Magnepan 3.6r or Apogee Divas?

Campbelr,

I would also go with the Apogees over the Maggies.

The Apogees have so much potential - but you do have to
set them up properly since they are more setup sensitive
than the Maggies.

If you don't optimally setup the Apogees - they could easily
lose to the Maggies, which are more tolerant of poor setup.

But setup the Apogees properly, provide them with the
amplification they need - and the Maggies can't touch them.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist

I've owned Apogees and Maggies 3s in the past. If you can find the right amp, the Apogees will sound more transparent and coherent than the Maggies. Also, you'll get more dynamic and extended bass. I think the Apogees are harder to set up and more amp dependent than the Maggies.

I would guess that the Apogee Duetta Signature would be the model to compare with the 3.6's as far as size. The Divas are larger and harder to drive.

IMO, all of the full-range Apogee need a fairly large room and need to be well away from the wall behind them. While I understand that you can stick any speaker in any room...it's not going to sound as it should.

Dave

No speaker is hard to drive with the advent of the $2k H2O. The best of all Apogees, IMO, is the 1 ohm Scintilla. That too is easy to drive.

Given the right electronics the Divas are hard to beat. I lived with mine for over ten years and through many upgrades. Like most panel speakers they need high current and high power to come to life properly but that's not to say that you can take any crap sounding high power ss amplifier and expect them to sound good. They're magic with the right electronics but there are so few good sounding high power/high current amplifiers out there! These days I prefer SETs and high efficiency speakers.

Whatever you decide make sure that the Divas weren't modded. There are plenty of them out there with less than ideal modifications to the crossovers and wiring.