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What are some of the downsides of owning a Magneplanar .7 or 1.7i ?

Thinking of moving up speaker wise, and so am considering  the fabled Magneplanar speakers, that is, either the  the .7, or supposedly new 1.7i.   (BTW, I am not sure the Maggie .7 is necessarily an upgrade, and has less bass than my current box speakers...see below)

Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other downsides of this design.  For the last 30 years, I have owned several traditional box design speakers. 

I currently have a pair of Golden Ear Technology model 7's....which I like and generally sound good However, I  would like to confirm what a planar design brings to the table in sound quality. I have read many times about the box-less sound  provided by this design, and its wide sound staging and low distortion. 

I think I have enough power with BAT VK-200 amp (100RMS) to drive the .7, but not sure that is enough to drive the MG1.7i. to higher volumes The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE. 

The listening room area 12 X15ft, but opens into kitchen/dining area divided by a medium size couch. The rest of the space is approximately 12X18ft behind the sofa with a stupid counter island ( so I cannot move the sofa back any further.. The ceiling is 8 to 9 ft feet high ( not a cathedral ceiling, praise the Lord) . It is a bit of haul to the dealer I bought the Golden Ear T's from who also carries Magneplanar line.  All advice welcomed.    Thanks, SJ   

sunnyjim
audiolover718
132 posts
 
Johnnyb53,

Fair enough. I haven’t heard any of  the 7 series Maggies. I fell in love with the presentation of the proacs and haven’t looked back. But I do stand by the 1.6 not being very good with dynamic swings by comparisons. Yes, They are not in the same price range so it is an unfair comparison.
tgonzales
30 posts
 
I have had both the 1.7s and 3.7s.  They both are wonderful speakers which I can't imagine would disappoint any audiophile.  

The main downside (thesis question) centers on the sound.  Power is an overrated concern.  I've used Pass Labs XA60.5 and XA100.5 which both sounded very and could produce high SPLs--not eardrum breaking.  

The maggie sound is more a wall of sound (think being at a concert) versus pinpoint (listening to traditional hifi from something like a ProAc minimonitor).   If you love the hifi thing, it can take some adjustment.  I considered used Wilson and could have been happy either way.  Different but not worse.
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
the 7 series Maggies are a big improvement - they are x.7i now BTW

it is easy to get better speakers than any Maggie -- just spend 3x as much
gdnrbob
4,417 posts
 
@johnnyb53 
I agree, you have a keeper (for a wife).
Despite being a Vandersteen Fanboy, I also respect the Maggie's. If I had more room, I would get a pair, too.
 
Bob
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
it is easy to get better speakers than any Maggie -- just spend 3x as much
Add in a good powered subwoofer or two and it competes with even more expensive speakers. I go to a high end vendors' open house almost every year. The first time I went (in 2006), Wilson Audio Specialties was demo-ing their $160,000-ish Alexandria V2s. In another room were a pair of Magnepan 20.1s augmented by a pair of JL Fathom F212s, total retail price $25,595. That was less than 1/6 the price of the Alexandrias while being competitive in performance.
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