QUAD vs Martin Logan vs Magnepan


Probably a turn-off to most readers, it's one of those 'how long is a piece of string' type questions. But here goes...
To those of you with experience of 2 or more of the above company's modern speaker products, which have you found to be the more persuasive speaker. In other words which is best. I realise Magnepan & ML have an extensive range of speakers but I guess my question is aimed at which evermodel they put out to compete with the Quad (ESL 989?)

My reasoning is simple, it's difficult to find a dealer where I live who would have any of the above never mind all three to do a 'shootout'. I have recently joined the ranks of Maggie owners with the MMG's which I'm impressed with - but I'm just curious to see how good things can get if you start to spend a few more $$$
safoxda10

Showing 1 response by ojgalli

The previous responses all seem to be well on target.

I've only heard a demo of the Quads. Impressive, yes, but like all large panels they have a very narrow sweet spot. Take that into consideration. It's a law of physics that when the wavelength is equal to or smaller than the size of the source the dispersion decrease accordingly and interference patterns are created.

I have auditioned three of the ML models and the Maggie 1.6. The 1.6 is an incredible value. Although I didn't buy them because of the large panel issues already mentioned.

My favorite of the MLs is the Clarity. It surprised me too. I was expecting to salivate over the Summit. Didn't happen. Only months later did I come to the conclusion that it may have been the smaller panel on the Clarity—less beaming and combing. And most disappointing, all the MLs demonstrated the same weakness; the bass isn't very well resolved. It's not bad, but for the money, ML should get the bass tightened up.

What ever you do, here's the best advise I've ever been given; Before you spend your money, audition, audition, audition.