Eminent Technology LFT-VIIIa

I'm a very happy LFT-VIIIa owner and highly recommend them, they compete with pretty well any speaker out there in terms of sound quality. A few things to bear in mind; they require a big-ass amp to drive'em, they take two people to put together, and Sound Anchor stands are pretty much a must. I also strongly recommend using DH Labs Q10 speaker wire with the LFTVIIIa's.

I have owned a lot of different speakers over the years: Apogee Duettas, Celestion 700's, Spica Angelus, Martin Logan Quest Z, Martin Logan Aerius, various B&W's, etc.. The closest comparison would be the Apogees, since they are both ribbon speakers they share similar qualities. In terms of how I would compare the ET's to Innersounds think about the difference you hear between a good analog set up vs. a digital source, or a quality tube component compared to a solid state design. That's a pretty fair comparison in my mind.

Click on my System and look at my main rig to get a view on the associated components I'm using. These speakers are way way too good for their modest price tag, and Bruce goes out of his way to make sure you're happy with his speakers. Buy 'em!

Nice response Jeff.

There are reviews here and at audioasylum. Even the nitpickers have good things to say about them. One of the principals at audioadvisor used to own, sell and like them a lot. Maybe you could just phone up and ask if he's still there and willing to talk.

They are not like Apogees in that those who are sensitive to discontinuities will hear the dynamic woofer. Never bothered me.

They are not like Innersounds in that they have somewhat wider horizontal dispersion. The Innersound sweet spot is too small for me. The ET vertical dispersion is quite narrow, however.

One person can put them together, but it's a bit of work. (Prop square spined magazines under the front brackets to line them up vertically as you screw them to the woofer cabinet.) Looks are so subjective. I thought they were handsome in a Popular Mechanics kind of way. Friends liked their transparency - that you could literally see through them. But they are undeniably chunky and made with an engineer's visual aesthetic...there's certainly no fine woodwork on that woofer box.

They don't need a sub for most music listeners. Even for home theater they might be okay, but we're not talking vmps Larger here.

Hmmm,

I have a somewhat different perspective. I've owned the Maggie Mg-III and MG-12, Carver AL-III, Acoustat 1+1, 2+2, and Model III, Eminent Technology LFT-VIIIa, InnerSound Eros original and Mk-II, Newform Research Module 30 and VMPS RM30. Additionally I've heard many other popular electrostats and ribbon speakers at length, with my own recordings.

Of the speakers I have owned and evaluated, my preference, based on overall performance, first-last, is as follows: VMPS RM30, InnerSound Eros, Acoustats & Newform Research (draw), Magnepans, ET LFT-VIII, and Carver AL-III.

When I owned the ET VIIIa, I found them easy to listen to and well-balanced. On the downside, I found them somewhat industrial in appearance, lacking in immediacy/detail, and somewhat dynamically limited. Also, they are not the easiest speakers to drive. The InnerSound Eros will play much louder and more dynamically, and has a greater sense of incisiveness, immediacy, and transparency. The two are not in the same league in my view. Downside to the Eros is mainly the head-in-the-vice syndrome due to the marked high-frequency beaming. I didn't realize how much it bothered me until I switched to other speakers.

For the criteria you have set, I think your best bets would be ribbon-hybrid models from VMPS or Newform Research. Selah Audio seems to have some interesting line arrays too, but I have not auditioned them so I can't comment with any certainty on those.

Happy Listening and Happy Holidays!