Are planar speakers less prone to room interaction

I aggree with all of what Jwpstayman said, with exception of the M-L's having a "much narrower dispersion pattern." I'm using Maggies(MMg's) in my bedroom system and having very little in the way of secondary reflections from the side walls(and they are close) Excellent freq. response curve, imaging and sound stage(especially for such a small room). I only treated the wall behind my listening position(a bean-bag on the bed) with Auralex to prevent standing waves. I wouldn't hesitate to go with either Magnepan or Martin-Logan in your situation, as they are both excellent system manufacturers, and given the power, will generate realistic SPLs(at least their larger systems will). If you should need further room treatment, check these out: (http://www.asc-hifi.com/picture-panel.htm) Let your wife pick the pictures(good for the relationship). Peruse the rest of the site for some really good pointers on room acoustics. Happy listening!

Thanks all for your fantastic and detailed responses.

Jwpstayman: It's more the asymmetry that is disturbing to the ear. Immediately to the left of the listener's location you have the windows, whereas to the right you have the empty space where the room doglegs into the kitchen. That leads to a really annoying image instability - as a singer goes up and down their range they will move from side to side. I'm assuming this problem is caused by the windows, though there's other things that could be a factor (the exposed ductwork on the left and not on the right; the chaise of the leather couch). I'll definitely look into the Marigo dots - hopefully they will mitigate the problem somewhat (the double cell blinds on the windows now don't do much).

Duke: That's incredible detail, thanks. It never would have occurred to me how quickly the drop-off in perceived volume would differ as you moved around the large room. I'm not sure I can afford a full-range electrostat but the larger Maggies can be found around $1000 which seems like a feasible replacement for my PSB Image T45's.

Hudsonhawk, Maggies and Martin Logans are definitely competitors. If you read a lot of online comments, you'll find that people pretty much agree on what the tonal balance of Maggies is whether they like them or not, but then you'll find a diversity of opinion on what the tonal balance of Martin Logans is. I think the reason for this can be traced back to the Martin Logans radiating as a point source at low frequencies and as a line source at midrange and high frequencies.

Used Maggie 1.6's should work well in your room, assuming you have a fairly powerful amplifier.

Duke

save your pennies. martin logan is producing a full range electrostat, the clx. yes it will exceed your budget, significantly. it will not have the disadvantages of a hybrid electrostatic speaker. it will, unfortunately, set you back around $8000.

I don't know what your budget is but a used pair of Legacy Whispers would fit the bill nicely. They have a compound dipole bass alignment provided by four 15" woofers per side. They have a dispersion of <90 degrees at all frequencies which would meet the directivity requirement that Duke mentions above. They are designed to NOT interact with the room and having owned a pair I have to agree. Even though I have a pair listed on Audiogon right now, they have been sold so I am not trying to sell mine here. If I had a large enough room to set them up in in my new house I would keep them without a doubt. They are an incredibly enjoyable speaker system. Just my 2 cents worth and I hope this helps.