Magnepan vs Ohm/Walsh ?

Back in the late 1970s I owned a pair of Ohm Fs and absolutely loved them. I regretted selling them almost immediately.

Fast forward to 2002 or so and I was in the speaker market again. Ohms were first on my list to try so I ordered the 200s under their home trial program. I ran them about a month and then borrowed a pair of Magnepan 1.6QRs from a local dealer for a side-by-side weekend trial.

It became a very easy decision at that point; the Maggies won easily. They floated a very transparent, almost surreal image and the mid-bass, for cellos, drums and the like was outstanding - very palpable. In contrast, the Ohms were more veiled. I will give the deep bass to the Ohms but I valued the Maggies' advantages more.

I know other people would make the opposite choice based on what is important to them.

Unfortunately I moved 3 years ago and the listening room at the new house was simply unsuitable for a dipole speaker that needed to be well out from the wall. The Maggies were sold and I am now quite happy with a pair of classic Spendor SP1/2Es.

...an intimate sounding system for a smaller room (11 x 14), likely powered by tubes.

That is a small room for dipole speakers that need to be out from the walls to sound their best. I found the 1.6QRs to be the wrong choice for my 13 X 15 room after my move. (Though it should be noted the room is not dedicated to listening so other furniture added to placement problems.)

I fared much better with the more tightly controlled directivity of the Spendors, even though it meant a smaller sweet spot. That didn't bother me much since I'm the only critical listener in the house.

I think it simply points out the need to hear speakers in your own room. Which one you find "best" is going to be highly dependent on circumstances unique to your situation.

Plato, you're a leg up on most people since you already have experience with the little brother of the 1.6QR in that room. I hope this pair fulfills your expectations.

My prior listening room was 25 X 15 and it was just about the perfect size for the 1.6QRs in my estimation. I was able to get the speakers about 4' from the rear walls and 3' from the side walls and still had enough distance to the listening position for everything to meld perfectly. In the new room the speakers were either too close to the wall or too close to me.