Panel Sound

Of course it was tongue in cheek; I had not turned this into a my speaker is better thread. Just a 'within panels, there is nothing better than..'.

Just a 'within panels, there is nothing better than..'.

He doesn't give up, does he?

It's too bad Audiovox/Klipsch gutted Mirage and eliminated their high end products, because their OMD-28s would probably give the OP exactly what he's looking for, especially for his listening preferences. In fact, even Mirage's mid-'90s bipolar offerings do a great job of large soundstage with reasonable image specificity for anything from solo voice or guitar to hard rock to big band to full-scale orchestra. What particularly makes them shine is their very realistic and natural tonal balance all the way down to bass in the 20s.

Now that I got that off my chest as a longtime Mirage enthusiast, my #1 system is now anchored by a pair of Magneplanar 1.7s, and they amaze me every time I fire them up, regardless of music type. I've been listening to a lot of large orchestral music lately--Elgar Enigma Variations, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade--and these $2K speakers can present, delineate, and yet unify a 90-piece orchestra as you would hear it in a concert. But right now I'm listening to Sinatra backed by the Count Basie orchestra, and the playback is just shockingly good.

It doesn't surprise me that Soundlab U1s would sound better than 3.7 Magnepans--they're 9 times as expensive.

Still, for the price range we're talking about, the Mag 3.7i's should be strong candidates, and if you pair them with a really quick subwoofer or two, it expands their ability to do thumpy loud music. I have a pair of small fast subs with my 1.7s and the combo doesn't lack for any type of music I throw at them.

Also, if you set up Magnepans and you're getting 6' wide solo voices or acoustic instruments, the setup is probably wrong. The Mags are capable of excellent precise imaging, but you have to have them out from the back wall to get it--3-4', and you have to toe them in to directly face the listening position. I use a tape measure to set mine up, based on the successful methodology used by the store where I bought them. Proper placement also improves the bass because it diminishes the influence of the self-canceling backwave.

The new x.7 series of Magneplanars does away with most of the old criticisms. They are easier to drive, they can play louder, bass is better, and coherence--with all panels sharing the same quasi-ribbon technology--is excellent. I have no complaints.

I second Raytheprinter in his surise about Analysis Audio. I bought an Epsilon pair a year ago after my beloved Quad ESL and I have to say I couldn't think they ciuld be that good...
I think they deserve a much better reputation than they actually have.