Dipole Asymmetry

maplegrovemusic,

Same thing happened to me. I was doing a double blind listening test with a couple of friends comparing interconnects. My wife happened to step behind my left Aerius i speaker to switch on the little spot light on the floor and my buddy raised his hand thinking I changed the interconnect....Incredible...(OK, if you thought I was serious, I have a bridge to sell)..

Sorry, just could not resist.

OP: "Thanks for all the feedback. I think, personally, I’ll take rearward firing energy out of the equation and go with a conventional speaker design."

Conventional speakers also have rearward firing energy as well as a lot more energy hitting the side walls, floor and ceiling.

OP: "I’ve learned that everything, EVERYTHING makes a difference. The only question is how significant, and how audible is it."

Unless you have a room that is particularly unsuited for electrostats, and you would have to try them to know for sure, electrostats should not be more of a problem than other speaker designs. As you know, all speakers come with their own issues.