Jack, you're right that the best part about these GTG is the people. Nothing better than fellowship while sharing and learning about one's passion or hobby.
I did find a couple of things striking while reading the posts at 123 about the GTG. The first is 123's product philosophy. It appears that 123 is building speakers using multiple design approaches (traditional, non-traditional and emerging) in order to appeal to various buyers. I'm not talking about form but rather function. While on the surface this appears to be very accommodating, I also find it unusual and confusing. Exactly what does 123 believe in and stand for? Are some designs more appropriate for some applications compared to others? If so, I can't find any evidence of that on their site. Manufacturers usually research alternatives, select one that is well-justified and develop the best products possible so as not to dilute resources. 123 appears to be taking a shotgun rather than a rifle approach.
The second thing I found striking is the lack of a significant gap in the ratings amongst reviewed pairs of speakers at the GTG. Why is that? Maybe the results aren't statistically significant because voter population needed to be larger. Or maybe the speakers are closely matched. Or maybe there is no significant difference under those specific test conditions. I for one would be more interested in seeing what the test conditions were and also Floyd Toole's rating sheet.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Jack.
