Your favorite Electrostatic, Panel spkr

Another fan of the Sanders 10e. Made a point to hear them at Axpona this year and they were very impressive. On another level I heard the Maggie 30.7’s this past week and they are amazing but not so practical. 

As always, no mention of the Eminent Technology LFT-8b. Like Maggies, a magnetic-planar from 180Hz to 10kHz (push-pull drivers, unlike the single-ended in the cheaper Maggies), an 8" dynamic woofer for 180Hz down, and a ribbon tweeter for 10kHz up. In the 180Hz-10kHz operating range of the dual m-p drivers, there is no crossover/high-low pass filtering! $2499/pr. Reviews in TAS and a couple of the UK mags. As a bonus, it presents an 8 ohm (almost purely) resistive load to the power amp (if bi-amping, the m-p/ribbon drivers are an 11 ohm load), so unlike Maggies can be driven by a modest tube amp, including the Atma-Sphere M60 and Music Reference RM-200.

They have to do all kinds of music, at least up to 80db, with a closer LP that should be no problem......

i think with the size of the room, the
QUAD ESL-57’s sound sound about right, i gotta search out members who would be  willing to let me do a live audition. When I was looking for a projector I found a local guy who had one that I was able to check out first hand, hopefully I can find a member in this form or another will be willing to do a live demo 

Rochester Ny area

@jhills and mwinkc:  I thought the OP asked about both, so sorry if I brought in other panel speakers.  To mwinkc, I just used that as an example of a major electrostatic system--it came out in the mid-1970's so would be hard to get today--would illustrate the lengths one may go to to have an electrostatic system that also requires a special tweeter and big woofers.  I was not suggesting it would fit in his room, so sorry if that was not stated directly.  Mea culpa on that.

My real comment was that while, like most people, I like electrostatics, they do produce an inordinate amount of what we used to call "listening fatigue" after a while at volume.  Magneplanars don't, and now come in various sizes, so it might be worth the OP's time to give them a listen in his room as well as the electrostats and see what HE likes best in his room.

Happy listening, no matter what the OP buys.  The most important element is being happy with the playback of recorded music of any kind.

Cheers!

richopp, I am very fond of Magneplanar speakers. I have owned two different models including Tympany 3's and have set them up for at least 6 clients/friends. They are a fabulous speaker for the money and they are relatively easy to set up if you have experience. I also owned Apogee Divas for almost a decade. However, none of the magnetic planars can come close to a full range ESL set up and driven properly. Full range ESLs have to be big and tall, at least 7"10". Only Soundlabs makes a speaker this way now. Smaller versions are OK but will not have the dynamic presence of full sized ones. Acoustat was the first to do it this way. unfortunately, they did not survive. The Soundlabs speaker is significantly better made than Acoustats however both speakers are the most indestructible loudspeakers ever made. You have to drive a stake through them to do any damage. My 2+2s are 39 years old, look and perform as if brand new. Unfortunately, this is not true of Magnepans. The tweeter is the best sounding magnetic tweeter made but it is fragile which is why Magnepan has a great tweeter replacement program. I have used it twice. The rest of the speaker is indestructible. Magnepans require crossovers full range ESLs do not until you get down to the subwoofer. The sound you get is unified in a way no other speaker can match. Add subwoofers and everything goes to a whole new level. Maggies can be improved my subs but the effect is not as dramatic as it is on a full range ESL. I say full range so as not to be confused with hybrids like MLs and Sanders versions. An ESL will sound like whatever you put into it. Whether or not a speaker is bright depends on how they are set up, the recording and the playback volume.