Placement of Magnepan 1.6's or 3.6's


I'm rearranging my living room which is 18.5' X 11.5'. I'm getting ready to buy new Maggies, (I've had Tympani 1D's for 20 years.) I planned to get 1.6's and have them facing the short width of the room. A friend suggested that I might have them face the longer length, in which case I could fit the 3.6's. I didn't consider that before because I have a Steinway B grand piano that is 7' long and will sit across the short width of the room. If the speakers are basically a couple of feet from the corners of the room, the body of the piano will partially obstruct the listening V between the speakers and the listener. Is that a problem? Does that listening space need to be completely unobstructed? The Magnepan brochure has them pictured in a corner directly against the wall with a couch a couple of feet out. What do you think? It would be great if they could fit and sound at their best facing the large length of the room. If the piano is not a problem, would the 1.6's be enough or do I need to get the 3'6's?
Thanks.
Tony
tconny
I don't know Thiel speakers. Why does Newbee recommend them and why not Maggies. It would be great to not have to accommodate the size of the Maggies and still get the great sound I'm used to. Which Thiel's does Newbee recommend?
Tconny, My mind must have wandered when I read your thread and the following posts - for some reason I thought you were referring to Thiel 3.6's. I certainly was not recommending Thiels, nor would I. Sorry for causing confusion - I feel really dumb! However, since I already look kinda stupid I'm ready to risk complete being a complete idiot by making an unasked for observation. FWIW I think your room size might be much more ameniable to dynamic speakers than panels or electrostats due to the difficulty of setup. If I had your room I would probably get mid-sized monitors, like the recently reviewed Harbeth 7's, place them on the short wall about 4 ft out into the room, about 8 ft apart, with the listening position about 8 to 9 ft away. I would listen to them as close to on axis as possible to minimize first reflections from side walls. Then I'd get a small and fast sub woofer to fill in the bass between 32hz and 60hz and probably place it some where on or close to the wall behind your speakers. This system might not be in an absolute sense better than perfectly set up panels but I'm not sure you can really accomplish that set up in your room. (I went from Quad 63's to dynamics for much the same reason in a room somewhat larger, but not much larger, than yours). Anyway sorry I created confusion for you in my original post.
If you like the sound of the Maggies you should look into some VMPS ribbon speakers. They've been raved about enough. More info in the VMPS circle at audiocircle.com. These are much easier to place and you wouldn't need a sub. You may find that you like them better. Here's the VMPS site:
http://www.vmpsaudio.com/
Do a search at the various audio forums and you'll like what you hear. These are more coherent than the Maggies with and are very versatile for room setups. Also easily as good of a bargain as the Maggies. Good Luck
IF price is not a big issue please go for the 3.6s . I have 3.5s and see much difference in my 3.5s and new 1.6s with the older 3.5 better. As with most all Maggie fans twicks and twists are to be expected as you probably know. Its the never ending nervana of chaseing the perfect sound. Your room will be no different. :)
Of course you should audition both the 1.6 and the 3.6. Not everyone prefers the ribbon tweeter. I picked the 1.6 over the 3.6, and price was not the reason.