electrostats vs ribbon drivers

Mrtennis- Many designs that incorporate ribbons, fail to properly blend the speed/dynamics of the tweeter, with the other system drivers(useually cones). Generally speaking; that makes the ribbon stand out as a separate/more obvious entity, even though the relative output levels may be matched. BTW: have you auditioned the new Maggies(1.7 & 3.7)? Ribbons/Quasi-Ribbons, WELL DONE! Then again- as you mentioned; some are more sensitive to the upper registers than others. It would be interesting to get your views on these new Maggies, especially the full ribbon 3.7, to see if your opinion remains the same. Then too: the more resolving the speaker and it's cabling; the more one will hear problems(brightness/glare/graininess) upstream.

Mr Tennis I can only comment on my soundlab m2's driven by audiovalve challanger 180 monoblocks and feel the result in sound is second to none;I have never heard a ribbon driver but I know the responses you will receive will defend both types to the best of their ability;I would like to hear that driver that Ralph from atmasphere mentions time and again;it must be a very class driver to have caught his ear.

Making broad generalities in audio usually leads to eating large amounts of crow. There are good and bad versions of just about every loudspeaker design. (is that a generality?)

Tubegroover, Regarding CLS from the mid 80's. That speaker was more sensitive to amplifiers than most speakers. Infact it was extremely sensitive to everything in the system. It was hard to find a solid state amplifer that did not sound thin. One the other hand it was easy to find a tube amplifier that would give the speaker a balanced sound. The impedance of the CLS was very low at high frequencies and very high at low frequencies.

The most revealing speaker I have ever owned. I was fortunate enough to have a variety of amplifiers on hand to find the right match. Without that luxury I could see how frustrating it would be.

Regarding high frequencies, I believe the CLS was rolled off. However, the interface could be adjusted to your system and your taste.

Why do you wrongly assume that all ribbons used in loudspeakers are Intentionally set up by designer to have more output over 3k? You said [i suppose i may be more sensitive to frequencies exceeding 3000 hz than many on these forums, which may be at odds with others.] So you have hearing damage above 3k would explain much. Or are you insinuating that your hearing is just better above 3k
than other members who disagree?