@scothurwitz, the LFT-8b is overlooked for a couple of reasons.
1- Eminent Technology has very few dealers (compared to Magnepan). 2- ET doesn’t advertise, not playing the ads-for-reviews game. In spite of that, the speaker has received a number of rave reviews (Robert Greene in TAS, a couple in UK mags).
A big fan of the LFT-8b is VPI’s Harry Weisfeld, who proclaimed it to have the best midrange he has ever heard, in any loudspeaker, at any price. I assume he has heard the original Quad ;-) .
But like other products in hi-fi, some are trendy, some aren’t. Maggies are, ET’s aren’t. I compared the LFT-8b to the MG1.7i, and the difference was dramatic (I haven’t heard the 3.7i, but own Tympani T-IVa’s). I can only assume 1.7i owners have never heard the LFT-8b.
The LFT-8 has a much friendlier impedance curve than do Maggies, the magnetic-planar panels being 11 ohms (nice for tube amp lovers), the complete speaker 8. Like Maggies, insensitive/inefficient, but Maggies soak up far more power.
I don’t want sound negative towards Magnepan (VERY high value loudspeakers imo), but the ET LFT magnetic-planar driver is a far better designed and built driver than Magnepan’s single-ended m-p drivers. Push/pull (magnets on both sides of the Mylar), vapor-deposited low mass foil conductors (in comparison to the wire conductors glued onto Maggies’ Mylar), and stiff metal frames keeping the magnets in place (Maggies have no such frames).
The LFT-8b isn’t pretty, but the music it makes sure is. So is the price!