A question for Maggie owners

Some would say the 'best bang 4 buck' would be a pre-loved pair of the 1.6 followed by a trip to magnestand for the full wood frame / stand / crossover mods.
Magnepans is the DIY speaker. The stuff I already mentioned is on the table, but even un modified you have to do detailed setup.
For example, I experimented with Tweeters in/out and pole piece forward or to the rear. Toe is critical. Measure everything as you go and take notes, if necessary.
3 feet from the front wall is dead minimum. 5 feet works better, since the ear will hear the reflected sound differently with more time delay.
Sub integration is a real joy, too. Do your setup WITHOUT sub to get the mains best than add the sub. All the usual rules apply. With panels you still have the full range VS cut off lows option, as well. I run full range and set my crossover to near the LF panel limit and have a pretty good blend.
Go check out the Planar Asylum and maybe even Magnepan Users Group for the real nut-jobs. I like it.
Now, Magnepans have a real house sound. As you go up-line, you simply get more. The MMG at 600$ is a bargain and has guaranteed trade-up value OR the ala carte resale market...you choose.
Just make sure your room is panel friendly. Some diffusion between 'em is nice or a couple fake ficus behind. The opposite wall can be damped, as well. They load the room differently than box speakers, so experiment.

Enjoy.

eldar,
Yes and yes.
I'd add that the low sensitivity is made easier to take by what you refer to. The level doesn't drop with distance as quickly as box speakers. And, they are an easy load, so many amps are a good electrical match, even if you don't prefer the sound or presentation.

Talking line-source, many users will swear by the 8 foot ceiling as best.

At the stock 600hz crossover and with 250watts to the bass, I'd estimate needing maybe 150 watts to the top-half, so the amps run out of 'steam' at about the same time. That would be about a 60:40 power split...

Keeping in the Threshold scheme of things, if I had VERY deep pockets, I'd biamp with a pair of Pass amps...The INT-30a and the XA30A. I doubt I'd ever even get the meter to flicker out of 'a'.

And given the nature of the Magnepan beast, I'd do a few minor wiring changes, too. Get rid of the fuse and maybe install real binding posts to rid myself of those pesky banana plugs....which I've been putting up with for >30 years!

Pass amps are the only ones I've seen which call out voltage as a 'spec'.

How much more power? My 'guess' of 60:40 is based on the following link, which makes reasonable sense..

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

My guess of 150 watts @ 4 amps (mid/tweet fuse in 1.6) is about 38volts....certainly that should be within reason for any 150 watt amp? No?
The Pass X-150 is rated at about 50 volts.....and stereophile got 200@8 out of it during bench tests.

Sorry, Eld, the Schematic clearly shows the fuse for ONLY the mid/tweet. I have a copy right in the other room......
And yes, it will briefly carry more current than 4 amps. I haven't looked at fuse specs but I know it will carry a bunch more for very short times.
I doubt a panel will be damaged by this behavior. Even my MG-1, with a 1.5 amp fuse did the same. i could pop the fuse with somewhere north of 200 watts, but all that would happen would be the highs would go away.

I understand their is another class of fuse which is REALLY fast and designed to protect the most delicate electronics......in addition to 'sloblo' .

On the DIY front, some people will bridge the fuse out and others will pull the connection panel and do a minor rewire job to the same end. Eliminating all those extra connections / wires while of necessity doing away with the biamp / biwire option is said to have some sonic benefits. If I did that, I'd be tempted to install binding posts at the same time....