Runkster -
How many "facets" wide are your Dynastat's panels? The newer ones are 5 facets wide, while some older ones were only 3 facets wide. The 5-facet model has a better blend between woofer and panel, imho.
That being said, it's still difficult to get a really good blend between a point-source dynamic box woofer and a line-source dipole electrostatic panel. Fortunately the Dynastats give you a pretty good chance of making the blend, with the bass level control, brilliance control, and bias control. I've found that the key to getting the right balance is to use the bias control as a midrange level control, and in my experience with newer Dynastats, the optimum setting is actually well below the "crackle" threshold.
In my opinion, the weak link in most hybrids is the woofer box. I did some work on the woofer boxes of my Dynastats that helped the blend. First, I glued DeFlex subwoofer panels to the bottom and sides of the box (I had to cut the DeFlex into pizza slices to glue in between the X-braces on the sides). Then I tightly packed the port with drinking straws cut to length (to reduce port colorations). Finally, I put several pounds of solid lead on top of the enclosure. There were other things I tried, but these mods were the best of the bunch. Tip-toes also helped. Ideally, I would have attached several pounds of lead weight exactly in the center of each panel, but that was more work than I wanted to do.
Any full-range dipole (such as the Maggies) is very hard for a hybrid to compete with in terms of coherence. I've owned Maggie 12's and 3.6's (among others), and I'm a Sound Lab dealer. I compared my newer Dynastats extensively side-by-side with the 3.6's, and found them to have a lot in common, along with some distiguishing relative strengths and weaknesses. Details if you wish.
I haven't heard the 2.6's, and so cannot comment on how they compare with the 1.6's. With everything dialed in the Dynastats do quite well in the coherence arena, but the Maggies truly excel at coherence, being a boxless line-source dipole up and down the frequency spectrum.
Best wishes,
Duke
How many "facets" wide are your Dynastat's panels? The newer ones are 5 facets wide, while some older ones were only 3 facets wide. The 5-facet model has a better blend between woofer and panel, imho.
That being said, it's still difficult to get a really good blend between a point-source dynamic box woofer and a line-source dipole electrostatic panel. Fortunately the Dynastats give you a pretty good chance of making the blend, with the bass level control, brilliance control, and bias control. I've found that the key to getting the right balance is to use the bias control as a midrange level control, and in my experience with newer Dynastats, the optimum setting is actually well below the "crackle" threshold.
In my opinion, the weak link in most hybrids is the woofer box. I did some work on the woofer boxes of my Dynastats that helped the blend. First, I glued DeFlex subwoofer panels to the bottom and sides of the box (I had to cut the DeFlex into pizza slices to glue in between the X-braces on the sides). Then I tightly packed the port with drinking straws cut to length (to reduce port colorations). Finally, I put several pounds of solid lead on top of the enclosure. There were other things I tried, but these mods were the best of the bunch. Tip-toes also helped. Ideally, I would have attached several pounds of lead weight exactly in the center of each panel, but that was more work than I wanted to do.
Any full-range dipole (such as the Maggies) is very hard for a hybrid to compete with in terms of coherence. I've owned Maggie 12's and 3.6's (among others), and I'm a Sound Lab dealer. I compared my newer Dynastats extensively side-by-side with the 3.6's, and found them to have a lot in common, along with some distiguishing relative strengths and weaknesses. Details if you wish.
I haven't heard the 2.6's, and so cannot comment on how they compare with the 1.6's. With everything dialed in the Dynastats do quite well in the coherence arena, but the Maggies truly excel at coherence, being a boxless line-source dipole up and down the frequency spectrum.
Best wishes,
Duke