Magnepan..the sun rises and sets on..or does it??

So much depends on your musical interests and what you do to support the Maggies in terms of filling the obvious void in the low bass region and, of course, providing proper amplification which they love. Bryston 4B-ST's do the trick for the 1.6's (for some people) but 7B-ST's would be much prefereable. For that matter, the Maggie 3.6's are probably worth the extra dough if you can swing it. The only Maggies I currently use are an old pair of MG-1C's that I picked up used for $200 and even those guys are power hungry!

Positioning is also critical with all Maggies, as they need to be several feet away from the rear walls, and a lot of experimentation is needed with the toe-in to find the sweet spot that hits you just right. It seems to differ for everyone and is also very room dependent. Don't even think about trying the 1.6's in an 8' x 10' dorm room!

For what it's worth (not too much, I suspect), in the planer/electrostat/ribbon world, I've used Maggies, Martin Logan Aerius, Bohleder Graebener X1 and X3's, and Newform Research R645's. Although I've not owned a pair of 1.6's, I've heard them in a well set-up system and agree they are amazingly detailed in the upper mids, which is where my listening ear turns to first. This is an enormous strength of the 1.6's. Yet, my money would be with the Newforms in terms of overall bang for the buck and, in my opinion, naturalness of sound quality (quite amazing integration for a hybrid design). The R645's go for $2,265 new or about $1,500 used if you're lucky enough to find a pair. As with many speakers, the Newforms are most at home when bi-wired. Another advantage of the Newforms is that they are one of the more tweekable speakers you'll ever run across. No disrespect for the 1.6's, just another point of view.

Search the archives here for "Magnepan" or "Maggies" and you'll find a lot of dialogue. Many members of A'gon have more experience with Maggies that I do. Tireguy for one is a big fan of the 3.6's and he's posted his entire system fairly recently.

In their price range they stand out as one of the very best speakers. In ANY price range, they are a contender. I owned a set at the same time as a set of $12,000 vandersteen 5's. Vastly different speakers yet in all honestly I considered them ALMOST in the same shooting gallery as a combination of merits. (the van 5 was def. better)

A little lightweight in presentation, unmatched on orchestral works, very detailed but not in the 'ultimate class'. A little haze blanket in the background when used with very quiet electronics such as pass labs. FAST FAST FAST in all ranges. I haven't yet heard a dynamic speaker that can match them in that respect. Sometimes this can make large heavy instruments sound a little surreal. A bass for example seems like a 2d paperweight version of the real deal. A full range dynamic speaker can communicate that a bass a large, heavy and powerful instrument. With a magnepan a bass and a flute seem to have a similar sense of weight and presence.

I personally think they should have a tube amp on them to sound good. They tend to expose any grain in a solid state design yet revel in the soundstaging and liquid presentation of a tube amp. Solid state can make them sound a little dead. The slight noisiness of the speaker is also masked by a tube amp. They do eat tubes so get an amp that's cheap to retube.

But a set used and see if you like them. They're easy to resell but shipping can be difficult. Make SURE they are insured in shipping. You may want to buy a subwoofer to go with them. Rel is consistently recommended. I'd skip the sub myself.

I think when you get into planers in general taste of music is very important. How you listen and how you plan to set the speakers up (as already been mentioned) are also critical. I personally don't really like the Maggie's, but I do agree they are a great value for those that do. The bottom two octaves just don't do it for me on the Maggie's. But that is just my personal taste, and I know many people are very satisfied with these speakers. I have Martin Logan's and I wasn't very satisfied with the bass response there either--so I changed it--now I like it. I love the transparency and speed of planers on the mids and tops, but the dynamic drivers in the bass. Even Sound Labs M-1 (haven't listened to the U-1 yet) are too soft in the bass region. Even though you are remote, (I'll go out on a limb here) I would consider posting: I live in 12345 zip code--any one with Maggie's care to let me listen--considering a purchase. I'd let a fellow A-goner listen. Particularly if it was a remote location (knowing that the next 100 people wouldn't be knocking on the door). Even if you had a drive an hour or a little more--I think it's almost impossible to purchase a speaker like this without having heard at least one Maggie (even if it's not the exact model) first.

I used to own a pair of 104/2's. Great speaker in their day. The maggies are a pretty different sound. If you love bass, you might want to add a sub to the mix. very carefully match it though. If you value imaging, depth, etc...you'll love the maggies. All the comments above are great.

I have the older version of the 1.6 (the 1.5Qr) driven by Musical Fidelity A3cr power/pre combo and love them. I would not buy anything else even at 3x the price (though I would get the 3.6's if I could. I listen to mostly classical and I think maggies are almost universally loved for acoustic music of all types and especially for classical music. They do not have the pounding bass that some Rock or heavy metal lovers seems to want. Also HT listeners tend to want a sub with them. I'm a classical musician and I find the lowest register of double basses very realistic with well setup maggies, but it doesn't do the huge electric bass and drums of some recordings without a sub.

Maggies sound very different from conventional speakers (better to my mind, but definitely different), so it is really important to hear a pair. As mentioned above the family resemblance between all maggies is strong, so you don't necessarily need to find a pair of 1.6's.

Good Luck,