Box speakers that sound like Electrostats?


Has anyone found a monitor or full range speaker that compares to an electrostat?
128x128dennis_the_menace
Joe...the comparisons are pretty dramatic...since both companies collaborated on the original 10L...which SPendor made for QUad...I was looking at a pair of 3/5s until I heard the Quads...the new Quads are less colored and more revealing that the SPendors...that is, they dont have the famous Spendor "rolled off" highs...but the 2 areas that the QUad excel in are dynamics and bass...which happen to be the SPendors weaknesses...for vocals...they both are about as good as it gets....and in the great Quad tradition...these are transparent as box speakers can be...
Thanks for the info. I like the Spendors, but am only driving them with 20wpc (in a small rm). Bass is good but dynamics are little soft at lower volumes. Highs are "rolled", but again this is only a problem at low listening levels and is a blessing at other times. Will audition the Quads...if I can find a local dealer. Distribution on the Quads seems limited.
Joe...also...in comparison...the spendors 3/5s sound "small" compared to my Quad 12Ls...but then again...the quad is over 4x the size...and in terms of "speed"...the Quads are not surprisingly "static like"...they really outperformed the small SPendor in every facet...speed,detail,dynamics,bass,etc...imaging and transparency in both speakers was excellent....
Forgot to ask. Are the Quads rear-ported? If yes, they won't work in my room. There are many speakers that are more transparent and faster sounding than the Spendors, but there are few speakers than can reproduce the timbre of acoustic instruments or add a body to voices, when driven by cheap ss equipment like the Spendors. The Quads may do it, but they don't have many US dealers at the moment.
Have any of you guys who think a Spendor sounds like a Quad, or like any electrostatic, in the midrange, ever heard a Harbeth? The Compact 7 is absolutely dead on flat through midrange fundamentals, crisp, fast and at the same time warm in the bass with no cone material coloration (distortion), not much roll-off on top, and limitless dynamics compared to the Quad. It has no character at all on the right height stands, but can be a little dry on stands that are too high.