[twitch54]

If you do get a set please post a review.

Steve, not likely anytime soon, my Spire's are less than three years old and the 'honeymoon' continues !

I hope to hear a set when I finally make the trek out to see my buddy in Joisey.

you got a bud who is getting a pair or is he a Dealer ?

[SteveFord]

Neither, I'm afraid.  At least I don't THINK he's looking for new speakers but you can never tell what people might do.
He does have some amps and old tube receivers I'm interested in.  I gather he has enough old stereo gear to sink a battleship.

[josh358]

think I remember reading in the soundlabs material that a curved surface is not good because it causes uneven motion and stretching of the material when played. That's why soundlabs curves are actually segmented flat faces to eliminate this distortion.

The Roger guy had a bunch of other reasons.

 plus, then you are permanently mated to that little sub box, and it is a box. I like that with the maggies I am free to choose, and ultimately I will want twin ob servo subs, not enclosed subs, and I am free to place them optimally.

I just read that yesterday. They point out that a curved diaphragm loses tension when it moves towards the rear, and gains tension when it moves towards the front. This they say causes an asymmetrical and therefore distorted waveform at high amplitudes. (Of course, most Maggies suffer from that problem too, since they use single-ended magnet assemblies.)

Another criticism I've heard of curved panels is that they don't image as well. And I wonder about the power response. Research shows that power response is one of the main contributors to subjective signal quality.

Wasn't it Roger Sanders who came up with the curved electrostatic in the first place?

[Jazzman53]

I own flat panel electrostats and I can say that their imaging and dynamics are definitely superior to curved panels.  Of course, there is a price to pay for that--- their ultra-narrow sweet spot makes them useless for party speakers, unless all your guests are sitting in your lap at the sweet spot! 

[jtwrace]

I own flat panel electrostats and I can say that their imaging and dynamics are definitely superior to curved panels.  Of course, there is a price to pay for that--- their ultra-narrow sweet spot makes them useless for party speakers, unless all your guests are sitting in your lap at the sweet spot!

Then you can talk about the first thing that pops up.   

[OzarkTom]

Those are beautiful speakers. I just wish ML or another company would make ESL's with DD OTL tube amps. Then you would not need a cone subwoofer for the bass.

Where are these designers?

[Rclark]

I own flat panel electrostats and I can say that their imaging and dynamics are definitely superior to curved panels.  Of course, there is a price to pay for that--- their ultra-narrow sweet spot makes them useless for party speakers, unless all your guests are sitting in your lap at the sweet spot!

 Well we already know pretty much that these kinds of speakers are really a listening room thing and not a house party thing, so that said, I'd prefer the benefits you described for flat panels. We have other speakers for parties. Hell, it doesn't take much of a speaker to entertain a party. In most circles, especially younger ones all you need is prodigious bass, and it doesn't need to be pretty, just have bass.