Have to agree. Tympani, in particular, sounds about a real as it can get on a pair of decent panels, even small ones.
Living over here in the New World, I was fortunate to have had a lot of exposure to the 'big' electrostatics (and those that sounded big) early on. Back in uni, there was what was then a rather rare (at least, in Canada, at the time) 'high-end' hi-fi shop right across the street from campus. The two partners were electrostatic freaks, with plenty of big solid state (and tubes) on hand to drive them with. They offered a veritable smorgasbord of brands, with everything from Dayton-Wright through Quad, and even Beveridge (the first I heard subs with ESL) to wash it all down with. To say that I was hooked would be an understatement; hooked enough to get a job at the first dealership in Canada to sell Acoustat loudspeakers, each pair of which were flown in from Florida to our wee airport (with the first pair of 7' 8" tall Model 2 + 2 that I sold having been crushed in transit!).
Anyway, getting back on topic with politics...er, Maggies; as my budget and rooms didn't stretch to accommodating the likes of a Mark Levinson HQD knock off system (i.e. the coveted Ken Chan* JQD system round these parts back in the day...'J' for Janus subs...something that, once heard, was never forgotten), I tried my best to live with Magneplanars and failed each time. Admittedly, this was back when the construction of same left something to be desired. The MG1, etc. originally had thin pressboard baffles within what can best be described as an artists canvas frame, later these were changed to perforated sheet metal 'trays' with bitumen damping on (within the same chipboard frame). A old friend of mind actually had a pair of MG1 that had one of each baffle type. As either of these aged, a certain frequency would have the neighbours out beating that rug roughly in time to the bass line again. Eventually, Magnepan went over to machined MDF across the board, and things improved greatly. The change to foil conductors also dramatically improved reliability, especially so the HF side where fine aluminium wire had been used originally. Regardless, by then my panel addiction had long since worn off, and I became content having my 'speed' fix via small, simple two-way boxes.
@Robert, I'm very interested in your pending Magnepan journey, especially so, as you are starting from the point of having lived with electrostatics.
* The same Ken Chan who, upon returning to Hong Kong from here in Canada, opened another dealership and began denuding Koetsu cartridges on the side (surely a crime against art, if ever there was one).