Ken.....

Don't they get damaged during shipment?
madmax

Hello Troy,
To my way of thinking speakers like the ones you've listed are a double edged sword. They offer definite advantages, but require careful considerations in order to elicit the best performance. The most important consideration is the fact that these speakers produce as much sound from the rear of the speaker as the front. Since this information is opposite in polarity to the front sounds it has to be dealt with to prevent cancellation. However, you need some of this rearward directed information to reach the listener to add to the "openness" and "three dimensionality" of the speakers. So, my point is that the room and the placement, of the speaker, in the room become an equal partner to the speaker itself. You should consider some kind of sound absorption material placed behind the speakers and then be prepared to move them forward and backward to get the balance between rear sound wave and front sound wave. Also they tend to be very equipment specific, meaning the final sound of the system is very much dependant upon what's powering them. Electrostatic speakers usually have a low impedance point at higher frequencies, sometimes as low as 1.5 ohms at 8 or 9 kHz. This low impedance can present a capacitive load to the amplifier and you have to be sure that the amplifier is going to be happy with this kind of load characteristic. The non-electrostatic panel speakers, such as the Magnaplaners, are going to have a different load characteristic and I'm not familiar enough to give advice there. But understand that the electronics driving the speakers is going to be more defining than another moving coil type speaker (such as the Polks). It's kind of like buying a British sports car, as long as you know what you're in for and find that part of the "charm", then no problem.
Take care, Ken