Which magnepan

I concur with those who suggest the 1.7 -- and also with those who have suggested that there's something weird going on here, perhaps with the setup. They can sound great in a smaller room than yours and I've never heard of the curious symptom you describe.

8' ceiling should be fine and so should a room that size. Generally, you want to keep them as far from the front wall (the one behind the speakers) as practical -- 3' is the bare minimum, 5' or 6' is good, even more is better than that. Proximity to side walls is rarely a problem, unless they're within a couple of feet and then you can get too much bass.

Usually I find the best results with an equilateral triangle but depending on the room, you may prefer narrower or wider. Experiment with tweeters in and out.

The curious elevation of the highs may have something to do with room acoustics. You might want to send some pictures to Wendell Diller, Magnepan's marketing director, or one of the acoustics gurus to see what they suggest.

Planar setup can take a long time! I moved my Maggies back 2" a few days ago, and everything went to hell, God knows why. Moved them forward again and everything was great again . . . 

@addyson815-  SO, what did you end up with(and results), assuming you made a decision and moved on it?

@rodman99999 

still havent made a decision yet as what to get.    

have also thought about going with a monitor / sub setup ?         b&w , pmc ( if I can find them at a decent price ), kef reference 1 are ones I have looked at ( forums and you-tube, speaker sites ).

not sure if I want to get a big speaker as then you have to consider shipping, unpacking and getting them into the room, etc....

I see.   Having used pairs of Maggies(SMG / MMg / MG12 / 1.7i) in a room much smaller than yours, with similar results to Josh’s, I was just curious.

I had 1.7 and 1.7i with a sub in a room 12 x 15 and the sound was amazing. Sometimes the instrument placement is due to the mix of the recordings you're listening to.