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Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other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
The biggest issue with Maggies is sauce stains from food fights that can break out at any time in a listening room. Otherwise, they're great. Note there's a restaurant nearby that has hung MGAs on the walls (several actually, supposedly to entertain the owner when the place is closed), and they're black so staining from hurled food is less noticeable.
Downside of electrostatic panels is their lack of dynamic range to produce realistic rock or big band jazz or large symphonic pieces (Mahler) levels. They also tend to have a small sweet spot due to the extreme directivity of very large transducer surfaces.

At low SPL levels the distortion levels are world class.

Great choice if chamber classical or choral is more your thing.
That's always been the problem with Maggies I had . But guys on here claim 1.7 on up has changed that on dynamic range at least .

@schubert 
That is good info.
I still remember Maggies from years past. I never thought they were lacking in dynamic range, but if newer models can plumb greater depths, then I owe it to myself to have another listen.
B
If you don't listen to Symphony , which has 10x the range of rock, they don't .