2. speakers
  3. 1066895077

Audio nirvana ends with planar/electrostats?

Always heard quite a consensus that the pilgrimage for lifelike hi-end speakers ends with electrostatic or magnestat speakers. Is that still the case today with top traditional design speakers like i.e. Avalon/Wilson ??

Has anybody of you tried to leave their beloved quad/Soundlab/Mlogan for a Avalon speakers type?

Avalons, seems not bad to many people, easy load, but possibly quite expensive(amp saving?)

On the contrary it seems that more power is needed for the electrostats/magneplanars but models are generally cheaper (more musical?)

In few other words, for a full musical experience and lifelike reproduction (jazz music) better to go for a ESL 989 or Soundlab speaker type and expend the rest of the budget for the right amplification, or go for a middle class Avalon ?

Has anybody of you critically audition their beloved electrostat/magneplan speaker towards a top notch Avalon ? Outcomes ?
Thanks for taking my request seriously and I know that we are talking helicopter view here, but I should start someway without making a too long and boring thread.
ad010685
essentialaudio
1,147 posts
 
Sound Lab speakers are the end of a journey for many who take the plunge. Having owned several other electrostatics and moving coil speakers, I eventually decided to become a dealer for them (there's my disclaimer). There aren't many other speakers I would own.
steelhead
288 posts
 
I have heard Avalon Eioldon speakers at a friends house and was very impressed with their musicality. He was using wonderful tube mono blocks made by (Nervostatic or something close to that - the guy that made the well regarded speakers). I really enjoyed them. Having said that, I really love my Martin Logan ReQuest speakers with cj tubes running them. It is the end of the road for me as I can't see spending a lot more money when I am extremely satisfied with my system now.

I think that stats and tubes are pretty much it with the exception of slam and dynamics.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Quad's are hard to beat, especially for jazz, but as others have said there are tradeoff's. Dynamic compression is the major one, sound level (not for jazz) is the secord one - they don't play loud, and pinpoint imaging can be hard to come by - reduces apparent resolution at times. They are not plug and play (for best results) and require careful placement and room treatment to get their best. Amplification makes a huge difference as well. After 5 years I got some full range dynamic's based on Dynaudio drivers and haven't looked back (much!-I still haven't sold the Quads!) In my book, for low to medium volume listening you just can't beat properly set up electrostats.
holzhauer
200 posts
 
Electrostats were not Nirvana for me. I left my Soundlab M-2's for a pair of Shahinian Diapasons. I like the Shahinians much more. Sorry but I have not heard the Avalons.
sedona
144 posts
 
Every single speaker will require some type of trade-off.
I owned the Innersound Eros MKII electrostatic and it was a great speaker - the problem was the sweet spot was only about a foot wide. I heard the Martin Logan CLS and it sounded great - although to me it lacked bass and for my experience, driven by Krell electronics, it wasn't able to go very loud before it clipped. Then I purchased a Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III and I thought/think that's a great speaker as well. In the end it's all a personal choice, I will stay with Von Schweikert.
Best of Luck
More to discover