Do old Acoustats compete with new 'stats or dynamics

Subscribed.

Sure is hard to beat the speed of an electrostatic isn’t it?

While I’d love to find a pair of 2+2’s I would think by now time has taken it’s toll on the circuitry, which IIRC was subject to some pretty high voltages. Hope those with real-world, recent experiece will chime in & prove me wrong.

Interesting Q

Geez, over 20 years ago I owned 2 + 2s with both modified Servo amps and SS interfaces with Medallion transformers. These were magical, but whether they still stack up today is... ???

As to upgrades there is at least one guy whose mods are said to stabilize the servos. Don't recall his name


I also owned Magnepan 3.5Rs (also open baffle) but never could get the magic, even biamped.


A couple years ago I bought Emerald Physics KC IIs with Clarity cap and WireWorld XO upgrades, They have the openness of the both, are very efficient, AND are only 44" tall


hth

The X's were very...polite loudspeakers. The cabinets resonated and the Masonite back was worse than silly. We all tossed them. The + series was the big breakthrough 2+2, 3+3 and 4+4. I wish I had 3+3's but very few of them were made. Right now I have 2+2s and an ornate subwoofer system crossed over at 125 Hz. IMHO the only speakers that are better are the line source Sound Labs. I am chomping on the bit to get a set of Ultimate 845s. If you can get a set of clean 2+2s and can afford to add subs you will be seriously pleased. Taken care of Acoustats are immortal.
Unfortunately they became very inexpensive and most of them were mutilated by experimentation. The panels outside of their frames can be easily cracked if mishandled. Never buy loose Acoustat panels. The vast majority of them are damaged.