Maggie 3.6 vs. Talon Khorus?

I had the 3.6's for about 3 years.

Amplification makes all the difference in the world with the Maggies. They are 89db sensitive and not easy to drive. The more power/amperage you can feed them, the better they tend to sound. Very few 100 wpc amps can come even close to comparing with what 500wpc to 1000wpc can do to the Maggie sound. This is my main complaint against the Maggies... owning them gets you into a viscous cycle of upgrading amplification. Yes, I have heard the 3.6's driven by an AR CA50 integrated amp (50 wpc tube power). No it did not sound nearly as good as driving them with a VT100 mk2 amp which did not sound as good as driving them with a Plinius SA-250 amp which did not sound as good driving them with two Plinius SA100 mk3 amps in MONO (665 wpc into the Maggies).

If you do get the 3.6's, and you experiment with different amps, you might find yourself craving as much power as you can afford (or that you can put on your Amex card, heh heh).

KF

Actually the Maggie 3.6's are more like 86db sensitive. I had Mag IIIa's for years and tubes are a great mix for music but makes sure you have enough watts like everyone has said. But in dynamic movie gunshots the speakers are really fast and image amazing but sometimes they don't move enough air if you are looking for THX levels. This will cause the mags to flap against the magnets.. I have NHT 3.3's for HT right now.. nothing like 23hz bass flat.

But I'm breaking my system apart again and I'll probably go back to Maggies 3.6's or Maggie 20.1 (if I win a lottery), and try to power them with some VTL 450's for music. The magic on horns/accoustic bass/jazz and female vocals are amazing and like someone already said the upgrade game ends and you start looking like crazy for good music and watch the tubes glow.

If you like the Talons, Don't buy the Mags without hearing them. Bring your own favorite music and trust your ears.

Another suggestion: For my ears, the VMPS RM-40 is the ideal "compromise" without compromise between these two speakers. The RM-40's ribbons have midrange and top end clarity that surpass both the Maggie 3.6 and the Khorus at only slightly more money than the Maggie. Neither speaker can compete with the 40's bottom end with two 10" and a 10" passive tunable radiator. The RM-40 is also not as difficult to drive as the Maggie and is more sensitive -- about 91 db/1watt/1 m, I believe. The Khorus have nothing sound wise over the RM-40, but are physically smaller and look cool in their pyramid shape. The Maggies offer a imaging and wall of sound unique unto themselves and similar to full range elecrostatics. Weigh your options carefully.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.