These speakers are easy to drive, have a fantastic sound and great imaging. They are easy to drive and once positioned correctly, are easy to listen to. One thing to watch out for in placement is that they produce sound from both the front and the rear of the film, so ideally you would want similar surfaces behind both of them. I didn’t so getting them placed properly took a bit more time due to time effects from one speaker getting the reflection from the wall behind it while the other speaker had no wall behind it. It took some toe-in and some experimentation with distance to the wall to get around this. Once they are set up though, they sound fantastic.
They sound especially great with well-recorded orchestral music – especially brass. They also sound fantastic with vocals and piano. And then they sound great with contemporary as well. There’s really no music I’ve found that these don’t reproduce well.
Some reviewers have stated these to be a bit bright — I would say it depends a lot on your amplifier. For example, at first I had them powered by a Bryston B60 (60WPC). This amplifier had plenty of power to drive them, but I found output in the mid to high range was a bit harsh, but the lower end was extremely tight and present. The harshness at the high end went away to some extent with time, but never fully relaxed. I then tried them with my Classe CAP-150 (150WPC). The result was a much smoother sound through the mids and high, but the lows were a bit too relaxed. Finally, I hooked them up to my Classe CAP-2100 and that’s how it’s remained. The highs are smooth, clear, and crisp — without being fatiguing on the ears — and the lows are punchy, precise, and accurate. Most people probably don’t have those amps sitting in their closets (luckily my wife hasn’t sold them on me yet), so I would suggest auditioning in person and making a decision on an amp and speaker combination together.
I would definitely recommend a sizeable subwoofer for this in a large room. Since these speakers are very efficient, they put out a lot of sound with even modest amplification (even at 60W). The lows drop off at around 50Hz in my room, so the sub really helps take the sound to full range.
The only real downside I see with these speakers — and it’s minor — is that the terminals don’t allow for tight attachment of spade connectors. I plan to contact the manufacturer to see if they offer a binding post upgrade.

I came from a pair of Polk Towers and I am blown away. The amount of detail is unbelievable. In the store I was leaning towards a pair of B&W’s and a Marantz PM8005 amp in another room. The associate was kind enough to hook up the ML’s next to the Bowers I was surprised how clear and natural the ML’s were not to mention the imaging was amazing! The Bass is something lots of people are unsure about but when you put a little power into these guys they really come alive. I know its possible to power the stats off of anything but they really shine with some clean power. Another area of concern is placement. I sit 12 feet away and have these guys 7 feet apart. They are pulled out about 2 feet from the wall and have at least 1.5- 2 feet to each wall. They did take some time to set up and dial in but even right up against the wall they were great, I found they just kept improving the more I played with them. These fore sure have to be on everyones list to listen to!

I really cannot say enough about the Electrostats. They have the most beautiful sound. You will definitely hear things you’ve never heard in both music and movies.

These sound pretty sweet IF set up properly. They are not for everyone’s taste because some music sounds better on more traditional high end speakers