Your favorite Electrostatic, Panel spkr


 I’m putting together an analog system. First on the list was a turntable, I’ve settled on the Denon DP 59L. 
  Now let’s hear from the owners of some panel electrostatic type speakers, not ones you dreamed of owning, ones that you’ve owned and the reason why they were your favorite. 
kgveteran
I owned a pair of Martin Logan Monoliths and truly enjoyed their sound. One problem is, there is a very narrow sweet spot.   The other is, I measured a peak high frequency of around 11K. Very unique sounding, but like the sound of a conventional speaker.  I like that “in your face” sound. Went to Wilson Max II’s and love them.  Would like to be able to have both the Wilson’s and some top of the line Maggie’s, but to accomplish this is a setup nightmare. 
Kgvetran - I have owned Maggie’s for over 20 years (MGII, 1.6 qr, 1.7i with DWM base panel now). Obviously, I love the sound of my Maggie’s - mid range vocals are amazing. My current listening room is larger than yours, but I feel the 1.7is would be a great fit. But pleased be warned - you need a lot of power (current) to drive these speakers to get optimal sound. I use class A - Krell at 250 watts per channel into 8 ohms to drive my speakers, and I am happy!!


Atom, Nice going. Before the Spectra Days Acoustat did make a speaker called the 4+4. It was a 4 panel wide 2+2 and boy did they rock. I probably would have bought a pair if I could have afforded them then.
They had two interfaces so you had to use two channels of amplification on each side. I assume you did 4 panels up and 4 panels down so the speakers are 8 feet tall? I'm sure they do bass fine however I would still use subwoofers as they drop doppler distortion and the panels become even more clear and pristine sounding. 
What seems like forever ago but is probably 25+ years ago I auditioned both a pair of Acoustat 2200 and Acoustat 1100 speakers.  The Audio Plus shop advised that if the room wasn't humongous the 1100s would be more focused due to the single panel and would deliver all the volume I could want..  I auditioned a couple of amps with them as the shop let me in the listening room for a few hours to see what I wanted and I bought the Acoustat 1100's and a Sumo Andromeda II A Mosfet  power amp.  Turns out Acoustats and Mosfet's have a synergistic love affair with each other.  When set up at home the base seemed a loose so additional acoustic fiberglass was added to the woofer module, bit by bit, to clean it up, and it did so nicely.  After demo of about a dozen different speaker cables I settled on Straightwire Maestro..... and same for interconnects after about ten demos.Here we are 25 years later and they still occupy my listening room of 14 years, fully treated but now bi-amped with two Sumo's rated at 240 into 8 and 450 into 4 & 750 into 2.  I've given up bringing in components to try and upgrade and just enjoy my music when I have time.  The rest of the system is an Audio Research LS 2 MKII B with remote, a Sony ES 5400 Super Audio player and a Sansui TU-9900 Tuner max modded by Mike at Radio X and a Magnum Dynalab Signal Slueth and half wave mast.  It runs all balanced from the CD player through the pre to the amps with custom cables, also by Straightwire.  Room treated with bass and mid range circular baffles behind the panels and both side and rear wall treatments.Hope everything goes another 25 years.

I owned the Acoustat 2+2s for many years, and I loved them. They are incredibly revealing and neutral. But I finally sold them and moved to the Martin Logan Impression 11a. I have a large room - 20' x 20'. They don’t play as loud as the 2+2 but are surprisingly balanced and engaging, especially with the right amplifier. I’m currently running a Line Magnetic 518ia on them and there is magic in the combination, more than any of the other half-dozen amps I’ve had on them (from worst to best: NAD M22, Peachtree Nova 300, Wyred4Sound mAmps, PrimaLuna Prologue 7, Pass 150.8, Line Magnetic 518ia). I also own a pair of original Quads (57) running on vintage tube gear. They have a midrange presence that defines their sound, and I love listening to them, but they can’t compete with the ML/LineMagnetic for soundstage and overall presentation of the music.