The Horror

Hey audiodidact don't despair man look at it this way zero in on exactly what your system is lacking and fix it. I realize this is easier said than done but a similar happened to me after my first Capitol Audiofest back in 2017. After hearing a bunch of systems I decided mine lacked midrange density. I decided I needed bigger/better speakers and a few years later I had them.

It doesn't need to be super expensive either you may find you prefer a box speaker to your Maggies and plenty at various price ranges. Also wondering in the short term if you've tried a sub with your Maggies? If not that may give you more of the body and richness you're looking for.

Dear AD,

Yes that must have been painful. Nonetheless it gives you an upgrade path to pursue. And there are plenty of budget options out there these days. Over the weekend I auditioned some $2.5k USD speakers here in Australia- the KRIX Harmonix - that sounded super. Deep enveloping bass and great mids and highs with a wide and immediate soundstage. They were teamed up with a musical fidelity power amp. Rotel offerings these days from the 1592 MKII to the Michi lines offer great value for money - I have an X3 and soon an RA6000 Diamond series. 
There are certainly options available and the fun of finding a solution to work in your room will keep you busy.

@soix this wasn’t your first belittling/condescending comment to me. I have no idea why it is necessary. You could have asked “have you heard the Boenickes?” to the same or in fact, a better effect, without sounding what you often sound like. Feel free to ignore me in the future, thank you.

This is very sad to hear. Believe it or not, I’m always happy to get home to my modest system--an ancient pair of ProAc Response 2’s, my homebrew Williamson tube amps, my homebrew Aikido 6SN7 preamp and my Doge 7 DAC. It doesn’t bring the NY Philharmonic into the room and it has its limitations (my wife won’t listen to hard rock on it, with good reason) but for my tastes--classic jazz and classical--it always makes me happy. Lively and highly musical. But I feel your pain, it’s quite a shock to feel one’s beloved system is really deficient. OTOH, I’ve rarely heard anything at an audio show that floated my boat, and I’m not sure what other people are hearing or listening for. I remember Joseph Audio, some ProAc sized speakers from a small company in California, Volti horns with Border Patrol amps. Really, that’s about it. I usually find the enormous systems overwhelming and unmusical, but of course I haven’t heard everything by a long shot.

I’m surprised you’re so disappointed with you Maggies. I’ve always liked them, but they do need the right room and a lot of power.

If I may suggest, maybe you should lean toward a more efficient system, rather than something bigger and more demanding of power. A friend has a pair of Living Voice speakers, quite efficient, and if my ProAcs finally fell apart I’d probably go that way. Beautiful midrange, smooth and lively, very similar to the ProAcs but more efficient and with better bass. He runs them with a pair of 20wpc Williamson amps I built for him, like mine, and they played everything well, including more contemporary music which I don’t listen to that much, but it sure was alluring on the Living Voices. I’ve always loved ProAcs for their seamless soundstage, and the Response 2’s replaced a small pair of Maggies that my wife and I loved but didn’t really have enough bass for either of us.

Any, best of luck. Do consider lively, easy-to-drive speaks and maybe a 20-40 wpc tube amp. You might be surprised at how these could make coming home from the audio show a lot less of a shock. ;-)

Currently, I’m running a BAT 225se power amp, BAT VK-33 preamp, Denon DCD-A110 CD/SACD player, and Joseph Audio Pulsars (non-graphene). I really dig the sound. A modest, but excellent sounding rig. There are systems better than mine, no doubt. However, after attending many audio shows, I haven’t gotten to the point where I want to trash my system and start over. I have found that once you have really good components (but not necessarily super-expensive ones), it then comes down to buying excellent quality recordings that are mastered well ... the Devil, many times, is in the mastering.