Magnapan vs. Von Schweikert

I had the Von Schweikert-designed Vortex Screens about 10 years ago after having the Maggie 1.4's. I have seen a lot of other speakers in my system since then also. I have had my Maggie 1.6's for over 4 years. It feels so natural. No other speaker does it for me like the Maggies.

Last Friday I got to hear the 3.6's for the first time. I just can't believe how much more natural they sound even over the 1.6's. I now have my sights set on the 3.6's. If I find them used, great. If I don't, I won't cry to spend list for them.

If you have the room to let these babies sing, you can't go wrong.

That's my take on the matter.

I have 3 complaints about the 3.6's.

1 - The more power you feed them the better they tend to sound. This can get you into a viscous power upgrading circle once you realize this.

2 - They are not very dynamic. However the more current you can feed them, the more dynamic they become (another viscous circle). The 3.6's dynamics just do not compare to great box speaker dynamics.

3 - Bass performance below 35hz or so is lacking. This is very forgivable.

Everything else about the 3.6's is world class. Mids and highs are darn amazing as is transparency. I had the 3.6's for almost 3 years, and loved them dearly.

KF

I would guess these two speakers are VERY different sounding, no? (i've heard VonSchweikerts 4.5 mk3 as well as planars... totally different strengths)

which one you prefer i think would be pretty subjective.

I have a set of VR4 Gen III's & if you want bass down to 20Hz these will do the job. I understand the SE goes down to 16. I put some Soler points on them & that tightened up the bass & even cleaned up the highs some.

I'm using an Ayre V-5x with them & have no complaints whatsoever.

I have a good friend not far from me who was a big Maggie fan, yet he still needed a Janis sub with the maggies. He finally decided to go with a full range box.

I think it boils down to what you like to listen to & how you like to listen. I don't think either speaker will disappoint but you've already pointed out you can't audition. The VR's are more dynamic sounding & I can listen to all kinds of music on them w/o fatigue. Of the two different Maggie's I heard, which don't include the 3.6R's, they lacked the necessary cohesion to play rock. They had a great mid & upper range but lacked the bottom end.

BTW, I did a review of the VR4 Gen III's back in Sept. Here's the link if you're interested: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rspkr&1032415483&read&3&4&

Good luck in your search.