Maggie LRS vs .7

I have extensive experience with Magnepans dating all the way back to 1976. Yes, they are incredible and incredibly sensitive to their room. If you have a Maggie-friendly room there's nothing that can touch them even remotely close to the price. The best Maggie setup I ever had was a pair of MMGs (predecessor to the LRS)  run in a perfect Maggie room off of a circa 1980 NAD 7125 receiver. That system wouldn't play headbanger loud, but at normal listening levels it was superbly balanced, threw a huge soundstage, and  was just fun to listen to.   If your room isn't so friendly, nothing you can do will make them work. If you can't get at least 3 feet on each side and 2 feet to the back wall (those are minimums, not optimums), then forget about Magnepans. I have my current .7s for sale, simply because I lack a suitable room. That said, If you simply want 'more' Magnepan, then the .7s will provide that, and the 1.7s even more.

You don't mention subwoofers, but I would also consider the REL t/7 or t/9, the SVS Micro 3000, and KEF KC92. Small fast, tight  subs that blend well with Maggies. Finally, I would put them on risers, at least 6" to 9" to clean up any thickness in the lower vocal range and to raise up the soundstage.

Happy LRS owner. A couple of thoughts for you.

- In order to get LRS to have magic. High pass the input to the amp feeding them and integrate with a sealed sub.I use a 50 HZ high pass filter before my main amp and a Rythmic 15 in sealed sub set at 50 Hz. Little maggies have a difficult time dealing with low frequency input. I think this applies to the .7s as well. My sound is full range in a larger than you would expect room for LRS. Mine are 4 ft from the front wall and 3 feet from the sides.

- Have a nice set of dynamic speakers to swap into your set up. I have a set of old ProAc monitors that provide some variety in my system presentation. 

Have experience (still own) both LRS and .7 with (still own both) H390 and 590.  I think the .7s had all the great sound of the LRS and more.  Still fast, just a larger sound.  Both were great choices. I’d be interested in trying 1.7s, but have gone the opposite direction (decware with Harbeth SHL5), and need to sell some stuff before I buy anything else.

LRS and LRS+ sound great with a pair of the little REL T/Zero MKlll subs...I tried based on recommendation from Johnny R. ...

If you are looking to buy, get the .7’s and a subwoofer or two. If you have a large room to fill, consider a bigger pair, but the .7’s can play pretty loud.