Newbie Maggie question: Best bang for buck?

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….

If you’re a Maggie newbie(and looking for best bang for the buck), then the elephant in the room for some of us in discussions like this is take a hard look at the Eminent Technology LFT-8b or LFT-8c and any reviews comparing any Maggie to the LFTs. With both models, but particularly the 8c, you won’t need a sub. I have the 8b model and find the off-axis response to be excellent...not at all finicky. I have a somewhat exotic speaker set that I built to give a hard listen to. If they don’t beat the LFT, then I’ll be upgrading the my 8b model to the 8c..easy to do, and inexpensive. 

I started with the LRS+ in my office to replace the KEF LS50 Meta. The room was small 12x11x9. I used the KEF KC62 sub with both. I was very surprised to find that the Maggie was EASIER to place than the LS50 Meta. The LRS+ was not as clean sounding as the LS50 Meta, but the overall wall of sound Maggie presentation was a more fun listen for me.

I lost that room and went to an even smaller space (my virtual systems has photos). I sold the LSR+ and got the Maggie Mini Panels. This was better sounding than the LRS+ on top. Though not the ultimate in resolution. Still a very fun listen.The Mini panel uses the same panel as the 3.7. I would spring for the upgraded "i" variant if the Maggie was my main speaker.

I have owned amps from $1k to $16k that I have used with the Maggies. I posted such a list on A’gon in the past.

The amp I am using today, the $2k Schiit Wotan is the second-best amp on the Maggies. The best is my CODA #16 but it cost 8x more. The Wotan needs a lot of burn-in to sound optimal.