as a quad 63 owner and magnepan 1.6 owner, i find the magnepans somewhat peaky in the upper mids/lower treble. while they are highly resolving, they are more inaccurate than the martin logans in the same frequency region. the quad esl is closer to timbral correctness than the newer quads. there has been a degredation in sound in the quads, starting with the 63s, 988/989 and 2805/2905, in comparison to the original quad.
the older martin logans--the cls 2 z, the sequel, the sequel 2, the quest and request, are less flawed in the middle of the midrange on up than the quads and magnepans. the problem with the hybrids is integration.
the apogee duetta signatures should also be considered in this discussion even though not technically a subject of this thread. it is possible that the hew clx will be superior to the quads and magnepans.
the older martin logans--the cls 2 z, the sequel, the sequel 2, the quest and request, are less flawed in the middle of the midrange on up than the quads and magnepans. the problem with the hybrids is integration.
the apogee duetta signatures should also be considered in this discussion even though not technically a subject of this thread. it is possible that the hew clx will be superior to the quads and magnepans.