I've used stats for over 30 years, including Quads, Soundlabs, and Acoustats. Generalizing can be a misleading, as each has had reliabilty hits and misses, sometimes varying by model- and as Duke wisely points out, sometimes even for the same model. If you love stats, resign yourself to higher maintenance. It goes with the turf. Newer generations of Quads and Soundlabs have improved reliability- if you can afford them, go that route. Older ones can be a bear, unless you learn to get parts and work on them yourself. It's easier than you think to repair or replace old quad panels. Do your research specifically for the model you want, and for the time when it was made. You can improve your odds that way. And keep a good pair of cone speakers as backup. You'll need them some day. And they'll remind you how good your stats really are.
Electrostat - M-L; Quad or Soundlab - reliable
Looking for the best electrostat that is reliable. Seems as Soundlab sounds the best performed, but is the most unreliable; Quad is second best performer - very safe - easiest to resell but also unreliable. M-L third, but maybe the most reliable.
Is the reliability issue due to people playing "Pink Floyd at 100 dB" or is reliability also an issue for us 80 to 85 dB people?
Is the reliability issue due to people playing "Pink Floyd at 100 dB" or is reliability also an issue for us 80 to 85 dB people?