I have heard most of the Martin Logans, and the Apogees. I have owned two pairs of Maggies, and a pair of Acoustats, and lots of dynamic speakers. The Maggies are the best deal for the money of any speaker today. But, the best sounding speakers are without any question in my mind the Sound Labs. Presently, I own the "Pristines", which I believe I will always own as long as they last. They simply sound more like real music in every way. They do not sound like "Electrostatics" in the manner of Martin Logan, and they do not have the really fine, but nevertheless, "Maggie" sound. They simply sound more like music. I have used the Pristines with many different amplifiers and I do not find amplifiers to be critical, except they must be very good amps. Pristines are very revealing of poor components. Set up of the room is however very critical with Pristines and is probably the most important thing to do. It is more important than with dynamic speakers. But, then room set up is the most important factor that I have ever found for getting the best sound from any speakers. If I had to rate the Pristines on their best characteristic, I believe it would be tonal balance, which itself seems an unusual "best characteristic" for electrostatics. They also position bass sounds properly in the orchestra, which combined dynamic/electrostatic speakers never do, and dynamic speakers do less well. I hope my experience is informative, and well taken. There are many speakers I have not heard.
Best Electrostatic loudspeaker?
Many of us have found that nothing make the magic happen like a pair of Electrostatics. It's been an evolutionary road for me, starting with various dynamic systems, then ribbon/dynamic hybrids, then full range planar magnetics (Maggies), then Electrostatics. So those of you with experience in Electrostatics, which do you think is (are) the best designed and executed example(s) of the breed?