Life After Your Magnepan’s

I’m using Carver 305 tube mono blocks; about 400 watts into the 4 ohm 20.7’s.  I also have a pair of REL G-2 subs.  As minkwelder indicated, even with the addition of the REL’s the sound reaches a certain maximum that just doesn’t “fill” the room.  My room is approx 7,260 cubic feet!   

I used the 20.7’s for four years in a prior home in a dedicated room that was approx 4,095 cubic feet to much greater success.  

I need a speaker that sounds BIG in a big space and doesn’t cost $100k!

There is one particular box speaker that I’ve heard at the Shows for the last several years that has caught my attention; the Paradigm Persona.   I’ve only heard the smaller floor standing 3F’s but was favorably impressed.

I wonder if they are similar in sound to the Aerial’s?  How does the height, width, and depth of Aerial’s compare to the Maggie’s?  I like the large sound field of the Maggie’s, especially the height.  Performers sound ‘real sized’ not 3 feet tall as is the case of many smaller box speakers.

Moved from 20.1 to Joseph Audio Perspective2. 

Check out Tekton Moabs or Ulfberhts.  They will fill that large room with great sound that won't have you missing your Magnepans at all.

I had a love hate relationship with Maggie 3.5Rs. Previously, I owned Accoustat 2 + 2s and am a huge open baffle fan. My room is quite large and I tried various subs with various main speakers. I tried various amps here as well, even biamping the 3.5s tweeter and bass panels, plus the 2 SVS powered 12" subs, but could not get them to blend seamlessly. I also tried active XOs, but the cheap ones kept blowing up and a Marchand XLR was uber expensive.

After considerable research I bought Emerald Physics KCIIs which are open baffle (and considerably smaller ~ 43" tall: 93dB efficient, but can handle big power. I find them similarly open and fast, a touch warmer sounding than the 3.5s.

I gave up trying to use the subs, still, the KCIIs sound terrific, especially with my EVS 1200 class D amp (600wpc!). They can be a bit overwhelmed with large scale music in MY ROOM, which is 19 X 38ish with a 12ft peak in the open beam ceiling.


Right now EP is running a factory direct sale: the EP2.8s with dual 15" carbon fiber woofers, and 12" concentric carbon fiber mid-range which should be killer. MSRP $9999, BUT, until they are gone $4999 including delivery That is an amazing bargain


hth