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What are some of the downsides of owning a Magneplanar .7 or 1.7i ?

Thinking of moving up speaker wise, and so am considering  the fabled Magneplanar speakers, that is, either the  the .7, or supposedly new 1.7i.   (BTW, I am not sure the Maggie .7 is necessarily an upgrade, and has less bass than my current box speakers...see below)

Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other downsides of this design.  For the last 30 years, I have owned several traditional box design speakers. 

I currently have a pair of Golden Ear Technology model 7's....which I like and generally sound good However, I  would like to confirm what a planar design brings to the table in sound quality. I have read many times about the box-less sound  provided by this design, and its wide sound staging and low distortion. 

I think I have enough power with BAT VK-200 amp (100RMS) to drive the .7, but not sure that is enough to drive the MG1.7i. to higher volumes The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE. 

The listening room area 12 X15ft, but opens into kitchen/dining area divided by a medium size couch. The rest of the space is approximately 12X18ft behind the sofa with a stupid counter island ( so I cannot move the sofa back any further.. The ceiling is 8 to 9 ft feet high ( not a cathedral ceiling, praise the Lord) . It is a bit of haul to the dealer I bought the Golden Ear T's from who also carries Magneplanar line.  All advice welcomed.    Thanks, SJ   

sunnyjim
schubert
7,386 posts
 
+1 for Gallo Sub with Maggies, fast and great tone .
tgonzales
30 posts
 
I agree with the 911 comments and subs.  I tried the DWMs with the 3.7i's which sounded nice but a pair JL Audio F110s gave the visceral feel that both the 3.7is and 3.7i + DWMs lacked.

I'm not one for loud or boomy sounds, but I was surprised how much deep bass information the two F110s offers below what the 3.7i offered.

The maggies plus sub still have different sound than other speakers but don't lack anything.

And the 911 (991) is as close to 'cycle as I've ever owned, I still prefer being on the bike but no other "cage" seems the same.
 
czarivey
5,946 posts
 

Maggies are like Porsche 911s or Lotus Super 7sEnter your text ...

i.e. toys for very limited usage on clear and flat roads.

I prefer tools or instruments such as Toyota Tundra or Dodge Ram 3500...


gdnrbob
4,449 posts
 

Maggies are like Porsche 911s or Lotus Super 7sEnter your text ...

i.e. toys for very limited usage on clear and flat roads.

 
That's why I got an Audi. Quattro is a 'good thing'.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
tgonzales writes:
...The maggies plus sub still have different sound than other speakers but don’t lack anything.
Absolutely right. The standard criticisms of Magnepans don’t apply if you add and integrate a good subwoofer or two. With bass augmentation you don’t have to bring them 5-6 feet into the room. 3-4 feet will do nicely because the sub(s) compensate for the dipole’s out-of-phase backwave that cancels bass from 50 Hz on down.

Nor do you need a mega power amp. An amp that’ll make 150-200 wpc into 4 ohms will be plenty because the powered subwoofers do the heavy lifting for the bass. It is bass extension and transient response that establishes the dynamic impact, and my dual 1200 watt powered subwoofers take care of that nicely. It’s time to set aside the myth that dynamic subwoofers can’t keep up with panel speakers. My subs have an 8" active driver and two matching passive radiators in a 9" sealed cube. The internal amp makes 1200 watts. The active driver’s frame occupies most of the interior to enable a long diaphragm excursion.

Then you get the best of both--the bass extension and dynamic impact characteristic of a full-range dynamic speaker, and the noiseless, boxless presentation of a line source using a large area membrane speaker.
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