I'm a little stumped

The other posters are pretty much right. The Klipsch/Magnepan comparison is dogs and cats. The thin sound you heard could also have come from a couple of things: If the pair in the shop were new and not run in that would explain a lot of the brightness you heard. Magnepan speakers need about 200-300 hours on them to open up. The power was adequate for the most part. Was the room a large one, with a lot of hard surfaces. Properly powered and set up Magnepans are capable of very respectable bass output. Of course, I am also making this claim based on living with the much larger MG 3.6R. But, I also have a pair of MMGs which make a very nice showing of themselves in the bass department as well.

You have a very nice setup as it is. The sound of the ultra high efficiency Klipsch is very different from the classic Maggie sound. I am willing to bet that if you have the opportunity to listen to a good Maggie setup for an extended time with music you are familiar with, give your ears a chance to adjust to what you are hearing, you will discover that the bass is there and that it is very accurate, the midrange is true to the source and there is a seamless integration of the sound. That said, you may also discover that you prefer what you have. There is no denying that Magnepans are fussy to set up, crazy power hungry beasts, and the bass does not move air the way a cone woofer can, but make no mistake, they can do bass.

Hi, I heard the 1.6's several times a few years ago. Half the demo's sounded good the other half did not. At the time a (75mi. away) local dealer had a demo pr. on sale. I spent 2-3 hours in the store listening,( they said they were broken-in ) I knew this pr. did not sound right. I still brought them home for a weekend. I played them all day and all night. But they still sounded thin and lifeless. I returned them (I had Legacy Classic's at the time). About 6 months later I bought a used pr. of MG-12's with the same sound. So I let them play and play and play. After about 1 month they sounded alot better(warmer and dynamic). So break-in is very important. I sold the 12's in time but I'm still kicking myself for not keeping the 1.6's and giving them enought time to fully break-in. Cheers!

Could be you`re "conditioned" to the system you have. If you listened to the Maggies for a few weeks, you might think the Klipschs sound "dull" by comparison. Both are good reputable speakers, just different.

Thanks for all your thoughts. This is my first post here and I hoping I wouldn't get "...are you nuts man? have you no ears?!" I've been out of the audiophile game for many years & was all pumped up to dive back in....seems I did a face-plant on my first outing. :-(

I haven't written Maggies off by any means. Maybe it's just a memory ripened with age, but my buddies MG1's from almost 30 years ago sounded "stunning". It could be I was young & impressionable...but I was running this same MA6100 amp and a pair of LaScala's at the time.

There is a guy locally that has a pair of MMG's that are well broken in. He runs them with a sub..I'll try to get in touch with him and listen for a bit.

The 1.6's I listen to were said to be about a year old and "...I'm sure they're broken in"....though I wonder if that was the case. They may have been a year old, but who knows if they were seasoned as well as they should be. The room itself was hard surfaces (scattered with equipment on shelves) everywhere...it occurred to me that kinda sucked for an audio shop.

Plato,
Your "..surpassed by a wide enough margin to warrant their retirement" is exactly it. You mentioned "dynamic"...this was a significant shortcoming of everything I listened to, including the Thiels. I didn't realize how much of a shortcoming until I listened to my own setup last night. Horns & drums were jumping out of the Chorus MUCH more than any I auditioned, no comparison. As I've lived with the Chorus speakers for about 10 years now I was (am?) ready to move on & was prepared (hopeful?...willing?) to be blown away by the Maggies ...to a point where I'd bring a set home. Then all I'd need is a boost up in power & I'd be rockin & rollin so to speak. Time to fall back & regroup I guess.

Marco,
My speaker 'history' over the last 30 years is a pair of JBL 100's, Klipsch Lascalas (then I went back to school & my apartment was just slightly larger than the two LaScalas...so I moved to -> ), B&W DM1200's, then the Chorus II's. I see the LaScalas are really going for larger money these days..I saw on pair for $4K new & he would sell them for 3200-3600??? Sounds like a lot as I paid $1100 or $1300 back in '76ish. I haven't considered the Klipchorns-corner horns...good thought! Your tube amp idea is intriguing also. That too never occurred to me, may have to look into that. Any suggestions on make?

Slip,
I'm down, but not out. I haven't written Maggies off. If anything I'm a bit more determined to listen to them 'right'. I may have to look for a used pair of MMG's to play around with. 1-2 hours in a audio shop can't compare to living with them for a while.

Jgeyer/Frogger,
I suspect you're both right. The one's I listened to were not broken in & they are different, very different, than I'm used to. Chalk it up to experience, but I'm going to see if I can hear them for real before I end with a go/no-go.

These speakers are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum in almost every respect. It is no wonder that you prefer what you have to the polar opposite. You are accustomed to a very specific type of presentation from the speakers that you currently own and have been using for years.

I can understand how one would think that Maggie's would be a step backwards, but in all reality, they would be a step sideways. One would simply end up trading one set of variables for a completely different set of variables based on personal preferences. The truth of the matter is that we all want / need something that takes the best features / sonic attributes of each of these designs and combines them into one.

Unfortunately, that isn't easily done, so we have to pick and choose what we like and want as individuals. Luckily, there are a lot of different products out there. The problem is finding one that does everything you want at a price you can afford.

Stick with what you've got until you find something that you think is better. Nothing wrong with being happy or satisfied and it is a helluva lot cheaper : ) Sean
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