Congratulations, Jack, you are barking up the right tree. You might want to add Quad USA Monitors and Sound Labs to your list - they offer different, legitimate sets of tradeoffs and outstanding sound. If I was buying used, I'd be careful about buying Martins. Think about the forces acting on that curved diaphragm at it's moving. It gets stretched as it moves out, and compressed as it moves in. Too much loud music, for too long, and you need a new diaphragm. Martin diaphragms are easy to replace because there's a need for it. Sound Labs use a segmented curve that gives wider dispersion than the Martins, and (among other things) allows the use of a much thinner, lighter diaphragm. Maggies are very well executed and voiced, but IMHO ribbons don't have the resolving potential full range electrostatics do. That large, low-pressure radiating area gives a "through an open window" effect ribbons can't really emulate (nor anything else, for that matter). Martins, Sound Labs and Quads use various techniques to get better high frequency dispersion than traditional flat panel electrostats, and so are the best of the breed.
