Magnepan 1.6 vs. ML Aerius i owners opinions..

I owned both. Same room, same everything. I stayed with the Maggie 1.6's. I liked the female voice alot more on them and everthing else a little more than the Aerius i.
Keep one thing in mind as you read the results of your poll: Anyone who tells you one is better than the other is just stating their opinion and taste whether they use acronyms like IMO or YMMV or not. If they really believe they can tell you what you will like best, then they are an idiot!

Of course I don't know what you'll like best in your own listening room with your own electronics. I can only say that after many years as a serious audiophile and musician, when I first heard the MG1.6 against the Aerius in the same system, I felt that the 1.6 was much more palpable and realistic in tone/timbre. On all types of music. Bottom line: it's worth extra effort to audition both to see what you think.

Both are very fine speakers, and I have owned both. I started with the Magneplanar 1.6qr's and loved them. I sold them and bought the Martin Logan Aerius.

The Aerius sounded like it had a gap in the midrange and did not get full orchestral works quite right. I was also suprised that the ML, with a dedicated woofer did not have as well defined bass when compared to the Magnepans.

I used both with the same McIntosh amp system and placement, and then adjusted the ML's for optimum placement. I just could not get the ML's to sound as good as the Magnepans.

I sold the ML's at a loss, and purchased another pair of Magnepan 1.6's. The glorious sound was back!

Just my experience. Hope this helps.

Hi all...thanks for your thoughts. I had owned ML-Sequel II at one time,..then went on to Maggie 20's. Financial times forced me to scale back to the 1.6...when I visited a friend that I had sold the Sequel II's to..they sounded good..so I started to think of picking up a pair of ML...likely Aerius or the SL-3,...least till I can afford the new version of the 20s.

Maybe I will stick with the 1.6 'till then..but thoughts of the two small ML's had me thinking.

Thanks

I don't have quite the experience you seek, but I've compared the 3.6s and to the Odyssey, and frankly I prefer the 3.6s. Oh- and I'm an Odyssey owner.

However, the 3.6s are even harder to place than the Odysseys. As far as I'm concerned, both of them are the speaker equivalent of spoiled rotten brats when it comes to placement. The Maggies need a sub a lot more than the MLs, IMHO.

If I ever get enough space to have a 2nd setup, the MLs will stay in the theatre and I'll get some Maggies for 2-ch.