Do you owe it to yourself to check out electrostatic speakers?

[DavidMcRoy]

The Acoustat SPECTRA series with its "electrically-curved" panel array went a long way toward alleviating the "head in a vice" listening requirement.

 

[jim1274]

I have an opportunity to get a pair of Soundlabs from a good friend who has a pair that have been gathering dust a while. I’m fairly new here, and have never started a thread, so thought maybe better form to look for some related threads. Since this thread talked about reliability with clearly expert voices speaking, I thought maybe ok to post?

I think they are at least 11 years old and been sitting a while, and on the opposite coast with no shipping cartons, so it is not a trivial job to get them here. Any thoughts on reliability in such a situation? If they play fine, don’t worry about it? Or is this the kind of situation that is worth sending to Soundlab first for a “tune-up” since that is also out west location? If this was an inappropriate thread to post this, please forgive my ignorance as a newbie, slap my hand, and maybe point me in the right direction. I try to search the forum before asking questions. I did look at the Soundlab owners forum and there are a total of 94 threads in its whole history, and almost no activity, and not a single helpful thread.

 

[Jazzman53]

I have an opportunity to get a pair of Soundlabs from a good friend who has a pair that have been gathering dust a while. I’m fairly new here, and have never started a thread, so thought maybe better form to look for some related threads. Since this thread talked about reliability with clearly expert voices speaking, I thought maybe ok to post?

I think they are at least 11 years old and been sitting a while, and on the opposite coast with no shipping cartons, so it is not a trivial job to get them here. Any thoughts on reliability in such a situation? If they play fine, don’t worry about it? Or is this the kind of situation that is worth sending to Soundlab first for a “tune-up” since that is also out west location? If this was an inappropriate thread to post this, please forgive my ignorance as a newbie, slap my hand, and maybe point me in the right direction. I try to search the forum before asking questions. I did look at the Soundlab owners forum and there are a total of 94 threads in its whole history, and almost no activity, and not a single helpful thread.

I'm wondering why anyone who owns a working pair of Soundlabs would not be using them, but that aside...

Assuming they were in good working order when taken out of service, and they were stored in an air-conditioned environment, they may be (and probably are) still in good working order, even after 11 years.

Over many years of active use, the high voltage corona tends to degrade the conductive coating on the diaphragm, which progressively reduces its ability to hold a charge, resulting reduced sound output from the panel. Of course, this type of coating deterioration would not occur in storage.

What could occur in storage is corrosion of the contact between the bias supply wire and diaphragm. This is why it would have been important to store the speakers in a humidity controlled environment, such as an air-conditioned home, rather than a garage.

All of the Soundlabs I've seen have grill covers but I would still want to vacuum them off thoroughly.

Why not have your friend test the speakers first, and then buy them if there are no issues?

 

[jim1274]

I'm wondering why anyone who owns a working pair of Soundlabs would not be using them, but that aside...

Assuming they were in good working order when taken out of service, and they were stored in an air-conditioned environment, they may be (and probably are) still in good working order, even after 11 years.

Over many years of active use, the high voltage corona tends to degrade the conductive coating on the diaphragm, which progressively reduces its ability to hold a charge, resulting reduced sound output from the panel. Of course, this type of coating deterioration would not occur in storage.

What could occur in storage is corrosion of the contact between the bias supply wire and diaphragm. This is why it would have been important to store the speakers in a humidity controlled environment, such as an air-conditioned home, rather than a garage.

All of the Soundlabs I've seen have grill covers but I would still want to vacuum them off thoroughly.

Why not have your friend test the speakers first, and then buy them if there are no issues?

I knew the answer to my questions could be found here…

They are owned by a very good older friend who just doesn’t use them anymore. To not say too much about another person, I think he was running them with a pair of older Hafler DH500 as monoblocks, and when one (or both maybe) failed, he just switched over to some higher end vintage KEF speakers that were in his living room system and never got around to getting the Hafler(s) fixed. He said they will probably end up on the curb if I die, so he thought I should have them as his only good friend who is reallly into audio and would appreciate them. That’s the backstory.

The comments on storage and potential deterioration are very helpful. I’ll ask him more about that. Living near the coast where it rains a lot and rarely gets to 80 degrees, so hardly stored in a continuous air conditioned environment—seems I misspoke on that—didn’t dawn on me at the time that it’s cool there mostly Is there an easy way to visually determine any signs of corrosion or deterioration? I believe they have been sitting about 5 years, so not a lot of heavy use.

I’ve wondered if sending to Soundlab first for a “tune-up” is warranted, but shipping is going to be expensive and challenging just to send 2/3 across the country to me, so would rather avoid that if possible.

Are Soundlabs something that a very skilled DIY guy could fix himself if needed?

 

[Jazzman53]

I knew the answer to my questions could be found here…

They are owned by a very good older friend who just doesn’t use them anymore. To not say too much about another person, I think he was running them with a pair of older Hafler DH500 as monoblocks, and when one (or both maybe) failed, he just switched over to some higher end vintage KEF speakers that were in his living room system and never got around to getting the Hafler(s) fixed. He said they will probably end up on the curb if I die, so he thought I should have them as his only good friend who is reallly into audio and would appreciate them. That’s the backstory.

The comments on storage and potential deterioration are very helpful. I’ll ask him more about that. Living near the coast where it rains a lot and rarely gets to 80 degrees, so hardly stored in a continuous air conditioned environment—seems I misspoke on that—didn’t dawn on me at the time that it’s cool there mostly Is there an easy way to visually determine any signs of corrosion or deterioration? I believe they have been sitting about 5 years, so not a lot of heavy use.

I’ve wondered if sending to Soundlab first for a “tune-up” is warranted, but shipping is going to be expensive and challenging just to send 2/3 across the country to me, so would rather avoid that if possible.

Are Soundlabs something that a very skilled DIY guy could fix himself if needed?

If the speakers play normally, then it's unlikely there would be a corrosion issue.

As to their serviceability (i.e. replacing a diaphragm or accessing the bias supply connection);
I have to clue about that because I've never inspected one close up. Their serviceability largely depends on whether the stators can be separated without damaging them. If so, then yes, they can be refurbished.

A pet peeve of mine is that so many ESL manufacturers adhesively bond the stators together, which makes it difficult or impossible to separate them for servicing. Whereas the stators must be constrained in intimate contact to function, there is no compelling reason why they would have to be adhesively bonded. Mechanically constraining them together would suffice, and that would make them easily serviceable.

I can't answer your question about the Soundlabs' serviceability.

 

[jim1274]

Some storage details just in from the owner:

“Humidity. It is humid here but cool and the house is always heated. I have not seen humidity a problem with other stereo gear, like the KEF's, or my cameras. There is no condensation inside the house. And the Pristines were unused from '99 to say around '15 and fired up no problem. And they were in the basement room, also heated. I'll get them hoked up to make sure. It entails getting the Sony receiver dragged out and hooked up.”

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

Do you owe it to yourself to check out the latest electrostatic speaker designs?

Ahh; YES.

No speaker is perfect but I wish everyone could hear the latest commercial and DIY ESL designs.
I'm sure many would find their sound addictive.

I will discuss both, but first I must confess my bias favoring ESLs, which I've championed for years, and in particular my own DIY design.

In my experience, it's far easier for a DIY'er to build a world-class ESL than a world-class conventional speaker. I don't mean that it's less work (the labor is horrendous)-- just that a good result is more certain because you start with less baggage.

I can list as many cons as pros for ESLs but the pros are really good and the cons are not terribly hard to remedy in a good design. Some manufacturers mitigate the cons quite well and the latest offerings are better than ever.

Pros:
1. The ultra-low moving mass diaphragm is so effectively dampened by the greater air mass it's coupled to, that it simply doesn't *ring.
2. Line-source configuration gives really good imaging.
3. Contrary to popular belief and the commercial offerings, DIY designs can tailor dispersion patterns as desired or even provide switch-selectable wide & narrow dispersion modes (costly but do-able).
4. No crossover-- or a hybrid can use a single crossover down low where it's less audible.
5. Typically excellent/superior coherence, resolution & transient response.

*An ESL diaphragm is remarkably resonance-free across the audio bandwidth except for its single fundamental "drum-head" resonance peak which typically occurs in the bass region at a frequency determined by its tension. This resonance is analogous to a woofer's free-air resonance (f/s) and is likewise undesirable.

Cons:
1. The diaphragm's drum-head resonance is a nasty-loud distortion that's difficult to mask.
2. Anemic bass unless the panel is huge, and drum-head resonance can render it boomy & sluggish.
3. Hybrids add the bass but few achieve a seamless blending of the woofer & stat panel.
4. Narrow dispersion which some listeners find objectionable (i.e. "head-in-a-vise" effect).
5. Capacitive load & impedance as low 1 Ohm in treble band requires a strong, stable amp.
6. Long-term reliability is historically iffy, especially in DIY versions.

Mitigating the drum head resonance:
Acoustat and some other full range designs apply a felt strip or mesh fabric on the rear stator which partially absorbs the resonance energy.

Soundlab uses the drum-head resonance to boost bass output by dividing the diaphragm into multiple different-width sections which break up the single/loud/narrow resonance peak into multiple softer resonances spread over a wider bandwidth (i.e. "distributed resonance"). It's an innovative solution that mitigates the booming effect and boosts bass output, but it's not a perfect solution because the the drum head resonance is by definition a distortion, so using it must include its distortion.

Martin Logan tensions the diaphragm quite high, and likewise uses distributed resonance to enhance the upper bass/lower midrange, so that less EQ'ing is required to offset the panel's dipole roll off and flatten its response curve. Here again, distributed resonance spreads out the drum-head resonance, which necessarily includes its distortion.

Mitigating the narrow dispersion:
Narrow dispersion is not necessarily a flaw. In fact, the Sanders/InnerSound speakers are purposely designed or narrow dispersion because it gives the most precise imaging at their tightly focused sweet spot. Some prefer the narrow sweet spot but it's not so good for entertaining guests, and most speaker designers opt for wider dispersion.

Some designs (ML, Soundlab) curve the stat panel to about 30 degrees of arc, which curves its projected wave-front and widens the sweet spot. The small curvature is still a bit beamy but retains much of the magical imaging.

Some designs use a separate, narrow treble panel to spread the highs.

The Quad 63 and similar designs use separate bass panels and a center mid/treble panel with concentric ring conductors sequentially driven thru an LC delay line to function as a point source projecting a spherical wave front.

Mitigating the load capcitance:
Most designs add low value resistors in front of the transformers which renders the load partially-resistive (although still mostly capacitive).

Reliability:
Most manufactures now produce reliable speakers, although 20 years seems to be the best-case limit (except for Acoustats which are seemingly immortal). I would not advise purchasing a DIY ESL unless you do your homework on the specific design, and you and trust the builder to stand behind it.

The weakest link in any ESL is the diaphragm coating degrading over time. So; a good design goal would make the panel easy to disassemble without damaging the stators, and preferably also leaving the diaphragm intact. If thus accessible; the diaphragm could be easily re-coated or replaced.

The most robust designs use insulated wire stators because of their higher resistance to arcing.
Perf metal stators can be reliable if made by a manufacturer like ML who has mastered the specialized processes required to prevent arcing.

I would no longer build or purchase a DIY ESL with perf metal stators because it's so difficult to perfectly smooth-over the cut metal edges and apply the insulating coatings as required to prevent arcing.

The old Acoustat ESLs are practically bullet proof because they used superbly insulated wire stators and a simple carbon black diaphragm coating that remained stable over time-- these continue to play happily for decades!

So; if you want a reliable ESL; buy or build one similar to the Acoustat design. Or at least with stators than can be easily disassembled to access the diaphragms.

*********************************************************************************************************************

My latest DIY design (Jazzman MkIII):
The drum head resonance: Is simply avoided (not excited) by tensioning the diaphragm to resonate <100Hz, and then crossing the panel out to the woofer at least one octave above the resonance using a steep-sloped digital crossover (250Hz @48db/oct). Hence; the panel is not being energized/excited near the diaphragm's resonance frequency.

Dispersion: Tailoring the dispersion requires choosing either a narrow sweet spot with very precise imaging or a wide sweet spot with less precise imaging or something in-between (physics forces this choice-- you can't have it all).
I chose the latter option and tailored the segmentation scheme accordingly.

The stat panel employs symmetrical multi-segmented wire stators driven sequentially from the panel centerline outward to function as a line source projecting a cylindrical wave-front. This works amazingly well; giving wide, smooth-trending dispersion.

Load/Impedance: The RC line used to curve the wave front effectively linearizes the impedance and renders it predominantly resistive, as only the smaller capacitance of the first two wire groups is reflected back to the amp. This also reduces the degrees of phase rotation for the impedance reflecting back to the amp (very desirable).

Woofer/Panel Integration:
The matching dipole radiation patterns of the excellent OB mounted Eminence KappaLite 3012LF woofer and the stat panel merge seamlessly to sound like a single, coherent driver-- the best integration I've heard in a hybrid ESL.

Reliability:
The wood lattice supported wire stators are less impact-tolerant than perf metal stators and must be handled accordingly. Otherwise; they are highly arc resistant resistant and therefore unlikely to be harmed by even crazy-loud volume levels. Even with no protection circuitry, the electronics interface has also proven to be reliable. Over the past five years I've built seven pairs for myself and audio pals, and none have failed.

The stators can be either bond bonded together or mechanically mated in this design. If mechanically mated; the stators can be easily separated to access the diaphragms, should servicing them ever be needed.

How long will the diaphragm coating last? I can vouch for 5 years so far-- but I'll get back to you on that in about 10 years if I'm blessed to still be here.

Website with build photos & write-ups: http://jazzman-esl-page.blogspot.com/?m=0

Photo of the Jazzman MkIII ESL:
View attachment 294103

Never even considered DIY ESLs. Very very cool

 

[jim1274]

Some storage details just in from the owner:

“Humidity. It is humid here but cool and the house is always heated. I have not seen humidity a problem with other stereo gear, like the KEF's, or my cameras. There is no condensation inside the house. And the Pristines were unused from '99 to say around '15 and fired up no problem. And they were in the basement room, also heated. I'll get them hoked up to make sure. It entails getting the Sony receiver dragged out and hooked up.”

A couple questions on general form here on the forum:

Should I have started a new thread for this? I was told to try to use existing threads as much as possible, but this has gotten a bit off topic

I scoured the Chicago area dealers and such to find a pair to listen to, plus all the for sale ads on every platform I could find. It’s not essential, but my friend suggested looking for someone local that has a pair to hear. I certainly understand security and privacy concerns, reluctant to let anyone in my house to hear speakers, but told my friend I’d see if it is possible. I live in northwest Indiana, so if anyone around here or even south suburban Chicago area has Soundlabs and would even consider this, send me a PM and I could provide personal details that would address any concerns. I’m an old retired engineer who is not a nut job…at least until I take a misstep on the forum like talking about speaker wire “sound” or some such…


Here are a couple photos as they stand today:

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

A couple questions on general form here on the forum:

Should I have started a new thread for this? I was told to try to use existing threads as much as possible, but this has gotten a bit off topic

I scoured the Chicago area dealers and such to find a pair to listen to, plus all the for sale ads on every platform I could find. It’s not essential, but my friend suggested looking for someone local that has a pair to hear. I certainly understand security and privacy concerns, reluctant to let anyone in my house to hear speakers, but told my friend I’d see if it is possible. I live in northwest Indiana, so if anyone around here or even south suburban Chicago area has Soundlabs and would even consider this, send me a PM and I could provide personal details that would address any concerns. I’m an old retired engineer who is not a nut job…at least until I take a misstep on the forum like talking about speaker wire “sound” or some such…


Here are a couple photos as they stand today:

View attachment 338893

View attachment 338892

I own Sound Lab A3s and Sanders 10Es. I live in Las Vegas but won’t be home until end of February. But anyone on these forums are welcome to come by and listen

 

[Duke]

I have an opportunity to get a pair of Soundlabs from a good friend who has a pair that have been gathering dust a while...

I think they are at least 11 years old and been sitting a while, and on the opposite coast with no shipping cartons, so it is not a trivial job to get them here.

Some storage details just in from the owner:

“Humidity. It is humid here but cool and the house is always heated. I have not seen humidity a problem with other stereo gear, like the KEF's, or my cameras. There is no condensation inside the house. And the Pristines were unused from '99 to say around '15 and fired up no problem. And they were in the basement room, also heated. I'll get them hoked up to make sure. It entails getting the Sony receiver dragged out and hooked up.”

It sounds like they were made in 1999 if not before. Is this correct?

I don't think there is likely to be any damage from the speakers being stored in a humid environment. And if they show no signs of an insulation breakdown (no glows with the lights out, no snapping sounds, no hissing) when your friend tests them out, that is certainly encouraging.

Unfortunately the next thing I'm going to tell you is NOT encouraging:

In my experience as a SoundLab dealer for twenty-something years, the MOST DANGEROUS event in the life of a pair of older SoundLabs is SHIPPING. Even if they are crated properly, older SoundLabs have a relatively high incidence of insulation breakdowns AFTER being shipped. About fifteen years ago SoundLab made several major revisions that render them much more sturdy and resistant to shipping damage, and the incidence of shipping damage has plummeted. In fact my personal experience with shipping damage to SoundLabs over the past fifteen years has been limited to a single incident, wherein a forklift speared a crate along with its contents.

In other words, even if those older SoundLabs get a totally clean bill of health when your friend checks them out, imo there still a significant possibility that they will be damaged in shipping.

I wish I had better news for you.

 

[jim1274]

It sounds like they were made in 1999 if not before. Is this correct?

I don't think there is likely to be any damage from the speakers being stored in a humid environment. And if they show no signs of an insulation breakdown (no glows with the lights out, no snapping sounds, no hissing) when your friend tests them out, that is certainly encouraging.

Unfortunately the next thing I'm going to tell you is NOT encouraging:

In my experience as a SoundLab dealer for twenty-something years, the MOST DANGEROUS event in the life of a pair of older SoundLabs is SHIPPING. Even if they are crated properly, older SoundLabs have a relatively high incidence of insulation breakdowns AFTER being shipped. About fifteen years ago SoundLab made several major revisions that render them much more sturdy and resistant to shipping damage, and the incidence of shipping damage has plummeted. In fact my personal experience with shipping damage to SoundLabs over the past fifteen years has been limited to a single incident, wherein a forklift speared a crate along with its contents.

In other words, even if those older SoundLabs get a totally clean bill of health when your friend checks them out, imo there still a significant possibility that they will be damaged in shipping.

I wish I had better news for you.

Not sure on the age—maybe something I can find out from Soundlab via the tag on the box?

Thanks much for the input on shipping, something I knew would be a major obstacle, the last big piece of the puzzle. The only 2 times I had large speakers ( not nearly this large) shipped, both were damaged in shipment. Sound like they will require shipping crates, likely a non-starter unless Roger at Soundlabs can sell me some. I was hoping that maybe a shipping service could be found that could take them from owners basement, pack as needed, and drop in my living room. That may be a pipe dream. I suspect this type of service, if available, may end up so high and still risky, the acquisition may not be worth it given the age of the speakers. I’m ok with not liking the news—can’t make an informed decision without considering all the factors. Might be prudent to wait to find a pair locally, reducing the shipping risk.

I’ll need to confer with the owner, a good friend who wanted me to have them, and discuss this detailed guidance and risks of shipping.

I can’t begin to tell you how much your latest post is appreciated, even if not what was hoping to hear.

 

[Duke]

Not sure on the age—maybe something I can find out from Soundlab via the tag on the box?

Thanks much for the input on shipping, something I knew would be a major obstacle, the last big piece of the puzzle. The only 2 times I had large speakers ( not nearly this large) shipped, both were damaged in shipment. Sound like they will require shipping crates, likely a non-starter unless Roger at Soundlabs can sell me some. I was hoping that maybe a shipping service could be found that could take them from owners basement, pack as needed, and drop in my living room. That may be a pipe dream. I suspect this type of service, if available, may end up so high and still risky, the acquisition may not be worth it given the age of the speakers. I’m ok with not liking the news—can’t make an informed decision without considering all the factors. Might be prudent to wait to find a pair locally, reducing the shipping risk.

I’ll need to confer with the owner, a good friend who wanted me to have them, and discuss this detailed guidance and risks of shipping.

I can’t begin to tell you how much your latest post is appreciated, even if not what was hoping to hear.

I hadn't looked closely at the backplate in the photo. It says "M3PX005". Sounds like it's a relatively early M3-PX, BUT the "PX" package of upgrades addresses the shipping damage susceptibility! Imo this is very good news!

I would say give SoundLab a call, as it now sounds to me like your friend's speakers are much more promising candidates for surviving shipping than I had originally assumed.

As for buying crates from SoundLab, here is the issue: It would probably cost as much to ship the empty crates as it would to ship them with the panels inside. This is because the DIMENSIONS of the crates themselves will be the dominant factor in shipping cost, and the lighter weight of the empty crates probably won't make any difference.

I have heard of people hiring a piano moving company to crate and ship their SoundLabs, and I'm under the impression that that's not cheap either.

 

[rtg97229]

I am happy to learn that Jim is still involved. I owned several Acoustat loudspeakers, his TNT 200 amplifier, plus a TNP preamp.

For what they offered, I considered them good value. Of course with his loudspeakers you had the 'head in a vice' image situation, but that's how it is if you choose ESL.

The only exception to that rule that I ever encountered was Harold Beveridge's creation, with its unique 180 degree acoustic lens. But they were out of my price range. Their unusual (albeit appealing) sonic presentation was something I'd never quite encountered. It was like you were somehow 'immersed' in the sound. Kind of weird, actually. However that was, I don't know if it was really what I was after; or whether it was long-term viable. Additionally, its integrated electronics were rather tweaky.

Acoustat, probably more than any other company (except possibly early Janszen), made electrostatic design affordable for loudspeaker consumers.

Jim Strickland unfortunately died in 2017. A true legend in the industry.

 

[Platypus20]

I’ve seen and heard a series of Martin-Logan and Magnapan speakers, my friends own, never impressed enough to consider them for me. They were not terrible, just not anything special either.

 

[rtg97229]

I’ve seen and heard a series of Martin-Logan and Magnapan speakers, my friends own, never impressed enough to consider them for me. They were not terrible, just not anything special either.

I have never been impressed with MLs or Maggies (magnetic panel speaker not ESL) either. If you have a chance to listen to some original Quad ESL (many call them 57s because they came out in... 56) I suspect you would be impressed. Acoustat and Stax (back in the day) made some nice sounding electrostatic speakers as well. Of course room matters a lot too for any speaker.

 

[Platypus20]

I have never been impressed with MLs or Maggies (magnetic panel speaker not ESL) either. If you have a chance to listen to some original Quad ESL (many call them 57s because they came out in... 56) I suspect you would be impressed. Acoustat and Stax (back in the day) made some nice sounding electrostatic speakers as well. Of course room matters a lot too for any speaker.

I heard a couple sets of Quads in the UK, in about 2000, while working there, I thought they very good what I heard, not my room, not my type of music, not sure if my usual diet of rock music would really suit them. I was more impressed by the Quad 707s.

 

[jim1274]

I have never been impressed with MLs or Maggies (magnetic panel speaker not ESL) either. If you have a chance to listen to some original Quad ESL (many call them 57s because they came out in... 56) I suspect you would be impressed. Acoustat and Stax (back in the day) made some nice sounding electrostatic speakers as well. Of course room matters a lot too for any speaker.

Curious if you have heard the Eminent Technology magnetic planars?

https://www.eminent-tech.com/index.html?fwd=LFT8.html

Until the opportunity to get some Soundlab ESLs, these ET magnetic planars were going to be my planar “test” speaker. I had a pair of small Monsoon magnetic planars in my office some years back that really piqued my interest. I have not listened to MLs or Maggies since doing a massive speaker audition trip in 1984, but they did not impress then compared to others. That’s a long time ago, so may have advanced so much that ancient listening is irrelevant.

 

[rtg97229]

Curious if you have heard the Eminent Technology magnetic planars?

https://www.eminent-tech.com/index.html?fwd=LFT8.html

Until the opportunity to get some Soundlab ESLs, these ET magnetic planars were going to be my planar “test” speaker. I had a pair of small Monsoon magnetic planars in my office some years back that really piqued my interest. I have not listened to MLs or Maggies since doing a massive speaker audition trip in 1984, but they did not impress then compared to others. That’s a long time ago, so may have advanced so much that ancient listening is irrelevant.

I have a good friend who just sold his pair of Eminent Technology magnetic planars. I did not like them but I know a lot of people do. I have to admit I don't know why I have disliked the sound of most magnetic planar speakers. I can't say they are bad, just not to my preference. I did listen to some IRS V's a long time ago and those did impress me. That was too long ago to really compare them to anything else.

 

[jim1274]

I have a good friend who just sold his pair of Eminent Technology magnetic planars. I did not like them but I know a lot of people do. I have to admit I don't know why I have disliked the sound of most magnetic planar speakers. I can't say they are bad, just not to my preference. I did listen to some IRS V's a long time ago and those did impress me. That was too long ago to really compare them to anything else.

Thanks much for your feedback. I was only basing my interest on ET based upon those Mosoon desktop planars, a very flawed speaker, but the midrange detail and clarity was amazing. The ET planars are also relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of panel type speakers.

 

[Chrispy]

I wouldn't mind revisiting electrostatics, friend of mine had (has? but I live far away now) a nice set of MLs (full surround including their sub) and they were nice, especially for some types of music I thought. Not likely I'll get a chance without buying them which I have no plans to do.....