ribbon or electrostatic speakers

piega.ch

With some hesitation (only because they are all but impossible to find) I recommend the Acoustat Spectra 66 or Spectra 6600's. They probably have the largest surface area of any full-range electrostat ever built (6 panels), but image exceptionally well in a large enough room because they are driven full range only in a very narrow area.

I enjoyed a pair of Acoustat Monitor 3's for 20 years, which also had very good bass. They also had outstanding imaging (better than 2+2's), which I suspect is because their panels were angled (as in the Acoustat X) meaning the high frequencies and midrange hit you directly from only one set of panels. When the Monitor 3's broke last year, I didn't kow where to get them fixed at the time (Roy Esposito at "Sounds Like New" is the Acoustat guru), so I gave them to my housekeeper's kid and bought a Medallion pair of 2+2's.

I was not quite completely satisfied with the 2+2's because the bass wasn't low enough, so I jumped at the chance to acquired a pair of Spectra 66's earlier this year. The guy I bought them from was driving them with a Classe Omicron in a large room, and the bass was stunning. I took them home to a smaller room with a pair of ARC VTM200's, and the bass was actually overwhelming. Lacking the funds to buy a new house, I sold the VTM200's, and I'm presently driving them with the power amp section from a large Luxman receiver driven by an ARC Ref 2 Mk II (no, I'm not crazy, it sounds better than the VTM200's!), as I try to decide what "proper" power amp would be best.

Anyway, sorry for the digression - point is, I've lived with different electrostats for decades, and if you get a chance to hear a pair of the 6 panel Acoustat Spectra's, I think you'll find the bass you're looking for.

Duke summed up the issue of 'feeling the impact' with ribbon / electrostats and explained their limitations very well. However, that kind of room shaking bass that some box speakers and subwoofers can create may detract or at least distract from the overall experience of hearing a good audio system. It is very much at home in a HT application but I wouldn't trade quality bass (fast, deep, tight, pitch accurate) for bass that is more about quantity than quality.
I'm using Maggie 3.6's and I'm still very much in the experimentation stage, but I'm hearing some excellent bass from these speakers. Matching the right amp has been difficult, but I'm getting a flavor of their true bass potential using a Perreaux 2150. I'm measuring good output at 25hz, and it's clean bass without sending boom and vibration around the room, so it doesn't detract from the mid range, where the real quality of any planer/electrostat lies.
In a slightly smaller room, (my room is quite large), I think a 3.6 with a good amp could provide all of the bass quantity and quality that one could need and without having the integration nightmares of trying to add a sub.

The Gilmore Audio audio speakers are reminiscent of the Carver Amazing Loudspeakers, 60" of ribbon partnered with 4 subs in an open baffle design. I still have a pair sitting in a spare bedroom, thought I haven't listened to them in years. Those Carvers took monster amps to make them sing.

VMPS speakers will do what you want with ease. They're hybrids but the ribbons handle 166hz to 10khz. All the slam you could want.