Magnepan SMGa

Maxwell, I owned a SMGa pair for ten years before uprgrading. I found them not to have the last word in frequency extension at both ends of the spectrum, but they had a marvelous "rightness" in the midrange. They also won't rock your world regarding volume, but that didn't matter to me. All in all, a very satisfying taste of the high end for a bargain price. The tweeters do not share any of the newer ribbon technology. The bass is a planar magnetic diaphram and the tweeters are just a segment of thinner gauge wiring. They should be reliable if they were kept in a dry environment. One thing that can go wrong is delamination of the wiring from the mylar panel. This can be repaired, but is a pain. I suggest you go over to Audioasylum.com and check into the planar/ribbon forum and do a "SMGa"search. Lots of info. Good luck, Will.

I have a pair of SMGc's and really love them. I agree with the comments above about the low end extension being somewhat limited (you might want to add a sub somewhere down the road, but it's not absolutely crucial) but the SMGc's handle the highs just fine as far as I'm concerned.

You will really need an amp that puts out a lot of current into low impedance loads to get the most out of these speakers, though. One moderately priced amp that will do a superb job is the CODA Continuum Stage.

Can't speak to the price, as I haven't checked on it.

I've got no comment on the corrosion or separation issue, either, but you may want to drop into the Magnepan Users Group, and see if they have anything to say about it:

http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/

Max, a friend of mine ownes the small mags he bought last year, direct from the factory for $650 and they sound great. I believe their the only speaker mag will sell direct all other mags you need to go to a dealer. For another $400 you could have new ones. Good luck Pete