Soundlab speakers...how reliable?

No issues with new models. They will last many, many years. Even the old ones did. I owned several older sets and loved them.

Soundlabs are the best sounding electrostatic loudspeaker I have heard. Twb2 has discussed the improvements and upgrades that has increased reliability. I prefer the non PX panels and have had no issues. Soundlab increased the thickness of the non PX Mylar which increased their reliability. As stated, the Torrid II has made them more efficient and easier to drive. There are 2 different types of backplates offered as well. I recommend the " hotrod version." I own the A3's.

"No issues with new models. They will last many, many years. Even the old ones did. I owned several older sets and loved them."

I just had an email exchange with Dr. Roger West at SoundLab about this topic, and he confirmed my comments. In fact, he said that of the 3 PX panels that have had to come back since their introduction, two of the problems were probably due to mishandling. He also thought that the perception of 'frequent' problems with the previous generation of panels was very overblown.

I own M2's that have not had any issues and live in New Jersey which gets pretty humid in the summer.
I drive them with audiovalve challenger 180 monoblocks and they perform extremely well;ralph's amps are on my radar in the future.
I installed the impedance mods and they already had the copper diffusion ring with the tordial transformers upgrades.

In January Soundlab introduced a new backpanel which not only made the speaker a lot easier to drive but also has it sounding better, regardless of the amplifier used.