Maggie speakers and bi-amping


Hello,

I've heard that the 3.7 speakers are far superior to previous models.
However I've also found that bi-amping Maggies also brings out great improvement and the 3.7's do not allow bi-amping.
I realize that reviewers would not compare these options but it seems more relevant to me if you already have two amplifiers (paid for.)
It would be nice to go to a dealer to compare but I've found that dealer's rooms are generally too small to listen to the larger Maggie speakers.
Does anyone have an opinion on the sound qualtiy of the 3.7 with a single amplifier versus older 3 series Maggies bi-amped (preferable in a large room)?
nottop
There was just a thread on here a few days or maybe a week ago that discussed this very thing. I tried to find it, but had no luck. Maybe someone else remembers the thread topic title and can post it.
There is a discussion about this in the current thread on the 20.7's. I think you will find that lots of people have opinions on this subject. I have no experience with biamp'ed 3.6's using an external active crossover, so I can't offer a comparison on that set up vs. a stock 3.7. Those who have that set up appear to be very satisfied, so if you already have the amps and the crossover, it might make sense to go that way.
A separate question is the comparison of stock bi-wired 3.6's vs stock 3.7's. It seems that some have a very strong preference for the 3.7's, while others are less enthusiastic about the magnitude of the improvement over stock 3.6's. I have gone the monoblock route. I find my 3.7 single wired to my Cary 500 MB's to be wonderful. If your stereo amps are matched and can be bridged, that would be a way to fully utilize your existing equipment with the 3.7's.
I have had the 3.6 single and biwired and both are good if enough power is used. If the room is not too big, then 250wpc is fine with the exception of demo discs with tanks, jets, trains etc. A good pass labs, coda, bryston 4bst or sst, c, and others work. Two 4bsst biamped work well too. The best sound was with a 14bsst on bottom, and 4bsst on top and marchand xm26 xover. Very textured, great with digital, but i preferred my xm44 with analog. Jallen
I am wondering why Magnepan went the non-biwire and non-biamp route with the new 3.7's and 20.1's? I have 3.6's and will consider moving to either the 3.7's or maybe even the 20.7's. I haven't heard the 20.7's yet of course, nor have I ever heard a pair of 20.'1s. I have heard the 3.7's at shows and was reasonably impressed, but before I would buy I would want to hear them in my dedicated listening room at home.

Many Magnepan users that I have spoken with say that the biggest challenge in using the 20.1's is having enough amp to drive them properly. (I am currently using the Cary 500 mb with great results on my 3.6's - 1,000 watts into 4ohms and 72 amps peak power). If this cannot properly drive a pair of 20's then what do you get; an arc welder? Still would like to know why Magnepan switched-up and took away the biwire and biamp provisions on the new series?
My personal feeling is that the 3.6's sound better biamped is that more power is available...although I could be wrong.