Do larger planar speakers produce more accurate sound?


Planar speakers generate sound pressure via vibrating membrane panels. The excursion of the membrane x radiating area= sound pressure. This would mean that for a given sound level, membranes have smaller excursion in larger planar speakers than in smaller ones. Does this mean that larger speakers will produce more accurate sound?

I am not talking about the obvious benefits of the larger speakers in terms of low frequency production, so let's not get into that.

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I've read and heard folks say that they believe the Levinson stacked Quad 57's with the ribbon tweeters to be better sounding than Soundlabs. I cannot make that claim myself, I just wanted to put that out there.

My conversations in the past regarding Soundlabs were relevant to the overall build quality of their speakers. I cannot understand why Quad hasn't seen Soundlabs as a guiding example in how to build an electrostatic speaker correctly.

A friend of mine is currently building the Levinson 57 stacks, so I wait with anticipation to hear them once they're finished.

The Levinson HQD system was something I heard MANY years ago, so I cannot say how it would compare with other systems.  It was more than stacked Quad 57s; it had a 24" Hartley woofer and Kelly ribbon tweeters.  At the time, I thought it sounded okay, but not decidedly better than anything else I heard.  More recently, I've heard stacked Quads assembled by MyEmia that incorporate bespoke tube amps that take advantage of the high impedance of the electrostatic panels by not utilizing the kind of output transformers one would normally need to lower the output impedance of the amp to match conventional drivers; the stacked Quads delivered surprising volume and bass impact for a speaker otherwise known for their deficiencies in these qualities.

The big Soundlabs are indeed very nice sounding speakers, but I would not pick them over the better horn systems I've heard (custom made speakers).  I would also like to hear the new Beveridge hybrid electrostatic/dynamic systems; I heard the originals and like it except for the overblown bass response.  

Some do have that sort of nasal coloration, some do not.  I am not a fan of most of the current production compression driver systems (e.g., Klipsch, JBL), but systems made with some very special drivers from the like of Western Electric, International Projector Company, Yoshimura Laboratories, G.I.P. Laboratories, Goto, ALE, and Cogen, for example, coupled with the right horn can sound great and not sound like megaphones.  It is the bane of serious horn fans that the most popular and common horn systems, like those from Klipsch, JBL and Altec, do have that tendency if one does not work to reduce that problem and select the right components to complement these drivers.  It is also VERY unfortunate that the best of these drivers can be extremely expensive.  I have a fried seriously looking at a single $14,000 driver which he would buy on-line in a heartbeat if the seller would do something as simple as take a dc resistance measurement.