Well, I took the plunge and bought some Crystal 10s. I have sold most of my old equipment so I have some funds to play with.
For break in, and until I figure out the baffle, I rear mounted them in my existing baffles. This is not optimal as they have a 1 ½” tunnel to project through but fine for now. The AMT tweeter is not connected.
They have no bass because they are in a 12” baffle and haven’t broken in yet.
I am using the new Crown to run the AELO15s. What I love about the new Crown is you can adjust the xover on the fly and hear it as you go. With the older model crown, you have to adjust and then set it before you can hear the outcome. The new Crown also has many more xover settings. So right now, due to the lack of bass I am crossing at 200hz. I tried higher and lower and it either got muffled or the middle was too thin,
The Crystal 10s, as mentioned elsewhere are a very refined driver. Early on it seems I have picked up some detail, but mostly, it refines the sound. Very good separation of instruments, precise and thus far show promise to be musical. Combined with the AE woofer, this is clearly the most refined speaker I have put together.
My thinking is after seeing Randy’s latest two-driver Betsy at the fest is to do something similar in a medium Betsy shaped baffle. Maybe as tall as the big Betsy's but perhaps not as wide so they don’t overwhelm the room like the Big Betsey’s do visually.
I love the hardwood look and sound so I will probably stick with what I used in my Big Betsy’s. I am interested in Steve’s comments about his Baltic birch as I have several pieces leftover in the garage.