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Three electrostat choices and my room-- need help

I am going to replace my old speakers. My wife wants only electrostats. I have wanted enough bass to finally have a full range set, good for organ, bass fiddle and maybe kick drum. I think our little club here has enough offerings for me to be ready to buy. So I start with three choices, but in each case, the ads here say "too big for my room".

My music room is 12 by 24. I like Martin Logan Prodigy, but feel the mark-up is a bit high, even used. We both like the Quad 989. And my wife likes the big Magenepans. What can my room tolerate? And all your wisdom is appreciated!
aceto
soundsuperior
14 posts
 
You might try a pair of Wisdom Audio M-50 which is a 50' planar magnetic driver atop a 12' woofer. It will fit your room well and give you bass down to about 18-22 Hz without any boominess and the planar/electrostat sound but with a wide sweetspot.
Call me at 248-626-2780 or e-mail to discuss further.
Steve
slappy
903 posts
 
My wife wants only electrostats
We both like the Quad 989. And my wife likes the big Magenepans.

doesent sound like you have a problem at all man!
bigkidz
1,784 posts
 
Slappy be makin' this forum topic happy! Go with it!
blw
147 posts
 
I think you've got enough room for electrostatics. They really need to be off the back wall, but with 24' you should be able to do that.

If you liked the ML Prodigy, consider an Odyssey. They're available here used for about $4500/pr.

The Magnepans should fit too, and the 3.6s are even less - new. Great value. Not sure about placement of the 20.1s although they would seem to have the same requirements as the 3.6's.
calanctus
151 posts
 
FWIW, here was my experience auditioning electrostats:
-Prodigy, at least the way the dealer set it up, was so fatiguing I had to stop the demo after 10 minutes. Sure, the soundstage was impressive, and they had plenty of resolution, but they were overbearing in both the treble and bass. Electronics were McIntosh solid state. The room was probably too small for them.

-Quad 988: nice sound, enough bass for my taste, but just a tick to the bright side. It took me about 45 minutes of careful listening to decide this.

-another electrostat you did not mention: The Soundlab U1. To me these were the most natural sounding, and they had impressive bass power and clarity. The soundstage was not as focused as the Quad's.
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