Magnepan owners : past / present

I presently have a pair of Maggie SMGa's in a small room with a QuickSilver tube amp and that system totally rocks (albeit used with a 12" powered sub dialed in to perfection). I had 1.6QR's in the same room but they were too big for the room and threw too much treble at me. Over the years, I've also owned the MG-1 Improved model, MG-12's and the MG-III's. And I've heard the Tympani's, the 3.5's and the 3.6's.

In another room I have a pair of VMPS RM2's, which are somewhat large ribbon hybrid floorstanders, but in my opinion they outclass the Maggies in midrange transparency (they reproduce guitar strings better than any speaker I can think of) and they are certainly more dynamic and extended in the bass (more kick and they go lower).

Believe it or not, at the moment I have them sounding fantastic using a '70's vintage Pioneer SX-939 receiver and an inexpensive Pioneer DVD player to play my CD's. They sound even better with more upscale gear but my point is that they can sound quite involving with well-designed modest gear too. Being more efficient, they are not as amp fussy as the Maggies and seem easier to place and tune in my room.

Accordingly, the larger VMPS ribbon hybrid models (the ones that move some air, starting with the RM2) get my vote as affordable speakers that beat the Maggies. Playing Rodrigo y Gabriela's "11:11" on the VMPS today was an authentic-sounding mind-blowing experience that my former 1.6's couldn't quite match - as good as they are.

In the same price range as Magnepan, Martin Logan CLS and Reference 3A De Capo I's.

At a substantially greater cost, Avantgarde Duo Omega.

I have owned 1.6s twice and a pair of 3.5rs. Magnepan makes a good speaker but ultimately I moved on every time. Two speaker desgns that I liked much more than the maggies were Piegas and Green Mountain Audio.

Shakey

Plato,
You've chosen your moniker wisely...come to think of it what less could we expect from a 'Plato'...you're a smart guy.
The Maggies are a find for anyone, and for those who say they're hard to drive, just read his comments. They are an almost purely resistive (as opposed to reactive)4 ohm load, very predictable. Let's be real here, its not as if that Pioneer was a bastion of current delivery, yet it handles the Maggies very well.
Great post Plato...maybe more people will go to school on your comments and give these little speakers their due, as this is but one more brick knocked down from the 'they're hard to drive' bull, that permeates all blogs.

P.S. Years ago when I met Jim Winey, (Mr. Magnepan) he told me, "If you let anyone out of your store without playing these little guys (SMGa) you're foolish." He was absolutely right!

Larry

Larry your response seems very informed and rational i.e. the maggie `s 4 ohm load is resistive and not reactive. Is this true for the entire line or just the smaller models? I wonder because many maggie owners seem to universally agree than you must have significant power to effectively drive these speakers. It seems counterproductive to design a speaker that only can sound it`s best with high power,bigger and thus more complexity and increased number of parts etc. Rather than have the option of high quaility but low/moderate power amplifiers that often have superior sound.