WC,
Welcome to the electrostatic lovers community. But don't engage in comparisons based on money. For purity/clarity in mids/HF, the Neo will be superior to ANY dynamic/horn design at ANY price. So will even the cheapest hybrid stat of the ML line at a few thousand bucks. Most stat owners here will agree with me that dynamic drivers are hopelessly colored by comparison. I have heard enough Wilsons and other dynamics over the years to know this. Stat technology is old and cheap, and even expensive dynamic driver/box designs can't compete, simply because the dominant factor of nearly massless stat drivers outclasses more massive dynamic drivers. The best dynamic technology, horns, still won't compete with the purity of stat drivers. It is good that the Neos are so massive that they will be a pain to sell unless you absolutely hate them, which is doubtful. Don't even consider dynamic speakers at this point. So let me help you get the most out of the Neo, which is here to stay for a long time, a good thing.
Most important, they need about 6 feet in front of your front wall. With only 1-2 feet, they will sound OK, but much more congested and less spacious and revealing. Next, toe-in is critical for getting the absolute most info in HF. Much experimentation will be necessary. Put them on a few dollies with casters, or a lazy Susan type of platform. My friend with his huge SoundLab A1's and then U1's had a string on each R/L corner of each speaker so he could easily rotate the toe-in from his listening chair. Say you place the centers of each panel 7 feet apart. Start with a toe-in of 15 degrees so you sit 14 feet away to get the midpoint of the panel facing your head. Since your room is 24 feet long, there will be 4 feet behind you to the back wall. You might like this large 14 foot listening distance which could give the best integration of all frequencies and focus so that you don't get the feeling you are up too close kissing the elephant. The other extreme, with toe-in of 30 degrees for each speaker, creating an equilateral triangle of 60 degrees, you would be sitting 7 feet away, with 11 feet behind you. This might be too close, and yielding a more bass dominant tonal balance. Perhaps your chosen distance of 8.5 feet might be your best preference. Some days and for some music, you might prefer different distances with toe-ins.
If you are not yet ready to become an electrostatic purist with the CLX which uses the stat panel down to 56 Hz, the Neo gives you the stat purity from above 1000 Hz (the dynamic woofers will contribute some response up to that), plus the dynamics you like which will be more than the CLX. And the revealing Momentum Integrated gives you 200 watts into 8 ohms, 400 into 4, 800 into 2, probably 1600 into 1, maybe 3200 into 0.5. Fabulous power potential with pure sound. You could be in heaven for many years with just what you have.
I still caution you to not fall for the "more money makes better" idea. This may generally be correct, but the gambling table becomes a crime scene when too much money is involved. Merrill is doing more advanced technology than the common big names, so the $36K Element 118 might kill any Dag. I will probably try the $22K Element 116, which is still very powerful and may have 95% of the purity of the 118. I am still awaiting the 114 mono, which will probably be in the teens. This still might be a giant killer. Even for common technology, I favor Krell sound over the Pass that I have heard. From your description and published reviews of Dag, I think Dag offers better value than Pass. Dag is really trying to produce the best clarity and power, whereas Pass admits that his priority is to give the typical audiophile the euphonic sound he wants. It is NOT about who spends the most money.
I want to hear how your BAT+ Ref 10 compares to the Momentum.
Welcome to the electrostatic lovers community. But don't engage in comparisons based on money. For purity/clarity in mids/HF, the Neo will be superior to ANY dynamic/horn design at ANY price. So will even the cheapest hybrid stat of the ML line at a few thousand bucks. Most stat owners here will agree with me that dynamic drivers are hopelessly colored by comparison. I have heard enough Wilsons and other dynamics over the years to know this. Stat technology is old and cheap, and even expensive dynamic driver/box designs can't compete, simply because the dominant factor of nearly massless stat drivers outclasses more massive dynamic drivers. The best dynamic technology, horns, still won't compete with the purity of stat drivers. It is good that the Neos are so massive that they will be a pain to sell unless you absolutely hate them, which is doubtful. Don't even consider dynamic speakers at this point. So let me help you get the most out of the Neo, which is here to stay for a long time, a good thing.
Most important, they need about 6 feet in front of your front wall. With only 1-2 feet, they will sound OK, but much more congested and less spacious and revealing. Next, toe-in is critical for getting the absolute most info in HF. Much experimentation will be necessary. Put them on a few dollies with casters, or a lazy Susan type of platform. My friend with his huge SoundLab A1's and then U1's had a string on each R/L corner of each speaker so he could easily rotate the toe-in from his listening chair. Say you place the centers of each panel 7 feet apart. Start with a toe-in of 15 degrees so you sit 14 feet away to get the midpoint of the panel facing your head. Since your room is 24 feet long, there will be 4 feet behind you to the back wall. You might like this large 14 foot listening distance which could give the best integration of all frequencies and focus so that you don't get the feeling you are up too close kissing the elephant. The other extreme, with toe-in of 30 degrees for each speaker, creating an equilateral triangle of 60 degrees, you would be sitting 7 feet away, with 11 feet behind you. This might be too close, and yielding a more bass dominant tonal balance. Perhaps your chosen distance of 8.5 feet might be your best preference. Some days and for some music, you might prefer different distances with toe-ins.
If you are not yet ready to become an electrostatic purist with the CLX which uses the stat panel down to 56 Hz, the Neo gives you the stat purity from above 1000 Hz (the dynamic woofers will contribute some response up to that), plus the dynamics you like which will be more than the CLX. And the revealing Momentum Integrated gives you 200 watts into 8 ohms, 400 into 4, 800 into 2, probably 1600 into 1, maybe 3200 into 0.5. Fabulous power potential with pure sound. You could be in heaven for many years with just what you have.
I still caution you to not fall for the "more money makes better" idea. This may generally be correct, but the gambling table becomes a crime scene when too much money is involved. Merrill is doing more advanced technology than the common big names, so the $36K Element 118 might kill any Dag. I will probably try the $22K Element 116, which is still very powerful and may have 95% of the purity of the 118. I am still awaiting the 114 mono, which will probably be in the teens. This still might be a giant killer. Even for common technology, I favor Krell sound over the Pass that I have heard. From your description and published reviews of Dag, I think Dag offers better value than Pass. Dag is really trying to produce the best clarity and power, whereas Pass admits that his priority is to give the typical audiophile the euphonic sound he wants. It is NOT about who spends the most money.
I want to hear how your BAT+ Ref 10 compares to the Momentum.