Electrostat - M-L; Quad or Soundlab - reliable

Make me fourth in line for the Acoustat's. I have the nice wide 3's and they are old and perfect sounding.

I have lived with stators all my life. Started with the Quad 57s, had Servo Statics, Quad 63s, Accoustats, InnerSounds and live now with Sound Labs. I have NEVER had reliability issues. OK, I blew a few panels of the 57, when I listend too loud and that was all. In my experience the Accoustats never even came close to the resolving power of the 63s, but they played louder and had more dynamics. Same for the InnerSounds. Concerning Sound Labs, I think Duke has said it all.

Put me down as fifth for the Acoustats.
Acoustat had a number of different model. Some preferred the earlier Full range models and some liked the later Spectra series and all the different models.

What do I think, well I think any of them are the best bang for the $$ you can find and are known as the most reliable stat there is.

Another thing is Bass, certain models of Acoustats have incredible bass and it's not disjointed like some coming from a woofer, this is all panel.

I'm into the earlier ones that run the panels full range and by that I mean there is no x-over, all panels run fullrange, very coherent, no phase issues with x-overs.

I run Acoustat X with Direct Drive Servo Tube amps.

I've had a few pairs of Maggies and still have a pair of MG IIIa in storage and traded my Eminent Technology 8a to get these. Best move I ever made.

If you can find a pair of Acoustats, grab them, and if you can find a pair with the Direct Drive Servo Tube amps, jump all over them. The amps can be easily upgraded to perform as reliable and stable as new tube amps.

Hi, I also have owned electrostats for many years 4 pair of quad 57s with only one problem a panel went out. 23 years ago purchased a pair of Audioatatics ES240s they have been trouble free since day one. They sound great and do everything I want them to do,and yes i'd say they are reliable.I play this pair almost every day.

Maybe the Acoustats were TOO good.... no replacement parts revenue was being generated....

As a long time MartinLogan owners, I can say that how long the panels last really depends on the environment they're in and how they're taken care of.

Monthly vacuuming of the panels keeps the dust buildup to a minimum. Humidity affects the lifespan also.

The newer panels will last 10 years EASILY before needing replacement. My Sequel panel were 16 years old and instead of replacing them, I upgraded.... but you could tell the "magic" was gone...

Hope that helps... I also agree about auditioning a pair of Maggies. They have a similar sound to e-stats. I'm not sure about their reliability, however.. Someone else with more knowledge about Maggies can attest....

Good Luck!

Tom
www.martinloganowners.com