Are Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers problematic?

Surferm 10, HI.Well U really cant go wrong with Mcintosh.And U will, i think, love the maggies.three months ago i bought a pair of mg-3.Driving them with a pair of class a mono amps.May i suggest a Bottle Head preamp.A tube pre that U can buy as a kit or fully assembled.Or wait for one to come up for sale on a-gon or ebay.

I've been a Magnepan owner for 35 troublefree years. My MG-1s were sent to White Bear Lake for a factory rebuild....this was before I'd even heard of MUG or the like.
Once setup and in-place they are no more trouble than any other speaker. Take the time, do it right, make the last adjustments hours....or even days apart as you fine tune.

However, they ARE a modifier / tweakers dream. Stands? yes. Bi amp? Of course. Tri amp? why not? Active/passive crossovers? for sure. Total reframe in hardwood? NOW you're talkin'! Get rid of that fuse? What took you so long?

I rotated mine so the pole piece faces the listener, not the mylar. Nobody can say exactly when the factory made that change.

Ribbon problem? Buy the kit from Magnepan or ship 'em....with 'core' charge.
Kit comes with 3 rebuilds, so when you screw the first one up, you are still good to go. Pulled wire? (bananna'd) fix with DAP.....plenty of online helps.

I don't think so either. I own two pairs for a home theater system. They do age so I did do a repair on one set myself using the kit sold by Magnepan. Yes, they still do rebuilds for this speaker. Rebuilding it myself was fun, time consuming and a great learning experience. It also saved me quite a bit of money. Like everyone said, the staples is the hardest part. I don't think setting up the IIIa is any more difficult that some other speakers that I have owned. A great speaker to enjoy.