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Maggies a waste if only 3' from backwall?

All maggie owners, please chime in. I've been considering the maggie 3.6 or 20.1. My basement room is 15x20x7, thin carpet on slab floor, drywall over foundation. It is very unlikely I will be able to have them out farther than 3 feet from backwall, unless i had them on some kind of rolling/sliding platform. I have read repeatedly that maggies must be at least 4-5 feet from backwall. So, is 3 ft just not enough? Will the magic disappear and render them pedestrian?

While I'm at it, one more question: I understand there is a narrow sweetspot for maximum enjoyment, but how bad is out-of-sweetspot/off-axis listening? What aspect of SQ is actually lost? I ask this because I've read several posts where people thought they heard a real drummer or piano in next room only to find it was music played through a maggie (ie, "Best Speakers.." thread).

Thanks much for the replies. I really am considering joining the maggie family, but don't want to make a mistake based on room and one-person sweet spot.

Jeff
jeffkad
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Given the difficulty in getting them set up properly in my room, I've decided against going up to the 3.6Rs unless I can arrange an extended audition in my room.

That says it all in my experience. Unless you are getting a pair used and don't mind reselling them if they don't meet your expectations, an extended audition is required. I demoed a pair from a dealer for a week before deciding I could not find that "Maggie magic" I hear about.
james63
534 posts
 
I would just buy them and give them ago. Really many many brands of speakers should be placed more than 3 feet off the back wall.....

I demoed the 3.6s and 20.1s a few weeks ago in a 14X20X10 foot room with Mcintosh. I thought the sweet spot on the 3.6s and 20.1 was average. It was MUCH wider than Martin Logan's Summit/Spire. But no worse than some box speakers out there such as B&Ws that always put my head in a vise. Off-axis was much better than I expected but not great. I walked around the room to test I heard no hot spots, bass nodes, and the vocals remained clear. The image was not near as sharp as the sweet spot but it was not totally gone either. All of these things will be set up critical of corse.

Some long time uses might be able to give you an idea of how many feet (or inches) wide the sweet spot will be in a room your size.

Best of luck,
James.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Your room dimensions are a little small for the largest Maggies and what do you plan to power them with? Maggies are known to be power hungry especially the 20.1 needing a very powerful high quality amplifier like the Audio Research Reference 600 for them to sound properly. On the other had, basements make excellent listening rooms with their concrete walls and floors. Good luck.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
I wonder if the new 1.7 would be a step up from the 3.6, now that it has all QR drivers, which would help make it more coherent. I have not read about a comparison. It also is supposed to have a larger sweetspot. It seems like it would be a better fit for your room too.

It is probably the direction I would go fwiw...
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isanchez
276 posts
 
My Magies 3.6r are three feet from the wall and they sound terrific. In my room, there is no lack of bass, thanks in great part to the Joule Electra 300ME/Spectron mono-block combo.
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