So I had another audition with Magnepans recently, this time the MG.7s (aka .7s). Steve Guttenberg’s comments in his YouTube vid for this particular model, and how he even prefers them to the 3.7s, piqued my interest.
This audition was a in a different room, with different gear from my own, so not apples-to-apples, so take it FWIW. However, the partnering gear was of a similar class to my own. For whatever reason, the .7s sounded far better than what I remember of the 1.7s I owned, maybe with the exception of bass extension. I can only guess this might be due to the .7s being 2-ways while the 1.7s are 3-ways. I often find myself disappointed in the sound of 3-way speakers, and it’s my suspicion that the additional crossover found in these designs is sucking out some low-level information. The proponents of single-driver speakers often claim that’s the design’s ace-card, the omission of a crossover. I’m beginning to think that’s a valid argument.
Anyhow, the following is how I’d rank speakers I’ve either auditioned recently, or own, that can be had for $3K, from best overall performance to least (assuming compatible room and gear). Keep in mind that these models, at a minimum, have slight differences in strengths and weaknesses. The ranking is only for how likely I’d be able to live with them long-term, with "mid-fi" ancillaries. Also, I omitted models that are difficult to find or rarely come up on the used market.
Spatial M4 Triode Masters
Magnepan .7s.
Rega RX-5 (these surprised me)
Spatial M4 Turbo S
New Large Advents *with refreshed parts (no, not kidding, when was the last time you heard a pair with modern gear?)
Tannoy XT6F, or Vandersteen 1Ci
Heresy III or Vandersteen 2CE Signature2
There are many others but I haven’t auditioned or owned them in a long-time.
