Magnepan MMG

I think the MMG's tend to sound a bit constricted and bright. I own them and like them a lot. I have mine mounted about 24" high on top of a couple homemade woofer boxes (using NHT1259 woofers, one per MMG). I use an electronic crossover ($500 from Madisound) and an amplifier for the MMG's, and an amp for the NHT woofers. Good sound for the money.
I was not impressed with the MMG until I heard them hung up in the air and crossed over to a good woofer. Wow, good value. In fact, to get better sound, I have to spend gobs more money. I'd enjoy checking into some horn speakers, but with the bewildering array of compression drivers and actual horns, as well as more crossover points...it gets to be work, not a hobby. The MMG/NHT1259 was easy!

Ok this baby now sounds terrific,everything I expected,still abit shallow(probably room placement) but the highs are extended and mids have that magical bloom,the edgeness is gone and now its sounds "natural".It took about 90-100 hours of serious break in before these planners opened up,still amaze at the sound quality of these sub $500 speakers,these are definitely not base loaded transducers,but it does go down to about 50 cycles cleanly.Highly recommended!!!!!!!!

I've had mine for about two years now and I'm convinced that they are THE best deal in audio. Some people complain about the lack of bass. I run mine with a Conrad Johnson PV 12L and Parasound HCA 1500A (usually at high volume). There are no complaints here.

The only box speakers I've owned that come close to the lifelike reproduction of the MMGs were a/d/s/ L1290's biamped. What I'd give to have those babys back!

I had a pair of MMG's and went to the 1.6s. The cliche about Maggies being placement sensitive is true. I'm agnostic about the cliche concerning their power hunger(at least at classical and jazz amplitudes). You mentioned "congested". Might that congestion be related to their diet. The best improvement with my Maggies came when I went to a low feedback,high current design amp. The 'low feedback' amps that come redily to mind are from Monarchy,Van Alstine,and Sim. I'm sure there are others that amp experts here can mention.

Hey that's great! I use a Van Alstine Omega3 in a Hafler 220 chassis, and a Mosfet120 done beautifully by Frank himself. And I've even tri-amped the system (My Maggies are on top of NHT1259 woofers placed in large cabinets). Also have a PSE Studio 4 amp. Bryston .5b preamp replaced by AVA Omega3 preamp. Omega3 DAC. Frankly, (pun intended) electronics aren't nearly as much fun to mess with as speakers. Speakers are fun. Also have a pair of MartinLogan Quests, some old B and W DM7Mark2, and a pair of B and W 303's for a good cheapy perspective.
The biggest MMG flaw I hear across a variety of recordings is their tendency to add sibilence to voices, and an overall constriction of sound. The MMG's are good speakers, but they have some issues,H like everything.
It is important to me to find product weaknesses, and not say "this is the greatest" (like I hear regarding Legacy and VMPS speakers). Can't let the most histrionic win. Still, show me a better speaker than the MMG for $550 and I'll go check em' out! Happily, as I can afford $550, unlike other speakers I'd like (see aforementioned brands).
So I would rate the MMG 4 of five stars, if such a statement matters...