When I first started on my quest for better sound I gravitated towards electrostatic loudspeakers. These had the clarity and see through qualities I had never heard before and I wanted that. It seemed to me this level of clarity and transparency in the music was the be-all-to-end-all in reproduction.
Over the long term, I could not live with electrostats. Their lack of dynamics and frequency limitations just got in my way until I sold the pair and tried another: Martin Logans, Quads, Acoustats, Janzen. None had all that I was looking for and so I moved on, first to planar ribbons like those in Magnepan, and finally to hybrid ribbons as found in Infinity. None were perfect.
They weren't for me.
Today, I am always a little surprised when a new visitor to our music rooms isn't delighted with what they hear. I am surprised because to me they are the best combination of compromises I have found. I tend to forget that not everyone has settled into a comfortable zone with their audio quest.
I forget that when I was enamored with electrostats I found dynamic drivers ponderous.
At the time, they weren't for me.
I forget that once I had accepted the trade-offs between clarity and dynamics and moved to a hybrid of planar, ribbon, and cone, that I had made a conscious choice to abandon one quest in favor of an alternative.
That system was for me.
If you are happy with the trade-offs in your system it's alright if a visitor doesn't agree.
Perhaps your system isn't for them.
