NEED HELP about Magnepan speaker

Loon, Having owned the 3.6 for over 2 years, and having pushed the speaker probably harder and farther then anyone has I think I have a very good grasp of what they are capable of. The problem was always trying to get the ribbon to integrate with the rest of the speaker, while a great speaker, its not as cohesive as the 1.6 - IMO.

Whom ever is comparing the 3.6 to the 1.6 is off base. The integration is pretty good. The glue ---- well I have a pair of 2.5's as surrounds and they're going just fine.

loon

The most important thing to realize is that the higher price of the 3.6 does not automatically mean that it is better in your application. Some folk (I am one) actually prefer the QR tweeter, for the reason mentioned by Tireguy (it represents common technology with the woofer). Also, if you use a subwoofer, the slightly lower bass response of the 3.6 is irrelevant.

Also check out maybe the 3.5 or older models that have the true ribon.But don't go to far back since if you go farther than a few years it's less time till you have a problem where glue thatt holds wire down to film becomes britle,they sperate and need to stripped and fixed.Costly do to shipping.But if new enough you could get very good performance with years free without the enevitable buzz that comes when the wires dry up.Took my pals MGIII's 15+ years but it happened.We got a new pair of 3.6's and while beter it wasn't like the wheel got re-invented.Lastly GET GOOD AMPLIFICATION and lot's of it.Probal the most poular combo has been Maggies with Brystonm.We went from a low curent dual 150 watt configuration with the little Magnepan XLO crossover (thius having 225 watts total) to a 4 BST rated att 250 but benches closer to 300 and it was like he bought new speakers.They can suck curent so at least (for the 3.6's at least a bit less for the 1.6) you want 100 watts of quality power like an ARC or Cary set up (maybe Rogue,Quicksilveror VTL to save a few bucks) and 250-300 solid for the 3.6 (and minimum 200 watts for the 1.6).They can suck curent and you don't have to worry about too much power just to little.T\Even with a big amp (say a Bryston 14BST or 7BST mono's) and have 5000 wats they are not going to get loud the way coil speakers do but if it's room shakling bass without a sub or Who live show sound levels well you have the wrong speaker.Myu guess is you know what you geting just feed it right.Notice I mnentioned the Bryston B ST not the new BSST series as I am not convinced the newer amps are worth it.You can find a 5 year old poair of Brystons with 15 years left onm their famous waranty and be way ahead money wise verus new ones.Not sot say that there aren't other good amps but I used to work in buisnes selling Krell (a bad match for Maggies),McIntosh (a good choice),etc etc for 6 years and made a few contacts.Before i bought the Bryston I called around and heard the same thing Bryston or good high curent tube amps.Garbage in and garbage out and all that.
Cheers
Chazzbo

Thank you!!

the QR is more of a midrange driver that goes high enough to use for a tweeter also. The true ribbon tweeter is a superb high frequency unit but does not go as low into the mids. The QR is more rugged from what I have read.

Its the same 1.6 that's been out for a number of years now. It has the quasi ribbon, the 3.6 and 20.1 are the only speakers in the magnepan line that use a true ribbon tweeter. It is true the ribbon sounds better up top then the quasi ribbon tweeter - however, it does not integrate as well with the rest of the speaker, its not as cohesive. The benefit of the 1.6 is a much simpler crossover network, because its a two way and not a three way like the ribbon tweeter equipped models. The ribbon equipped models also produce lower bass due to the larger physical panel size, however, the bass does not "slam" like a conventional speaker. So if there was any way to use a dynamic(cone type) bass driver, planer midrange and ribbon tweeter and have it be chohesive, you would probably have the best speaker ever made - assuming it doesn't look like a Gilmore.