B&W 703 Floorstanders

[Florian]

Well the choice for you is obvious in my opinion. Get a Magnepan MG1.6 or a MG12 depending on the size of your room. www.magnepan.com and once you have them and lived with them for a few years let me know and we can move up the box-less realm. :-)
You can ask me all the questions you want when it comes to the lack of the box.

[StanleyMuso]

Well the choice for you is obvious in my opinion. Get a Magnepan MG1.6 or a MG12 depending on the size of your room. www.magnepan.com and once you have them and lived with them for a few years let me know and we can move up the box-less realm. :-)
You can ask me all the questions you want when it comes to the lack of the box.

I have been aware of the advantages (and disadvantages) of electrostatics for years and been tempted on and off a number of times. Indeed, about 25 years ago I owned a set of electrostatic headphones and enjoyed them very much until they went missing. From memory however, they were severely lacking in the bass department and were not comfortable to wear. They were also inconvenient in that they had to be permanently connected to the speaker connection of the amp by way of a special box, so could not be used with other equipment. They were replaced by Senheissers.

As far as electrostatic speakers go, I could never afford them, and did not have the room to accomodate them. The ones I listened to in a local show room (sorry, I don't remember the model), were absolutely huge and hugely expensive - in fact I could have bought a couple of cars for the asking price. I suffer the usual constraints of a family man whose money goes on home and family. Perhaps one day, when they are all grown up and off my hands I might give it a go. But until then, I am constrained to box speakers of about a metre or so in height. For the present, my wife would be most upset if I tried to introduce what she calls "room dividers" into our lounge. Perhaps when my son leaves and takes his pool table with him, I might have the room. I don't know if electrostatics would give me the perfect sound, but all I can say that in all the years I have been involved in this hobby, I have a certain sound in my head which I want to achieve, and have never had the good fortune to find it. By the by, I used to play violin in an ensemble, my wife plays piano, and my children have played clarinet, piano, violin and cello. I attend concerts, classical, jazz and pop all the time, in many venues with different accoustic properties, so know what live sound is. It is very rarely that I can sit back, close my eyes and listen to the recorded concert and think that I am there. That state of realism would be the ideal, but I just don't believe it is achievable. Perhaps it can come close, but I doubt if the recorded sound will ever be totally realistic.

Sorry about the ramble.

[Florian]

Well there is hope in the future. I have a few friends who are married to musicians and have speakers that come extremely close to real. Brads girlfriend plays on a 4 million dollar stradivarius violin in switzerland, Josephs wife is Della Manley sings wonderfully and has a few CD's, Vince's family plays in an orchestra, Trygve Lode's makes movie soundtracks and film clips and there are countless more and they all have one thing in common...PM me for the answere.

-Flo