Ideas on speaker like Magnepan but with high WAF


I'm looking for speakers that throw a big sound stage, great imaging and do all the things Maggies do but aren't the size of a door (actually two).

A speaker set up that would provide the 3d sound I'm after for around $2k without visually dominating the room. Floorstander or stand mounted.

Suggestions on non-planar speakers that come close in sound or better?
cdc2

Showing 2 responses by josh358

Hmmm. AFAIK, your quest is impossible. A full-height dipole line source is going to have a different soundstage than a smaller speaker. Omnis are one possibility, as someone mentioned. But you run into problem two, which is that it's hard to match the bang for the buck of the Maggies.

I think I'd consider the Magnepan on-walls, which sound close to the floor standers but are quite unobtrusive compared to floorstanding dipoles. Also, if you can listen in the near field (from a few feet away), the remarkable Mini Maggies, which give you 3.7-level sound. But they won't fill a big room with sound, they aren't designed for that.
Audionuts, agree that other well-designed speakers will give you a 3 dimensional soundstage when set up right. They can't do height, though. Only a line source can do that. Also, many speakers aren't well designed. At a minimum, polar response has to be consistent for an optimal soundstage. Dipoles do this, and omnis, but most boxes are omnidirectional in the bass and cardioid in the highs. In addition, the polar pattern matters. A dipole will make a different sound stage than an omni.

Bottom line I think is that if you want a Maggie-style soundstage, you pretty much need a full-height dipole or an omni (which will have more lateral spread but typically not do height as well).