Newbie Maggie question: Best bang for buck?

3.7i is the sweet spot.....because inevitably upgraditis will get you and you will be selling some lower model you bought now (at a loss) to get to a 3.7 anyway.

However, a magnepan is not exactly a complete speaker. You could stick with just a magnepan if you don’t have an eclectic taste in music.

Otherwise, you will need a second pair of box speakers, horns or concentrics or something very different from a magnepan.

In other words, there shall be no one swing and a home run for you. There are a lot guys in audiophilia who lie to themselves about such things, one swing and one home run n all. Such things don’t happen. 

These will likely be my last “forever” speaker. So I want to get it right - one swing and a home run is what I need. Yet, I have more desires than I have money. 

I started with the Tympani 1D in 1977 with the Audio Research SP-4 preamp and D-100A amp  - fantastic - had them for 25 years. 

Then tried the 1.7s  with Rel subs - very nice. Then the Larsen 9s. I just got the 2.7x - Wow!! What a difference - the 1.7s sounded veiled by comparison, and the Larsens didn’t have the soundstage I needed. I have a 25’x 30’ room with 13’ ceilings - they sound absolutely superb  with the Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 amp. I considered the 3.7i, but wanted something newer. Highly recommend the 2.7x if you have the space and budget. 

Thanks Gang! Y’all read my mind, that’s the kind of experiential feedback I am looking for. Shout out to Northman and Ravimaui in particular.

So, to help pull this thread together, what I’m hearing (ahem, pun intended) is that – basically – Maggie’s model range are more similar than they are different. There is no “giant leap for mankind” between them. General agreement is the 3.7(whatevers) may be the “technological” sweet spot.

HOWEVER – and please chime in on this last question – it appears that mating the size of the Magnepan to the size of the listening room may be a better approach than simply making them bigger. It may be that, a 1.7(whatever) set up correctly for room placement, may outperform a standard 3.7(whatever) in a room that’s not able to support its larger dimensional / placement needs. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta. Are we on to something here? Is that the basic general take-away?

So, even if I (we) have enough money to afford the 3.7’s, a properly placed and mated 1.7(whatever) may be just as good, or even better than, a 3.7(whatever) in an average size listening room and not properly set up for room placement. So, to Deep_333’s point, "upgraditis" may be held in check by the listening room itself. Agreed?

This thread has been very helpful. Thanks for your 2 cents (while cents last).

As I always say, it could be worse, we could be into collecting classic cars. God help you if you’re into both!

I heard the 20.1 X’s at CAF driven by the new Audio Research solid state preamp and amp. Very impressive…but do remember that the sense of imaging is very different with planars than with more point source, dynamic drivers. You don’t get pinpoint imaging, you get lateral placement in the soundstage without a sense of relative height and with less sense of depth. 
 

I would try to listen to the X version of whatever Maggie you decide on.

The .7 was considerably better sounding than the 1.7i in my room, despite the room dimensions being better suited to the 1.7 in theory. Yes, the 1.7is could dig a bit deeper in the bass, but that was all they could do better. The .7s had superior imaging, coherency, midrange and bass dynamics. 

Best thing you can do is attempt to find a dealer that sells multiple models and can facilitate an audition. 

The 3.7i and above have the true ribbon tweeter. It is indeed better sounding in the highs than the lower models. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have nearly the coherency of the .7 or LRS. Definitely doesn’t do mid-bass punch as well as the .7 either. Some of the Maggies are downright anemic when it comes to playing certain genres like hard rock. You can attempt to ameliorate that by adding a sub or two and crossing them over at the mid-bass freqs, but most subs cannot integrate correctly due to the dipole design of the Maggies.

All Maggies are incredibly finicky about placement. For example, a couple degrees difference in toe-in can make or break their tonality. IMO, there are dynamic box speakers that do nearly everything better for the same money and less fuss. 

That’s just my experience. YMMV and all that….