Magnapan vs. Von Schweikert

I have a very large cross section of the the musical spectrum, but having grown up in the north in the 70's the majority of what I own is classic rock. I do have a fair selection of Jazz and a smaller amount of classical too. In an evening I will go from Jethro Tull to Carl Orff, to Bob James or Al Jerreau, with a little Hoyt Axton thrown in for flavor.

I like female vocals like; Jennifer Warnes or the Cowboy Junkies, Clair Marlo, and Sara K.

I also Like Mangos but the only apples I'm all that excited about are Granny Smiths.

I don't know how hard it will be for me to find the speaker that will statisfy all those types. Maybe I will have to settle for one that excells in the styles I prefer the most, but I'd like to think I could find one that does it all.

I'm in complete agreement with Banksfriend here! To me, these speakers are sooo different from each other that the poster really needs to decide which type of sound suits him more: dynamic cones or planers. IMHO if you really want to compare these two particular speakers then we might as well start another impossible discussion like: which is better, great tube gear or great solid state?

The again, I only eat Mangos ;-)

You should try Mango Daiquiris. Good for you and gooood for you.
From your musical list I see nothing that won't sound good with the maggies, I also am from the NE so I understand your tastes. Magnepan is a very friendly company, if you contact them and explain your geographical problem they may be able to help you audition the speakers.
Another speaker you may want to consider if you decide against maggies are Avalon Radian HCs(available used). These were some of the best imaging speakers I ever heard, They were the only things that even came close to luring me away from my maggies.

When I was in the biz I needed to eat 6 apples a day, and now I still like apples but I love my maggies :) The only upgrade I am considering in speakers is to 20.1's

For what it's worth I just concluded a search for speakers and was torn between the 1.6 QRs and the B&W Nautilus 805s...that was until I heard the Von Schweikert VR2s. In the under $3000 range, a few $35000 speakers too, the VR2s are the best I have heard in my area.

This whole thing started when I heard the 3.6QRs by the way. That sound stuck with me for a while. However in the same demo with the VR2s I heard the VR4 Gen III SEs. It is an absolutely amazing speaker.