Magnepan, Ohm, Spatial or ??

@rickytickytwo...   I am with you on the open baffle preference.  Ohms are actually baffle-less designs, with the "cans" sitting proud of the cabinet.  Bass frequencies fire into the top of the cabinet and fire out of a vent at the bottom above the plinth.  But most of the sound fires off the back of the cone and from the free air tweeter.

@mapman 
Awesome

Yea the Ohms with the Walsh style wave bending drivers where the sound is emitted from the rear of the driver are kind of a open baffle hybrid design where the cabs come into play primarily for bass delivery.

Pretty sure the design is patented and nobody else does it this way. German Physics uses wave bending omni Walsh drivers but those cover the higher frequencies (which are more directional to start with) not the lows whereas Ohm is the opposite. GPs like most omnis including mbl require a lot of distance to walls to perform but not Ohm because sound is physically attenuated inside the cans in wall facing directions by default. Nobody else does that for you....you need room treatments for similar results close to walls.

Just don’t look inside the cans.......UGLLY!!!! John Strohbeen is the guru who figured out how to do this cost effectively without customers having to witness the resulting mess by hiding it in a very clean looking "can".

They do quite well at delivering a lot of good bass out of a relatively small package and go loud with suitable amp without ever showing any signs of stress, better than most.

Driver and cab size determines bass levels possible and suitability for a particular room size.

@mapman 

I see you like Musical Box.  :-)  Bummed they didn't come to Pittsburgh last year.....

I'm pretty much sold on the Ohms.  But I made arrangements for my wife to listen to the Spatials in MN when she's out there.  Want to do that first.  

Yes I am a big vintage prog rock fan and saw The Musical Box do their simulated 1972 vintage Genesis live show a few years back. They did the entire Foxtrot album start to finish and it was simply awesome.

Then I came home and did a replay with my Ohms.  :)