Which is better - Maggie 20.1 or Soundlab M-1?

Duke: Does Sound Lab still offer the electrostatic bass panels? And for bass extension, what would be very interesting would be the Avant Garde BassHorns as subwoofers for either the Maggies or the Sound Lab. In general, you are correct about the bass pitch definition of boxed speakers, the exception being sealed systems critical damped with a q=0.5, like the Avalon Radians. They really have excellent bass pitch definition, of course, they have their own set of limitations.

Also, have you received a pair of Sound Lab R3s, and if so what subwoofer system have hooked up???

If you'll pardon my jumping in, I'll try to answer your questions, since I'm also a Sound Lab dealer.

Sound Lab offers the following electrostatic subwoofers:
M-1B's ($17,717/pr with toroids and Cardas posts) to go with M-1's.
UB-1's to go with U-1's are available, and several pairs have been delivered, including to someone in this area.
And although they're not listed, B-1's which go with A-1's also are available.

In practice, the subwoofers are useful mainly in large rooms where the last bit of bass extension into the infrasonic region is desired. They move a lot of air.

The R-3's are typically mated with the R-4 subwoofers, which fit nicely onto the R-3's and provide powerful, extended bass response. The R-4 is designed to conveniently accommodate the backplate of the R-3. Other subwoofers can be used with R-3's if desired, as there is no strict requirement.

AG Basshorns with Sound Labs would be interesting, although the radiation characteristics are quite different and might prove to be discontinuous and distracting. Dipole bass is hard to beat for naturalness, in my opinion. Siegfried Linkwitz, whose knowledge and research are of value, covers the topic on his website pretty well.

Brian Walsh

Maybe some Maggie dealers should chime in?

Brian: I think youa re correct in your assertion about being discontinous, if the crossover point was midbass at
around 250hz like the Martin Logans. I was thinking more in the bass region of 60 hz or less.