I went to listen to a few speakers today. Went to bestbuy first. Couldn't really listen to anything there and get a true picture anyway. So I headed over to tweeters...Gulp.

It was slow so I had the run of the place. OMG the Martin Logan Prodigy's! I'd read about sound stage and transparency before but had never truelly experienced it.

Granted these speakers sold for like 5k which is way out of my price range but OMG I fear I'm totally spoiled now. It was like music was coming out of the thin air.

What am I to do..weeep.

Quickly: Listen to AM radio, then FM radio, then some poorly compressed MP-3s, then some CDs and finally, with your Axioms, SACD or DVD-Audio discs.

Your situation is not unlike being careful after a deep-water dive... take it slow and you'll be fine.

Oh. Then go out and buy a motorcycle/snow mobile (Geographically determined) with all the money you saved by buying Axioms!

I'm glad to see someone mention Martin Logan speakers.......
I too was impressed with them ( I looked at them before buying Axiom's).

The one thing (other than being "pricey") I wonder about yet is...............what disadvantages are there to the electostatic membrane type speaker? ( if any).........anyone know?

I believe they are fairly difficult to drive and not terribly efficient. You would need to invest in good quality separates to truly enjoy them.

And difficult to place?

I also wonder if "dust" would damage the membrane,......you know,...... electrostatic charges attract "particles".

Electrostatics that I have played with are not hard to place. I have never owned them but I have helped set up about a dozen sets. Some however do report that they are a down right pain in the arss. They are however way to much $$$$$$$$$$$ and it takes a whack more $$$$$$$$$$$$$ to drive them right.

So the grille's dont't get full of dust, (over time).........
right?

Man,..........I was hoping someone would give a technical
synopsis on electrostatic speakers.

In reply to:

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Man,..........I was hoping someone would give a technical
synopsis on electrostatic speakers.

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Electrostatic panels employ a very thin polyester film which has a special coating to render them semi-conductive. The one half-thousandth of an inch thick film is the driven element of the diaphragm which is sandwiched between two perforated metal screens. The screens are coated with a dedicated formula to prevent the panels from arcing and to avoid potential pinholes in the film. The bias voltage is high enough to yield the necessary sensitivity, but low enough to avoid complications in high humidity environments. The bias voltage is derived from the system's electronics-the external, low voltage power-supplies. The system operates within absolutely safe micro-ampere levels. The panels are housed in frames and decoupled from the woofers with small rubber pads to prevent transmission of unwanted vibrations to the panels. The subwoofers' construction-we call them subs, because they are separate enclosures and operate quite independently from the panels-is remarkably solid. The enclosures are made from 1 1/4-inch thick MDF braced with eight baffles from front to back, placed radially around the single driver-a modified long-throw 10-inch unit. The woofers' cones are made from a special polymer-coated paper, which makes them rather stiff with excellent damping characteristics.

Speaker specific but you get the idea...................

Leaf, if you liked the Martin Logans, you should find some maggies - incredible speakers. Entry prices won't make your nose bleed either.

Leaf-

I really love the Prodigys. They're amazing speakers. I'm glad you got to hear them. Are you sure that they weren't $5000 per speaker, though? Last time I saw a new set of them they were going for $10k. Granted, even the lower price is still WAY out of my price range, but it's nice to at least dream if that's the case.

-Kev

Thanks.