Magnepan 3.7's versus 20.1's?

This is an interesting discussion to which I would like to ask a question.

When is a room big enough for 3.7's?

I upgraded to 1.7's from 1.2's and heard a world of improvement. Due to room size and physical set up, I do not think that I am getting all the sound stage and depth of field out of the 1.7's.

This indicates to me that the 3.7's would work even less well.

Does my reasoning make sense or does it expose my ignorance?

Please help me to understand room size better.

My room is 15 feet wide and 35 feet long with 8 foot ceilings. The speakers are four feet from the front wall and, due to WAF, the listeing seat is about thirteen feet from the same wall. I cannot move the listening spot further back.

Thanks.

Dsper

Is the "front wall" the long or short wall? This will make a significant difference if you are able to experiment....

hi cwlondon:

i think the stacked quad esls stomps on all magnepans, as far as creating a more realistic timbre and the quads , within their range, are less inaccurate.

the front wall is the 15 foot wall. there is no way to place the speakers along the long wall

Dsper, Your question is a good one and the answer is also of interest to me. I'm just not sure a definitive answer is possible. I have 1.6's in a 14 x 19 x 8 room with the speakers along the short wall, out about 5 feet. I have plans to put 3.7's in this room later this year. I hear you on the soundstage and depth of field. What I have noticed over the last 3 years, with an ongoing series of equipment upgrades, is that the soundstage and depth of field has increased. That tells me the Maggies are not the limitation. I've also noticed a large difference in this regard from one recording to another. Certain recordings give an amazing depth of field. Again that suggests that the Maggies are not the limitation. If you get an amazing depth of field with only one recording, that shows that your equipment can deliver, if the information is present in the recording. I listen to a lot of orchestral and chamber music live. This is a good sanity check. Occasionally, I close my eyes and pretend I'm at home listening to my rig. Live music does not always present with a depth of field that is notable. Sometimes, it presents with much less spatial information than I get through my system. For me, the goal is always to capture the live sound, not improve on it.