Anyone Switch from Electrostatic/Planar to Dynamic


I was wondering if anyone has switched from Electrostatic/Planar speakers to traditional dynamic speakers and if so, from what to what and why? Thanx!
ericpsych

Showing 2 responses by maxgain

I want to change back after today! Give me Maggies! I tried to get a simple question answered by calling the Vandersteen factory. Don't try this at home. Man what an unpleasant experience that was! Buy form people who will treat you with respect. The folks at Magnepan were always helpful and polite, more than I can say for "Dick"!
I used Magneplaners and stats for years and loved them. I switched 10 years ago to Vandersteens and am very happy. Planars are wonderful under "ideal" conditions. Alas, many of us don't have ideal conditions, i.e. unlimited funds to make them work to their potential. I have a friend who has big SoundLabs and VTL 450's( i find that there some smaller amps in the 50-100 watt range that have a special magic), and it has some great qualities but his room size and acoustics limit their performance. The point is that dynamic speakers don't need the superhuman effort or Bill Gates cash(or pantyhose and a Glock 9mm, to visit all those 7-11's with)to get very good results. My friend fell in love with the idea of the "stats and tubes". He was one of the unfortunate soles that bought big Melos mono amps. It broke my heart to see the trouble he had. He couldn't run the damn things with anything as low budget as an ARC VT200, these things were addicted to watts and had to have them like a junkie needs his smack! The point is that given all the cash he spent compared to my "beer budget" system of 2Ce's and a Vandy sub driven by an ARC VT60(my room is very good for the Vandy's but not for dipoles)I prefer to listen to mine. By all means if you have the means, get the pannels and the big bottel head space heaters and build yourself a room for 'em cuz when they're right they will put a big grin on your face. But give me Vandy 5's and a much smaller amp and I can buy a small car with the cash left over and still have amazing sound. It's all in the set up!