Honestly the bass issues don’t concern me as much, the Dusk bass was fine for me, even though I do really enjoy the MEST bass. I have been eyeing the Monarch and wish I could test them against the MEST. In Dan’s Audio Reviews, a video he recently took down, the MEST sound more open and lively than the Monarch but the Monarch sounds more textured and weighty, but I know audio demos on YouTube are far from accurate representations.