Anything better than 1.7 Maggies

I was on the fence 2 years ago about buying 1.6's... have always loved Maggies but playing tuba as a hobby I just wasn't satisfied with the bass. I put my order in for the 1.7's the night I auditioned them because the bass was right... fast. If and when I want pipe organ bass i'll put out another $2k for a powered subwoofer below 40 hz... my pre has 2 active outputs.

To be honest the biggest bass problem I've had with the maggies is getting the system in front to deliver all the bass in the recording and every system step forward I take, the maggies respond to the challenge. The only speaker I've ever liked better was someones home brewed Quad electrostat equivalent.. it made the Maggies sound slow.

Nobody seems to belive it, but get an amp that will put out a solid 450-500 watts a side into 4 ohms like a Bryston
or one of the newer Van Alstines and MMG's will do just about all that Maggies do .

I think 400 or 500 watts is a very practical amp for Maggies. Still, I've owned MMG's, and also Tympanis. I love the MMG's, which seem to me one of the most amazing bargains in audio. But comparing the MMG's to the Tympanis is like comparing a lap dog to a great dane.

I know someone who has 2500 watts on the bass panels of his Tympani IVa's. He's measured 120 dB SPL's with them! My MMG's started to show signs of strain in the mid 90's. Not to mention that they went down to about 55 Hz, while the big ones go down into the mid 20's. And the true ribbon tweeters are a lot cleaner than the quasi ribbon tweeters.

My opinons are probaly colored by the fact I only listen to classical music, which I find better on quasis than true ribbons AND by the fact I never hung around anyone stupid enough to play anything at 120 SPL.

Man, I've been discussing levels on two groups for the last two days and I'm getting a bit fatigued. :-) I guess I'd say that in my experience, the Tympanis will rock, but the MMG's won't, not without a sub, anyway. On classical, the MMG's can sound strained on large ensemble material if you listen at natural levels, but not at typical home listening levels, which are lower. The Tympanis cut though natural levels like butter. But these days, I don't listen to anything at those levels.

I guess I'd add that while long-term 120 dB levels are hazardous to your ears, short-term 120 dB peaks are pretty uncommon in classical music and very brief and so probably won't harm your ears unless you're a musician and exposed to them all the time. A concert grand for example produces 120 dB peaks up close. So it isn't as extreme as it sounds.