also Sprach Zarathustra, and Supertramp "Crime Of The Century". The floor shakes.
Oh, by the way, I do think the Sound Anchors are essential.
Oh, by the way, I do think the Sound Anchors are essential.