Question for Ex-Maggie Owners

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.

Opivl and others who mention how "slow" subwoofers tend to be...please stop and think about (or experimentally listen to) what kind of music actually comes out of your subwoofer. Mostly organ pipes of 16 feet or more. The, attack time of real big organ pipes is slower than the slowest subwoofer in the world, not to mention the fact that the keyboard to pipe linkage (often pneumatic) can introduce a second or more delay between the keystroke and the pipe sound, compensation for which is, of course, a real challenge to the organist. The lumbering nature of subwoofer sound is probably an attribute of the source more than a characteristic of the transducer.

If I had my choice, I would own a pair of the new 3.6's -- I heard them again at my dealer the other day, and my mouth just watered......I just don't have the space for them in the one place in my house where I can put my stereo. Its not that I have a small room, or that Maggies are hard to place, I just have an awkward listening room that has other demands that just won't allow for proper set-up of even the 1.6's. Magenpans just do everything right for me.

Maggies are still my favorite speaker........as a sidenote, in my system, the only box speaker that I have found I enjoy to a degree close to the Magnepan, was the Thiel CS 2.3

I think the place that Maggies would be wonderful are as surround speakers because they would envelop the listener with sound.I think I might buy a Maggie CC speaker because of the clarity they give to vocals.I really cannot think of a better CC to use than a Maggie.

The thing that really bugs me are the people that like the sound buy them for small rooms.Just amazes me how people cannot think of room synergy before buying them.There are box speakers that are just as transparent along with extended bass and I own a few sets.They are the fix for people wanting the Maggie sound without having to have the room to put them in.Problem is people do not think speakers that have the same magic exist which is sad.