What happened to the flat diaphragm speakers that were popular during the 1980s?
The reply is very thorough but the sound of planars is amazing. I own Martin Logan speakers. The two real big issues are money and placement. For a surround sound system you are looking at about $8,000 just for speakers give or take. Next you need a very high quality amplifier as planars require ample power. Many people would not appreciate the nuance of a planar speaker so going to a big box store and spending $600 for foreign made speakers including a surround sound amplifier is good enough. Next is placement. Planars must be brought forward into the room and focused. Typically they need to be placed 8 feet apart and anywhere from 4 – 6 feet from the back wall. This takes time. When you cannot design the room and it has to contain daily living items, the sound will suffer. I also have bi-polar standard cone type speakers and both really need to be driven hard to make the room come alive. But when the sound is there, it is something that very few people have ever experienced.
