Hi
Wow, I hardly know where to start.
Bottleneck, I have not heard the Dali Skylines.
I have owned 3 pairs of Maggies and Apogee Stages, the Stages have easily the 'Best Bass". Maggies were up to 6'.0'' high the Stages are around 3'-2''.
It is true that the sweet spot is narrow, but then again Maggies and Quads seem the same.
It is difficult to put in to words but all panels 'drive the room' differently than cones, I don't really pretend to know why, however it is noticeable that when magazines measure the response of panels they do so at a greater a distance than when they measure cones.
Also the perceived volume/loudness of panel speakers is different, whereby panels do not seem to diminish as much as cones when you move away from the speaker face. Therefore when you read 86 dB @ 1 metre for a cone, if you measured again at 2 metres or 4 metres the perceived volume/loudness would diminish substantially, with panels it seems to be about the same at 1 metre as it does at 2 metres or 4 metres.
I suppose when you compare Stages against the larger Apogees the bass would be less, however the likes of Duetta's, Diva's, Scintilla's etc are mighty serious speakers with major bass response, which until now the Scintilla's and Diva's have needed just as serious amps to drive them. (See previous commnets on ICE H2O amps)
The Stage is supposed to measure down to 38Hz, in a room in a normal house given the way that panels drive the room, that is pretty deep bass. According to Martin Columns review the MiniGrand measures below 19Hz in a domestic room environment, that is stomach churning bass in a normal room. So much so that I have occasionally used the Mini Grand subs as stands, and only used the Stage, sure the bass response does not "feel" as deep, but it is hardly noted after the first day.
My room is 4.2 x 6.3 Metres and is dedicated to listening, If I had my choice I think that I would pick the Duetta's, simply because they are easier to work with that the other three up market models.
The Centaur range is a whole different ball game, I think that there are three in the range, Centaur Major, Centaur and Centaur Minor. I know a few people that prefer the C Minors they are much easier to drive and, seem sweater, they can be used with normal world amps including valves, my Leak was magical with the C Minors. Set up correctly, with correct distance from the rear wall, toe in and rake, they can be magnificent, the whole room disapears, so does the equipment.
HenryT, The NS 1000's are the second best box speakers that I have heard, (the best are made here in Perth by a local dealer, but I cannot afford a pair).
I particularly like the fact that I can drive them with S/State amps (Krell / Classe' ) also low power tube amps, I have been listening through a pair of 211 Monoblocks - awesome, and an 8 watt EL84 triode, achieving 85 dB at 4 metres with no sign of clipping. They are detailed and image really well, however, they are not panels, they don't sound like panel and, even though they have a reputation of having good bass, they are easily outclassed by the Stage, without the MG subs.
It'd be a good 3 to 4 hour train journey (one way) to either of those 2 dealers from where I live, but at least England is still small I suppose in comparson to Oz. 
