Best Electrostatic loudspeaker?

I have heard most of the Martin Logans, and the Apogees. I have owned two pairs of Maggies, and a pair of Acoustats, and lots of dynamic speakers. The Maggies are the best deal for the money of any speaker today. But, the best sounding speakers are without any question in my mind the Sound Labs. Presently, I own the "Pristines", which I believe I will always own as long as they last. They simply sound more like real music in every way. They do not sound like "Electrostatics" in the manner of Martin Logan, and they do not have the really fine, but nevertheless, "Maggie" sound. They simply sound more like music. I have used the Pristines with many different amplifiers and I do not find amplifiers to be critical, except they must be very good amps. Pristines are very revealing of poor components. Set up of the room is however very critical with Pristines and is probably the most important thing to do. It is more important than with dynamic speakers. But, then room set up is the most important factor that I have ever found for getting the best sound from any speakers. If I had to rate the Pristines on their best characteristic, I believe it would be tonal balance, which itself seems an unusual "best characteristic" for electrostatics. They also position bass sounds properly in the orchestra, which combined dynamic/electrostatic speakers never do, and dynamic speakers do less well. I hope my experience is informative, and well taken. There are many speakers I have not heard.

To Albert Porter: One thing that puzzles me is how restrictive are fuses, and your observation of using a different fuse or wiring around it think is aligned with this thought. Good contact and signal transfer (either at interconnects, speaker cables or power plugs, wall plates you name it) really influences the system output. Any recommendation of a high quality fuse supplier that you might know of that is indeed good in this. Your comments please. Regards

To Albert Porter: One thing that puzzles me is how restrictive are fuses, and your observation of using a different fuse or wiring around it think is aligned with this thought. Good contact and signal transfer (either at interconnects, speaker cables or power plugs, wall plates you name it) really influences the system output. Any recommendation of a high quality fuse supplier that you might know of that is indeed good in this. Your comments please. Regards

Anyone hear listened to the new Quads yet? I listened only breifly at a show and they sounded promising.

To Sol322. I have always wondered why with all the high end interconnect, speaker cable and accessories, why in the world does someone NOT make high end fuses? Strictly speaking, none of the components in a high end system can survive after bypassing the fuse. Not only would this void the warranty, it is a fire hazard. The reason fuses sound so bad, is the fact that it they are such a tiny conductor, (often the size of a human hair!) they are generally not soldered in place, they consist of metallurgy that is a completely different material, housed in a crappy (plastic) holder that can resonate, and in general, breaks an otherwise fairly seamless connection between the power and its final destination. Yes, they pretty much sound awful! The suggestion about replacing and/or wiring around the Soundlab fuses comes from inside information, and a certainty that there is no risk to the user. The Soundlab only draws one eight of an amp, because it converts the AC power to a ultra high voltage (ultra low amperage) power supply to drive the electrostatic panels. A failure at this power supply cannot cause a hazard for the user in this particular situation. Unfortunately, other high end equipment is just the opposite! I agree with you, where are the high end fuse holders, fuses and connectors to make them work? How about a sophisticated, all copper device that could solve at least some of these issues? Perhaps it is possible to develop a breaker that uses much larger contact area, and of superior materials, that could fail by going into trip mode. I am not a designer, so I guess I really don't know how to get there, but your question is superb, considering the money we all spend on the other pieces in the system, even an "expensive" fuse would be an inexpensive upgrade for all of us.