MrD,
You are quite right that my Audiostatics compress at 95 dB. When my father built his custom enclosure for the Altec VOT drivers, he stressed how no other speaker could play at high volumes without breakup, compression or distortion, the same words as you. I was so taken in by his words and loved the naturalness and power of the music from the Altecs that I brought my college friend home to hear them. HIS father had the large Advent speakers. When I played a string quartet on the Altecs, my friend shook his head, and said, no, the Advents reveal more of the exciting sizzle of string instruments. I was crushed, but admitted that he was right when I visited his house and heard his father's Advents. Of course, the Advents didn't have the large scale dynamics of the Altecs. The strongest advantage of the Altecs were voices which showcase the midrange dynamics and naturalness. I really love classical pieces of both small and large scale, but I realized that to best reproduce my favorite pieces, electrostatics are the choice. For low level detail extending up to comfortable levels of about 85 dB, they excel. When I hear cymbal crashes peak at 100 dB, I realize that the lower freq component of the cymbals are compressed, but most of the energy is in the HF which compress very little because HF excursions of the stat diaphragm are small compared to lower freq. Yes, cymbals are still compressed to a degree, but the exciting transient clarity of the electrostatic wins me over and more than compensates for the compression. Then to hear tiny taps of cymbals and moderate levels of snare drum transients, there is nothing better than my Audiostatic plus my newer electrostatic super tweeter, the Enigmacoustics Sopranino.
I enjoy your comments and thank you for your invitation to hear your system. There is much that we agree on, and I acknowledge the truth of your comments, so keep it up.
You are quite right that my Audiostatics compress at 95 dB. When my father built his custom enclosure for the Altec VOT drivers, he stressed how no other speaker could play at high volumes without breakup, compression or distortion, the same words as you. I was so taken in by his words and loved the naturalness and power of the music from the Altecs that I brought my college friend home to hear them. HIS father had the large Advent speakers. When I played a string quartet on the Altecs, my friend shook his head, and said, no, the Advents reveal more of the exciting sizzle of string instruments. I was crushed, but admitted that he was right when I visited his house and heard his father's Advents. Of course, the Advents didn't have the large scale dynamics of the Altecs. The strongest advantage of the Altecs were voices which showcase the midrange dynamics and naturalness. I really love classical pieces of both small and large scale, but I realized that to best reproduce my favorite pieces, electrostatics are the choice. For low level detail extending up to comfortable levels of about 85 dB, they excel. When I hear cymbal crashes peak at 100 dB, I realize that the lower freq component of the cymbals are compressed, but most of the energy is in the HF which compress very little because HF excursions of the stat diaphragm are small compared to lower freq. Yes, cymbals are still compressed to a degree, but the exciting transient clarity of the electrostatic wins me over and more than compensates for the compression. Then to hear tiny taps of cymbals and moderate levels of snare drum transients, there is nothing better than my Audiostatic plus my newer electrostatic super tweeter, the Enigmacoustics Sopranino.
I enjoy your comments and thank you for your invitation to hear your system. There is much that we agree on, and I acknowledge the truth of your comments, so keep it up.