The $80,000/pair MartinLogan electrostatic hybrid, the Neolith, played with wonderful spatial imaging and translucent sound. The speaker's enclosure was painted in a glossy, thick automotive glass red paint called Rosso Fuoco, but is available in 6 other colors.
MartinLogan's Dennis Chern explained this latest descendent of the company's huge Monolith full-range electrostatic hybrid to me. The rated frequency response of 23Hz–22kHz is covered by a 4' by 2' CLS XStat electrostatic panel and two servo-controlled woofers—a 15" and 12" pair—cover the bass. Each speaker enclosure weighs 385 pounds (600 pounds crated) and stands 6'2" tall. Dennis showed me a small jumper panel on the top of the rear woofer enclosure that allows one to modify the crossover to maximize imaging at 3, 4 or 5 meters from the listening position. It was set for moderate voltage sensitivity at 90dB/2.83 Volts/meter.
His tip to potential owners is that they can carefully tune the crossover using these jumpers so the speakers will be optimized for their preferred listening distance.
