I have had Maggies and auditioned both these speakers. Try to audition the 1.6s in your home. BTW, I don't think the Maggies are that hard to position, and their sweet spot is wider than many audiophile faves. They are actually fairly easy to move around. The 1.6s have that eerie Maggie openness & cohererence and do the disappearing act better than any speaker at their price-point. It sounds like the musicians are in your room, and the sense of scale is impressive. The bass and dynamics are somewhat room dependent. In my HUGE listening room, the bass was not enough. The Vandies were very pleasing throughout the frequency range, though not as magical as the 1.6s, and they displayed better bass. They were also a bit overpowered by my room. One requirement with the Maggies, be sure you have sufficient power. They are forgiving, but all planars need "juice" to let them sing. In a small to medium size room, I would probably go for the Maggies, especially for acoustic jazz and classical (my own musical preferences). I find the Vandies just a tad too laid back for me in some orchestral pieces. Ultimately, these are both great $$ for sound speakers. Happy listening.
