Electrostatic-vs-Planar strength, weakness


I am curious about talking to owners who have had both types of speakers, what is some pluses and minus camparing a large Electro hybrid like an Innersound Eros to a Maggie 3.6?
chadnliz
duke - i would like to put down the dealers name but i dont think it would be proper ( heres a hint, i live in southern california)...

over the 18 years i have known him, to say he is a "really good person" is a understatement:
-always does the right thing even if he takes a loss
-good for his word
-honest
-community services (help the poor)
-tells the truth
-generous
-never oversells

this is best audio dealer a customer could ever as ask for. his viewpoint/opinion/experience is as good as gold. i think this is why he gets the premium high end home system installation in the area and out of the area- impeccable reputation.

when i look to make a purchase outside of what he carries, if he knows the item he will offer his experience and the pro/cons of the item...

i do agree with you- there are 2 sides to every story...this is what was told to me

in this case with soundlab - 18 months for a repair is a long time and incorrectly repaired is insult to injury (soundlab replaced the rear base in a different wood finish because it got water damaged at the factory- didnt want to change it because it was behind the speaker and would not be seen)...

i dont have any reason to disbelieve him not to mention i have known him too long (doesnt exaggerate- very understated).. but i have experienced long repair times myself and it is pretty uncool imo get crappy service on a $$$ product)

in the case of a planar speaker (very, very delicate item) i think magnapan wins hands down- durablity, servicebility, cost, sound quality and company reputation hands down of any planar/static/ribbon speaker (this includes martin logan,quad,apogee,soundlab,audiostatic,eminent tech,carver etc...)

a lot of planar companies have come and gone but maggie has produced a high quality over the years and i have never heard or read about poor qc or customer service... that is pretty good for a 30 + year manufacture..

btw, i am not affilated with the audio industry (medical sales) just a audiophile who loves music and has been around this stuff for 18 years....
I concur with what most are saying here. I had a complete Martin Logan surround setup with Prodigys up front. The detail/resolution and holographic presentation of vocals were jaw dropping. Sweet spot was small. Hybrid bass was fine by me, although others have felt it was problematic integrating.

In the end, I found the sound too analytical for my equipment, room, tastes. I replaced everything with a Magnepan surround setup. To my ears, in my system, in my room the Magnepans are more musical, natural, and forgiving. I definitely felt like I lost some detail, but I have no complaints with the Maggies in this regard.

Dipole bass is different as others have mentioned. As said elsewhere, the pitch definition seems superior to dynamic speakers, but it doesn't rock like a dynamic speaker. That's fine by me, but your tastes may vary.

Maggies don't have the best build quality, but some easy and sometimes free tweaks to improve sound (e.g. fuse and attenuator bypass, but do this at your own risk). The funky posts they have for banana plugs only suck. I'm in the process of upgrading to normal 5-way binding posts on mine.

Even after my preference for the Maggies over the MLs, I couldn't give up the Prodigys until I only recently decided to sell them. They were that good at what they did do. Read up on what everyone has to say about the different types/models, audition for yourself if you can, and pick your poison!