Bill - I live in St. Louis, but just recently sold my Sonata II's to a fellow Goner in Texas. My experience was different than Ozzy's in that bass response was not heavy, but rather, somewhat tame for a speaker of it's size. Overall, I was pleased with the Sonata II, especially when paired with the right combo, which, in my case, I had the best results was when it was paired with a Pathos Twin Towers Ref. integrated amp. This is one of those synergistic combos that I may end up regretting moving away from (have since gone to monitors and a lesser integrated... working on getting a sub to flesh out the sound).
The speaker excels in transparency and casts a wide soundstage. Ideal with Jazz, female vocals (Diana Krall), acoustic, and orchestral. A little weak in the bass department, and is lacking chest pounding dynamics, therefore I can not recommended the Sonata II for rock or metal.
Works best with moderately powered SET amps or beefy tube amps (I heard it's good with Rogue 150 monoblocks).
I recommend getting Sound Anchor bases if you have kids, as I found them somewhat unstable with only the factory floor spikes. Overall a very good value on the used market @ approx. $2,500.
The speaker excels in transparency and casts a wide soundstage. Ideal with Jazz, female vocals (Diana Krall), acoustic, and orchestral. A little weak in the bass department, and is lacking chest pounding dynamics, therefore I can not recommended the Sonata II for rock or metal.
Works best with moderately powered SET amps or beefy tube amps (I heard it's good with Rogue 150 monoblocks).
I recommend getting Sound Anchor bases if you have kids, as I found them somewhat unstable with only the factory floor spikes. Overall a very good value on the used market @ approx. $2,500.