Magnepans and Rock

I had a pair of 1.7's and thought they were very overrated. I think they built their name a while back when box speakers weren't as good as they are now. If you want to try panels, I think an ESL like Martin Logan is a better choice. I know its a matter of opinion but I likes my ML's much better.

Zd, you make a valid point. Recent advances in computer assisted design of enclosures has changed the landscape a bit. That said, 3 years ago I wanted to move away from Maggies and couldn't do it. I could not touch the performance level of the 3.7Rs at even twice the price.

That said, I use them for classical music, where I think the standards for recording quality are generally higher than for rock. If I were a rocker, I would probably want a more forgiving speaker. And yes, you might want something that does a little better below 40 Hz.

"Recent advances in computer assisted design of enclosures has changed the landscape a bit."

Time marches on, unless it doesn't.

I have heard three pairs of Klipsch Heritage speakers all with enclosure designs from 30 years ago. There are kilobuck speakers made today that can't touch them.

As for maggies, I have owned heavily modified 1.6s and stock 3.5s. Both very good. I actually thought the 1.6s did rock better because every time I would crank up Neil Young's Reactor album, I would either blow a fuse or take out a tweeter on the 3.5.

Maggies can rock, but nothing reproduces a kick drum like a 15" driver.

Shakey

Had Maggies for years. They are very good when set up well. BEst for acoustic music and low to medium volume in general. Not a natural fit for harder or more electronic forms of rock music IMHO. I would listen and judge for yourself to decide if they work for you.

Just to be clear, I didn't hate the 1.7's, they just weren't as good as I thought they were going to be. This may also sound odd, buy the one thing I did like about them was the bass. It was really high quality, well defined and musical. They didn't go that low, but what they did give you was very good. It was that long strip of aluminium that didn't agree with my ears.