Replacing My Maggie 3.6R

Those of us addicted to the Maggie sound have found ways to work through their perceived shortcomings.  Two good REL subwoofers (I have 3 running presently) is a good step in the direction of addressing perceived lack of deep bass.

I also bought a pair of Maggie DWM panels - the same tech as the base panel in the 20.1s - to augment bass.  It does do that but I often find I enjoy just as much without having them on. 

The real upgrade came when I bypassed the external crossover box (which you cannot do with anything .7 or above) and actively biamped my Maggies.  That was revelatory.  

OP, you have many things you can do before you ditch your beloved 3.6rs!  Forget about expensive replacements and roll up your sleeves! 

I have owned Accoustat 2 + 2s with both servo amps and interfaces with various SS amps, later Maggie 3.5Rs wwhich I tried custom silver jumpers, Rogue M150 tube amps, W4S class D, Parasound A21,  and more, bu no matter what I tried I could never get past the venitian blind effect. Eventually (years later), I went back to open baffle, Emerald Physics 3.4s which Ive had for 3+ years, which in my opinion are head and shoulders over Maggies AND they are easy to drive, and physically half the height, which makes them more aesthetically pleasing. Long out of production, but occasionally come up for sale or Clayton Shaws new OB speakers are getting excellent reviews @~ $3000

Speaking as a pro musician for 50 plus years, I find that people who complain about bass on Maggies, especially larger ones, do not know what real bass is supposed to sound like.

@jc4659

Please post your impressions of the Clarisys after your auditions. Thanks!

I decided to visit Mark Jones Audio in Ajax, Ontario, Canada to hear the Clarisys speaker. They had the most expensive one in a room that was too small for it. The dealer explained to me the circumstances of having the big one there instead of something smaller. Whatever the case the sound was setup well without any fatigue,

The system was driven by $100k CH amp from Switzerland. A great sounding amp and one that I thought would be great with my Yamaha NS5000, until I heard the price. The rest of the gear was also CH.

As you can imagine the system would have sounded very good. In comparison to my LRS+ it was not even close. The LRS+ has a bit of a muffled sound. With my excellent gear in my office the LRS+ is the weakest link. The Clarisys has none of that muffled sound. It is an almost pristine sound. Not bright just clear and beautiful. It uses a ribbon, and it reminded me of the new RAAL 1995 Immanis headphone.

RAAL 1995 headphones, Magna and Immanis | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

The Immanis are incredible and the Clarisys came close to having the same level of clarity. There was a sonic resemblance between the 2. I figured the ribbons must produce the sound the same way in both.

Since the room was too small, I was not able to hear too much outside the speaker but inside the speaker was the wall of sound like the LRS+. It had depth like the LRS+. The main difference was the great clarity in the sound. Now if I put my CODA #16 amp on the Clarisys I would have the same clarity. The #16 on the LRS+ really blows it up but not the utmost in clarity. I say this because I have the #16 with my Yamaha NS5000, thar is amazing.

The LRS+ is limited in the clarity aspect. I thought that when I first got it and compared it with the KEF LS50 META + KEF KC62 sub. The KEF was a bit sharper or cleaner sounding speaker. However, that LRS+ wall of sound (and depth) was way more important.

The speaker in the Clarisys line that I am interested in was the new Picolo. It is supposed to sound like the speaker I heard, but better for a smaller room. The dealer had heard it at Axpona. When I heard that the cost was $20k I decided I would pass on the Picolo and keep using the LRS+. I did hear the Luxman M10x at the dealer and that or the SimAudio 761 will be an amp that I will get for either the LRS+ or the NS5000. I am keeping the CODA #16.