Does anyone know anything about the Optimus 1000 speakers? They certainly don't look like the Mach1's or 2's but they do have the 15" woofers? I have not seen or heard any of the optimus line, but I was curious.
I too have listened to and owned a wide variety of speakers. My most recent acquisitions include JBL L3's, L88's, Advent1's, various Optimus vintage speakers and of course my Mach One's. This past weekend I picked up a set of 4029 (third gen) Mach One's which will get the full VL treatment.
While I totally agree on cabinet volume I don't agree on build quality (though my Mach Two's I believe were not as stout as my One's). Compared to my L88's, which are very close in size and have a woofer designed to compete with 15" drivers, the Mach One is more solidly constructed (thicker sheets of comp board all around, the Mid chamber bottom adds strength to the cab just above the woofer. I've run mine loud enough to be unbearable and feel very little vibration coming from the cabinet. Let's not forget, this is a SEALED design, so comparing to bass reflex is not fair by any stretch of the imagination.
In spite of (perceived) inferior design the only speakers I own that are more well rounded are my VC Haydns. My L3's are quite impressive too. As for bottom end (Mach One's), I have no problem rattling windows, floors or just about anything else that isn't securely fastened.
This of course comes from a significant amount of listening time with them and many other speakers, not just some casual listening. If I went by casual listening I would never have kept my L3's. I gave the L3's adequate "break in" time and time for me to acclimatize to them. Once that happened they replaced my Mach's in my HT system. Only issue thus far is they can't handle the same dynamics as well as the Mach's, but they blend well with the other speakers in the HT system. The problem with the Mach's is directly attributable to deterioration of the components in the Mid driver which causes the driver to become harsh, particularly at higher volumes. The few issues with performance are easily and cheaply corrected with the VL mods.
There are those of us who have experience with many brands and models of speakers, and the reason so many of us recommend Mach One's has less to do with performance and more to do with availability. Yes there are other speakers out there that are better, none of which I've personally owned or had the opportunity to own, however coming across them, let alone at an affordable price, just doesn't happen in every town across the USA. If it did the thousands of members on AK would bore the tears off each other with the same "great finds". As it is, we don't really see that many posts of such spectacular finds. Mach One's are a lot of bang for the buck. Cheap mans Klipsch? The only Klipsch I've seen for sale were 50 miles away, were corner horns and were listed for $6k. I don't have that kind of change.