Magnepan vs. Martin Logan

My first set of Magnepan's were the MG-1s in 1977 which I kept until they were replaced by 2.5Rs in 1990 which I replaced in 2003 for 3.6Rs. In almost 30 years of ownership I never had problem. They are extremely reliable and forgiving, if not efficient to drive. Many of the negative aspects of the speakers have been improved over the years. They perform better with electronics and sources far more expensive than their cost would suggest. Although lots of clean power is best, they can still be enjoyed at lower volumes with lesser electronics. All of which makes them an enduring paradox of high end audio. MLs have always intrigued me, and despite clear advantages in detail and resolution compared to Magnepans, they never seemed as satsifying. Duke's explanation is the best and most logical I've ever come across because I always believed the MLs should have sounded better than what I heard during demos.

m/l is veronica. maggie is betty. you date veronica. marry betty. go get 'em archie.

I react most strongly to the differences between the dynamic envelopes of the two speaker lines. The MLs are more articulate at low volumes and are more efficient, playing louder with less power. This favors orchestral and big band music that has wide dynamic swings. They also play louder, which is important for rock. The Maggies are just plain more reticent, requiring a lot of power to get to a volume where they sound present, but never getting really loud, regardless of the power available.

Sounds like maybe nobody here has heard the LATEST offerings from Martin Logan? I have owned many Logans (Sequels II, Aerius i's, ReQuests, Odyssey's, Prodigy's) but actually got my first real taste of the "high end" back in the mid to late 1970's with a pair of Magnaplaner MG11a's, and more recently had a pair of 3.6R's (in between the various Logans listed).

I always felt that the Maggies had a much bigger-than-life soundstage, and were always pretty "musical". The Logans, on the other hand, seemed to somehow sound more realistically sized in the image dept. and at the same time seemed to offer more detail, while still retaining that magical, musical qaulity of the Maggies.

Then, just recently, I aquired a set of the new M.L. Summits -- they are a whole new ball game.

With the proper ancillaries, the new Summits are light years beyond anything I have heard prior. IMO, I just not have seen Magnaplaner continue down the same dedicated path in the innovation and R & D department, with new designs, as Martin-Logan.

Between hearing the two at different dealers the Maggies would get my vote. They seem to integrate the music better than the ML's. With the ML's the sense of having the base separate from the mids and highs seemed to tarnish the sonic image. The maggies also seemed to represent a better dollar for sound value as well. Both of course benefit from a solid upstream in gear. Both would be a blast to own.