The Martin Logan Ascent is the new model of my friend's SL3's. I am very familiar with them... He has them in a 15x22 room, and they are a bit squished in there because his wife will only let them be about 2.5-3 feet from the back walls. 'Statics really need to be about 5-6 feet from the back walls; or more, Remember, they are dipole speakers. Since his are not placed ideally, the soundstage collapses, and the imaging is somewhat distorted.
I am not in any way saying they are bad loudspeakers. They are absolutely fantastic when given the room, the right amplification, and the right source components; and when fed the source material they like. Then they are among the best speakers on earth. But "box" speakers, given the same care and feeding, can absolutely image and soundstage as well as 'statics! With the right stuff, box speakers "disappear" into the room. They do have different sound qualities than 'statics, but holographic imaging is not the sole realm of dipoles.
Personally, I find that I am initially quite attracted to planars and statics, but over many long listening sessions the balance starts to swing the other way and I crave the immediacy and attack of my B&Ws. My friend and I listen to each other's rigs regularly. For anything but vocals and piano, I prefer the B&Ws. That's MY preference, it's obviously not his! And to be honest, I'm a picky audiophile, always in search of the "better" sound. Most people would be quite satisfied with either!
Not that the B&W Nautilus line (and and most other "box" speakers) doesn't have it's set of negatives; among them, they also need lots of breathing room (less than statics, tho, but even the 12 x 35 room we have them in isn't truly "enough"), and topnotch amplification and source componentry to sound good. Without good components ahead of them, the Nautilus tweets will drill a hole in your brain. The B&W CDM series is pretty far below the Nautilus in sound quality, BTW. It sounds, to me, a whole lot like the older Matrix speakers. I demoed them side by side and the CDM's were all boxy sounding. Maybe that's what you're hearing... If you're considering a $3500 pair of statics, make sure you audition the Nautilus line, which is much more comparable. And the new Thiel CS 2.4's. I am VERY impressed with them!! Any, to be honest, would make a good choice
BTW, bring over a pair of MMG's and put them next to my N805's. I *guarantee* you'll walk away preferring the B&Ws. If not, I'll buy all the beer