Question for Ex-Maggie Owners

Emil...Your concern about shipping Magnepans is valid. The packing material set which they use for new units is really good, (and must add at least $30 to the cost of the speakers). They do suggest that the speakers never be shipped except in this custom-designed packaging, and they say that if you were silly enough to dispose of it, you can order the packing material set from them, at some unspecified cost. You might consider this if you need to ship a set.

Like everything in this world, it's a trade-off. And, depending on your situation, they could be great or not-so-great. I have a pair of MG-12's with a powered sub with an active cross-over as these are a little shy on bass. (This is less the case as one moves up the line into the 1.6's, 3.6's and 20.1's.) I'll echo the sentiment that there is a fairly narrow sweet-spot on the 12's, although once again, moving up the line will minimize this weakness. And yes, they do need power- I had a 100 wpc(at 8 ohms)Counterpoint amp which had a tough time getting to a little more than moderate volume, even WITH the active x-overed powered sub, and quickly moved to the 220 wpc Counterpoint amp. (With all due respect to others, my opinion is that the bare minmum would be a 120 to 150 wpc of QUALITY amp for the 12's and 1.6's, and no less than 200 for the 3.6's.) Lastly, they do need space and are somewhat room and placement dependant and, with respect to size, I did find that the 12's are alot less obtrusive than the larger models.

If these negatives haven't run you off yet, I'd say you need to get a pair of Maggies. They are a great speaker for the dough!

BTW- Maggies are very revealing speakers- the HF harshness that some refer to is quite likely to be caused by an amp that doesn't work well with the Maggies.

Regards
Jim

I have 3.5s and Velodyne ULD 15 sub that work well. Innersound amp. started and finished for a while. Love the sound. Make sure they are insured for replacement cost for shipping errors. It happened to me when I purchased mint condition and the shipping co dropped them. 3 months later I have to re breakin factory reconditioned 3.5s that are basicly new. Love em and I only tell my new puppy that!

I had a pair of MG 3's and although I loved the clarity I just needed to have more bass and the ability to turn the volumn up loud. The 3's just couldn't do either. When turned up loud they would have fits. I can't imagine a classical music lover enjoying them very much because of the lack of deep bass. I tried to solve the bass problem with subwoofers but they all seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the music. Maggies are quick subs are slow hence the bass always seemed to be after the rest of the music. I don't think it was my room causing the lack of bass since it was a fairly large room about 28' long by 17' wide with a 9' ceiling. I also don't think my amp was lacking in power I had a Carver 1.5T which was about 350 at wpc at 4ohms.

Timwat's observation of Sonus Faber Amati Homage and Avalon Edilon in Analog Room is not necessary the most accurate. This particular dealer stuff those big speakers in a tiny 10'x10' room that is filled with speakers and electronics, I don't think anyone can expect any speakers to sound good except maybe LS3/5A.

Maggie's has its strength and weakness, but it's the weakness that I could not live with. All Maggies have bass in an uptilt trend as frequency goes down to compensate for the weak bass output (see Stereophile measurement). So even with a sub, I don't think anyone can correct the fundamental "design flaw". Also, the large vertical image is also annoying. Real instrument rarely has long vertical source, and point source is what any design should try to mimic, not the opposite.

That said, Maggie still has one of the most transparent top and mid range at their price range.