Three electrostat choices and my room-- need help

FWIW, here was my experience auditioning electrostats:
-Prodigy, at least the way the dealer set it up, was so fatiguing I had to stop the demo after 10 minutes. Sure, the soundstage was impressive, and they had plenty of resolution, but they were overbearing in both the treble and bass. Electronics were McIntosh solid state. The room was probably too small for them.

-Quad 988: nice sound, enough bass for my taste, but just a tick to the bright side. It took me about 45 minutes of careful listening to decide this.

-another electrostat you did not mention: The Soundlab U1. To me these were the most natural sounding, and they had impressive bass power and clarity. The soundstage was not as focused as the Quad's.

My only concern is your room dimensions, 12 X 24. Tough room for any speaker, never mind panels.

Big maggies are great(I own a pair and they are one of a small hand full of speakers I would ever own) but they are not electrostat's they are planer's- similar in shape(sort of) and have some of the same sound characteristics but that's where the similarities end. If she considers them electrostat's then by all means take a good listen to the 3.6 and the 20.1(if its in your price range). I am not a huge fan of ML's they tend to lack the coherency that make an electrostat great. I think the Innersound Eros MkIII is the "budget" electrostat to beat, in the hybrid configuration that is. Soundlab's do somethings wonderfully, but if you like to listen LOUD and to extremely heavy music anything short of the U-1 or U-B1 sub will leave you wanting more. That being said if you don't listen terribly loud and don't like heavy complicated music there may be a Soundlab right for you. Even maggie's have there short comings, if your room isn't right and you don't have the right amp it just won't happen, and you can't be affraid to turn them up! The louder they get the more resolution you get, which doesn't bother me, but some people really don't like that. Soundlabs are the opposite, they get maximum resolution at around 60dB! They are capable of playing much louder but you won't get much if any more information at higher volumes.

Of course as you've noticed electrostat's and planer's have speed, transperency, imaging, coherency and image density to kill for. Yet some folks still prefer the dynamics from point source drivers, so there are always trade offs.

In other words I think your heading in the right direction and suggest adding Innersound Eros MkIII to your list, besided Roger Sanders of Innersound a great guy :)

Martin Logan prodigy,at 7500.00 or lower used you can't go wrong Period!! These are Awesome speakers. You need to say what your price range is and what your system consist off??The Odyssey and Ascent are lower in price and offer excellent sound and value. I have owned all 3 and listen and haven't had one complainant on any of them. happy hunting.

Aceto,

Well first of all, let me compliment your wife on her fine taste in loudspeakers, and you on your fine luck in marrying her!

The Martin-Logan Prodigy, with it's cardioid-pattern bass system, ought to work quite well in your room, as you can position it fairly close to the wall without getting excessive bass reinforcement. Personally I prefer full-range electrostats, but the Prodigy is probably the best hybrid for your room.

If you and your wife are inclined towards a full-range planar, may I mention for your consideration the Sound Lab Millennium-2. The dimensions are comparable to the big Maggie 20's, so they ain't small, but they are arguably the most articulate loudspeaker on the market (along with their siblings). Sound Labs' resolution of low-level detail is superb, and they have genuine bottom end extension. The catch is, they like powerful amplifiers - but there are some reasonably-priced amps that will drive them quite readily. The Sound Labas are pretty much unique among electrostats in giving you an extremely wide sweet spot (the discontinued Beveridges did likewise), and this is especially welcome if your wife is going to listen with you. In fact, the tonal balance really doesn't change throughout the listening room, and is quite enjoyable even a room or two away. This is because their radiation pattern is extremely consistent up and down the spectrum, so as you move farther away and the reverberant field dominates the tonal balance stays correct. This is a characteristic of live music that few speakers can recreate, but back in the listening room it contributes to long-term fatigue-free listening. You can listen to Sound Labs literally all day long and never begin to get fatigued - their presentation is warm and rich and totally devoid of coloration. And if your nighttime listening calls for low volume levels, with the Sound Labs you'll still be able to hear all the little nuances that most speakers can't resolve at low levels.

The Millennium-2's are in the price ballpark of the Maggie 20.1 and the Martin Logan Prodigy, and therefore are a bit more expensive than the Quad 989.

Your room size wouldn't be a problem at all with Sound Labs. They are easily integrated into a wide variety of room shapes and sizes, and indeed are considerably less room-dependent than most speakers. You could even put the full-sized Millennium-1's in there if you wanted.

I'd me more than happy to take a shot at any questions you might have, and if you let me know where you're located I'll put you in touch with the nearest dealer or try to find a local Sound Lab owner who can let you have a listen.

Best of luck to you in your quest!

Duke

Here's Sound Lab's site: www.soundlab-speakers.com
And, here's my site: www.audiokinesis.com