What speakers can make a convert of Maggie lovers?

warren, perhaps I should have stated what a huge maggie fan I am. I think the 20.1s may be the perfect speaker for those with a large enough room and whose musical taste do not require the ultimate in low level resolution.

So many of our forum arguments seem to involve assertions about the superiority of one preference over another. I've had ample experience with panels and point sources and I prefer the point source. It's more to the point, so to speak. But the Magneplanar wall of sound is also enjoyable. Does it really matter if somebody likes Bose? Statistics say a lot of people think they are great. When I hear them, I'm usually waiting for someone to hand me a menu. Can't see why anybody would prefer such a product. Clearly they are less discerning than my esteemed self.
All of us seem to agree that audio evaluation is subjective and yet a goodly number of us insist that there exists a hierarchy and that we know what sits at the top of the pile. Isn't that hypocritical?

Had the 3.6's for 5 years before selling them for the Gallo Ref3.1's, they perform and do everything you describe that you want. They just don't have the expansive sound of panels if that's what you're use to. But the Gallo's to be properly played need to be fully broken in, and make sure to have the feet's on or other points. Piano music are surprisingly much more realistic on the Gallo's then the Maggies. I do miss the Maggies for movies and their wall of sound.

No names were called. Absurd describes your post, not you.

First I apologize for my misunderstanding of your meaning of "low level resolution". In my mind it meant resolving information that is normally not heard, such as sounds well into the background. The maggies do this just fine. I guess inner detail would be a better term. But you are correct in that they do need to played louder than most other speakers to achieve this. But I stand by my contention of the diffuse imaging. In a large enough room and properly set up they image as well as any speaker. Not the unnatural pinpoint accuracy of a Thiel, but who wants that anyway. Music does NOT sound like that in real life.

Oz

I had a love affair with 1.6's for a while, then began to see the shortcomings of them. Switched to Eminent Technology LFT-8A's, and did a 'stacked' E.T. speaker system with biamping all around. ENORMOUS fun! Finally, tried out the Apogee Calipers.
None of these were enough to save me from being drawn to a dynamic speaker again. One of best kept secrets in audio are the Chapman T-7's, which I would love to hear A/B'd against the much lauded Von Schweikert's. Not that I'm itching to switch; I just think it would be interesting...

Stuart (Chapman) Jones is better known on the West coast for his speakers, and they are sonically beautiful. He can customize his speakers to your listening preferences. His number is: 206-463-3008 There is not much on the net in terms of pictures. The T-7 is a three way capable of great bass down to about 28hz. I have heard many quality dynamic speakers, including Vandersteen, ProAc, Sonus Faber, Krell, Wilsons, and a host of other very popular brands like Paradigm, Dynaudio, etc. and these are among the best in their price category in terms of absolute sonic purity and musicality. Check out the reviews that do exist on the net and you will find almost universal praise for them.

Observations from ownership of these products:
-The 1.6's were the least precise, least complete of the three planars I owned.
-All of them improved with passive vertical biamping
-People searching for a great planar should consider the Eminent Tech. LFT-8A's; considerably better imho
-Pursue Apogees at your own risk; very easy to get burned by obtaining speakers with defects to ribbons and you'll have little recourse to fix without spending inordinate amounts of time/money.

At first, I thought I had lost a portion of the sound stage by moving to a dynamic speaker. Now, with experimentation with cabling, I'm finding that the majority of soundstage is recaptured. In addition, the imaging has become truly a joy, something none of these planars did all that well.

Finally, I will always enjoy the planar sound; I am sorely tempted to repurchase another pair of E.T.'s just to have on hand for when I feel like hearing that sound.