Sound Lab vs Magnepan 20.7
On its own, and compared to even large dynamic box speakers, the 20.7s present an imposing front--6'7" tall and 29" wide. However, compared to most of the Sound Labs panels, it's pretty modest. SL's Majestic 945PX is 8'10" tall and almost 40" wide. Its diaphragm is 3125 square inches, 834 sq. in. larger than the 20.7's entire front baffle. *Of course* it should sound better. It's also nearly three times the price of the 20.7s. SL's Ultimate Series U-1PX is over 3.26 times as expensive. Only SL's entry-level panel, the M-3PX is roughly equivalent in size and price, at 67" tall (12" shorter) by 30" wide (same width, but probably about the same diaphragm area) and $14,590/pair $740 more). At almost $20K/pair, SL's the M-2PX could make for a reasonably fair comparison as well. |
Johnnyb53, the technologies of the speakers are entirely different. Planar magnetics with voice coils glued to the membranes with permanent magnets running the height of the speakers plus ribbon tweeters versus full range electrostatics with membranes with a light magnetic coating and a charge applied along with insulated stator wires on both sides of the membrane which are driven by the amplifier via step up transformers. Entirely different. And then there are the radiation pattern differences, i.e. flat diaphragms versus stepwise faceted panels which effect a virtual line source with a figure-8 pattern. |
Essentialaudio - With all due respect if I may correct you, electrostatic speaker panels do not have any magnetic coating. They are a non-magnetic design, and the membranes need to have an electrically conductive coating in order to be charged to a fixed positive voltage. The rest of your explanation of their operation is correct. |
