Theta v.s. Sim Audio

You oughta go listen and on Maggies. They do sound quite different.

Hello...First, I am a dealer for Simaudio.

These are both excellent choices and you really can't go wrong with either one for THEATER applications.

However, if your system will be used for HT AND 2-chan listening, my choice would ABSOLUTELY be Simaudio. Simaudio has essentially taken all of their 2-chan products and used them as a base design for their theater products.

For example, the Titan is basically a multi-channel W5 (because of the larger power supply, the Titan actually sounds better to my ears than the W5). The Attraction is a theater processor with P5 analog stages.

Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio

I had the 3.6's for a long time.
they are great speakers... HOWEVER, you need to feed them lots and lots of power to get them to sound good. Or should I say, the more power you feed them, the better they will sound.

I have used/heard the 3.6's with many amplifiers. Including the W-5 and Theta amps. For HT either would be OK. HOWEVER, if you into 2 channel, there are MUCH better amps for driving the maggies than the W-5 and Theta amps.

Amplifiers that can make the Maggies sing:

2 Plinius SA-100 mk3 amps in MONO
1 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amp
2 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amps in MONO
PASS 350X amp or higher in the PASS series
LAMM monoblock amps (solid state)

Do you see a trend?

Basically you need amplification that has amazing current and power to get the most out of the maggies. Most 100-200wpc amps just do not drive the maggies nearly as well as a more powerful 500+ wpc hi current amp.

I once compared the W-5 to 2 Plinius SA100 mk3's in MONO driving the Maggies. There was no comparison. The W-5 just could not get the kinds of dynamics out of the Maggies that the Plinius amps could.

My suggestion would be to get an amp/amps to drive the maggies, and get other amps to drive the other channel. Frankly the rear and side channel amplification are not that important as HT goes. I have experiemented with using high quality amps for rears, and it made LITTLE difference if any at all. The cinter is a different story. The center is a channel that a lot of sound comes out of in HT.

Frankly, I sold my maggies in an effort to get a more dynamic speaker. I have the Vienna Acoustic Mahlers which I use for my 2 channel and L/R in my HT setup. The Mahlers are a much better HT speaker than the Maggies. I think the Mahlers do everything as well or better than the Maggies in two channel except the midrange (and they are just a hair behind the maggies in the midrange.

My 2c.

Keith