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Technology aside, the ST also carries a recommendation for serious two-channel music listening - a point proven by its demonstration exclusively as a stereo pair at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. So, for a change of pace, we elected to audition it primarily that way: two speakers with a high-end disc player spinning CDs and stereo SACDs, and to complete the equation, a preamp/power-amp stack driving 200 watts to each tower.

SETUP Beyond affixing their polished-granite plinths, setup for the STs meant simply connecting speaker wires. Each ST includes a line input for a subwoofer output from a pre/pro, but I used the speakers' own crossovers, as their design principally intends. Besides a power cord, there's also an LFE Level knob on the back to set the level of the onboard bass section. This functions identically regardless of whether bass comes in entirely via the speaker wires or in part via a line-level connection. You can use both if you choose, with the line input receiving only LFE and other-channel bass for multichannel use.

I left the STs for a few days of 24-hour break-in before fine-tuning the placement and the sub-level settings. In my setup, the speakers worked best with their front baffles some 3 feet-plus from the wall, toed in a goodly amount, and with the sub-level knobs set to about 11 o'clock - substantially lower than the 1 o'clock that Def Tech suggests as a starting point. These are tall speakers, and their sonic center is 6 inches or so higher than that of most smaller towers. This matches my seating and screen layout well, but some listeners may find it a bit elevated.