Maggies MGII's - Questions, thoughts

Hi, have the 2A's. Love them. I don't need the wall shaking bass anymore. Plus the wife likes them, so that is half the battle. Enjoy what you have.

I had MGIIBs powered by a Cary SLA70 Sig, one of the best combos that I ever had!

I owned the MG IIa's from 1978 to 1987 when I went to the MG IIIa's. Used the MGIIIa's until 2004 when I went to 3.6's.

I liked the midrange on the IIa's better than the IIIa's ( they were also more coherent), but they do not go as low or high as the IIIa's.

Since yours were rebuilt, they should be great, and last a long time. They still hold up well to the current models, if you do not need deep bass. I suggest keeping them!

When I was in high school in the 80's, I worked part time in an audio store. Although not freakishly high end, the store sold McIntosh, Tandberg, Yamaha, Dahlquist and KEF, among other good brands.

By working nights and weekends, I cobbled together a system with Magneplanar IIBs, driven by a Hafler DH 500 am.

My boss who ran the store came over for a demo and said it was the "best system he had ever heard!"

Having moved up from Ibs to IIbs to IIIas, Apogees, Martin Logans, and now Tympani IVas, my experience is that any gains in "resolution" or "air" from eletrostatics or ribbons typically come with the benefit of more detail and the ability to listen at lower volumes, but the price tag of being less forgiving and/or more difficult to match with associated components.

So further to another recent thread praising vintage gear, you might just keep and enjoy them. If you absolutely have to spend money, you might throw power at them.

Thanks for the responses and I don't really have that deep bass need, mostly a jazz guy and I always thought the maggies excelled with jazz. My concern is that I'm listening to the Quad's and I like the sound of the maggies better, maybe it's me, maybe I just don't even know what to listen for. I have the following on the way; c-j sa250 and sc25 preamp. I thought this may boost the power enough to hear a difference. I think both sources; rm4 tt and music hall cd25 sound pretty good. If you were me, what would be your next move? I know thats a real loaded question, but I value the opinion of the people on here. Thanks..

If I were you I would look at up dating the crossover with better parts. The Maggie will transform in all areas. You find greater resolution, width and much deeper bass.

I have had many magnepans over the years and each one including the 3.6r was another speaker when the crossover was done. It is almost a crime to not do it.

Try Alpha core copper foil inductors and the best caps you can find. Mundorf silver in oil are great and not too expensive. If the caps get too out of hand try a good cheap cap and bypass it with as good a cap as you can afford. Most of the character will come from the bypass.