Hello All,never really been a tweaker,if it sounds good where it is,then leave it alone,whats that saying,"if it aint broken etc"i dont even dust the things,i tell her that the dust aids the sound,she tells me to get off my lazy arse an polish em or she,ll polish me.......off.Still havent heard from Audiovenue,sent them another E about ten min ago,if i dont get a reply i,ll try that shop in Oxford,dont need to chase shops to spend the ammount of money i have in mind.........Take Care All.....Dave

The Lowdown on Final Electrostatics :......................................They're a Netherlands based Company who claim to have solved many of the problems that afflict electrostats.....................Interesting differences between Final and their contemporaries......................1. The panels they make are flat as they insist that proper dipolar behaviour   and minimal harmonic distortion cannot be achieved otherwise......   I see their point as the inner wavefront will never be identical to the outer wavefront   nor will the tensioning of the diaphragm be seen as symmetrical.............................2. Instead of supporting a single membrane with spars, they divided   the diaphragm into vertical strips.............................3.  The vertical strips yield what they call "wide dispersion" - not dissimilar to curvilinear.   (Not sure how they can manage this as I can't see how smaller strips would do what    they normally achieve using a very wide area)    Apparently, reviewers have been able to walk around and still get stable off-axis    response and solid imaging - almost like conventional speakers!......................4. While Martin Logans early efforts at diaphragm deposition resulted in migration, Final    claim to have solved it by deeply embedding/sandwiching the metal layer in the centre.   Here's a killer -- as a result, Final claim IMMUNITY to dust, cigarette smoke, and   contaminants which would severely affect their competitors products (!)...................5. The most important technical difference is that Final INVERT the signal to the electrostat i.e.    the Stators are fixed at GND potential and the diaphragm is charged with the signal instead.   This makes 'em completely safe (even though other Stats are harmless anyway)...............6. Just to compound matters they are using only 25% of the voltage of a typical Stat(!!!).......7. They can maintain an impedance >4 ohms across the spectrum but efficiency is very low    at 86db/1W..................8. F response of a 6ft model (13.5" wide) aint bad at all - 38Hz to 22KHz....without subwoofer   assistance! (But you can add one of their range of subs too...)............................9. Instead of using ML's vacuum bonding type process, they can simply glue the assemblies together in a normal class A environment, by virtue of the way the loudspeaker operates.....................10.Comparisons between the sound of comparably priced Stats to Final is likened to "Tubes vs Solid state"...with Final being the tubes!The reason is that Final's hybrid subwoofer tends to be "softer" in the bass, but not unpleasant.....................(Continued.............)

Finals Part II.....................11.Prices, from what I can see are pretty good, and they seem to have a more interesting range of electrostatic "Surround/Satellite" speakers than ML do............................12. The real cruncher is the packaging. The Control/Services Unit at the bottom is self assembly i.e. you have to mate the 2 together on arrival. However, the packaging is a lot flatter and LIGHTER than competitors.Typically these things weigh in at a mere 35lbs or so for the 6 footer, so carriage is far easier !Stick it under your arm and walk away !....................................Appearance is decent as you would expect, and the footprint is smaller than your typical Stat.Long term reliability and company reputation would be the only other issue.My feeling is that the true test of a Company lies in it's longevity and success. ML have been around for 20-odd years now and are more successful than ever.Others tend to come and go but it will be interesting to see how Final, currently 7 or 8 years old, gets on..................Best regards.....................................................Bill.