Classical music, symphony AND planar speakers

Brownsfan, you’re right, while I do remember very pleasant exchanges with you, I don’t remember that specific recommendation (?).  If I suggested you take the Quad path I am not surprised at all.  love Quads.  Most tonal truthfulness that I (!) have experienced from a speaker......after my Stax.  While I can’t entirely disagree with your comments re Maggie’s and chamber music, I never experienced anything remotely as egregious as you describe.  Large enough room and placement, placement, placement a must.  Clearly not all speakers do everything well and we all prioritize different things.  For me, planars and tubes have the magic.  Regards.

Frogman, for the majority of the time that I owned Maggies, my listening room was 14' x 19' x 8.'   The panels were out about 3.5' from the front wall, and the listening position was near the back wall.  Had I had a larger room permitting more distance between the speakers and ear, some of the perceived weaknesses of the Maggies might well have been attenuated, but my guess is that the majority of audiophiles don't have listening rooms that are appreciably larger than my room was.  You mentioned the importance of tonal purity.  I agree completely, and that is an area where Maggies, in my experience have a significant advantage over the majority of bass reflex designs.  My current full range bass reflex speakers share the tonal fidelity of the Maggies, have much improved low frequency response, are far more coherent, and image substantially better than my 3.7Rs did.  They also retailed for 2x the cost of my 3.7Rs and required a complete rebuild of the crossovers involving another $1200 in parts to achieve this level of performance.  They reside in a room that is 14 x 20 x 8, which in contrast to my former room, has been carefully set up and treated.   I'd argue that the Maggies held a slight edge on orchestral works, and I'd also argue that there is no substitute for the sweetness and smoothness of the Maggie true ribbon tweeters.  With smaller scale works, my current speakers are far more credible in their presentation than were the Maggies.  

I too have fond memories of some of our previous interactions, and value your deep knowledge and opinions on classical music and its reproduction in the home at the highest level.  You are one of a half dozen or so contributors whose comments I have learned to regard as utterly reliable.  BTW, as I recall, you recommended the Quads because there is little hope of ever finding a pair of Stax.      

I have a pair of Quad 2905’s and an ASR Emitter II Exclusive amplifier. This combination has worked well for me. The lower frequency range on the Quads 2905’s makes them worth considering, though the 57’s are legendary for there tone. I like chamber music most of all.

Thank you for the very kind words, brownsfan; the feeling is mutual. Sounds like you found a winner in that bass reflex design. Congrats! 

FYI, when I was using my Maggies I was living in a very large loft-style apartment in which the Maggies had a great deal of breathing room. Scale wise, the sound was spectacular on orchestral recordings. Some of the best soundstaging I have ever experienced. The discontinuity between ribbon tweeter and midrange panel had been ameliorated a great deal due to extensive xover and wiring mods. In that large a space it was practically a nonissue. As unbelievable as it may sound, I measured reasonably flat response to 28hz! With In my current home, my listening space is much smaller and the Stax perform beautifully; although bass extension is lacking. A pair of REL subs are activated for orchestral music with reasonably good (not perfect) blend. The tonal purity of the Stax is fabulous; as is the sound staging, but on much smaller scale.
Regards and good listening.

I listen to classical about 20% of the time, and it is usually while I work. I really enjoy classical music on my desktop Monsoon MM-2000 planars and sub-woofer. I have the desktop planars spread 6 feet apart. (The other 80% of my listening is to jazz which I prefer on my headphones.)