I have had my Magnepan 1.7s for over four years now. From the beginning I
was struck by how realistically it reproduced the sounds of pianos.
Then I came across Dick Olsher's evaluation of the Maggie 20.7s, and his
description gave words to the way the *.7 series Maggies do piano. I
couldn't find that review online, but here's Jonathan Valin's
description, which refers to the Olsher piece. It says, in part:
Us the other $2,000 in your budget to get one or two powered subwoofers, which extend the bass range to match a 9' concert grand. There are a lot of good powered subs available in that price range.
In fact, for an extra $500, you could get the 4-sub Audiokinesis Swarm. Now *that* would energize the room.
OTOH, they will do acoustic bass—classical or jazz or acoustic rock—very realistically, and are simply exceptional on bottom-octave piano. (Indeed, I don’t think there is another speaker that makes a well-recorded piano sound more like an actual piano than this Maggie. In part this is because a Maggie’s planar wavelaunch, as Dick Olsher once astutely noted, is similar to the planar wavelaunch of a concert grand, giving the presentation more of the size, volume, and dispersion of the actual thing. In the case of the 20.7 it is also because their bass is so extended, finely textured, and bloomy.)Eve nthe 1.7s sound stunningly real. A stereo pair has 880 sq. in. of radiating surface, which approaches the area of some piano soundboards. Plus, the radiating pattern is similar to a soundboard.
Us the other $2,000 in your budget to get one or two powered subwoofers, which extend the bass range to match a 9' concert grand. There are a lot of good powered subs available in that price range.
In fact, for an extra $500, you could get the 4-sub Audiokinesis Swarm. Now *that* would energize the room.