A question for Maggie owners

Some would say the 'best bang 4 buck' would be a pre-loved pair of the 1.6 followed by a trip to magnestand for the full wood frame / stand / crossover mods.
Magnepans is the DIY speaker. The stuff I already mentioned is on the table, but even un modified you have to do detailed setup.
For example, I experimented with Tweeters in/out and pole piece forward or to the rear. Toe is critical. Measure everything as you go and take notes, if necessary.
3 feet from the front wall is dead minimum. 5 feet works better, since the ear will hear the reflected sound differently with more time delay.
Sub integration is a real joy, too. Do your setup WITHOUT sub to get the mains best than add the sub. All the usual rules apply. With panels you still have the full range VS cut off lows option, as well. I run full range and set my crossover to near the LF panel limit and have a pretty good blend.
Go check out the Planar Asylum and maybe even Magnepan Users Group for the real nut-jobs. I like it.
Now, Magnepans have a real house sound. As you go up-line, you simply get more. The MMG at 600$ is a bargain and has guaranteed trade-up value OR the ala carte resale market...you choose.
Just make sure your room is panel friendly. Some diffusion between 'em is nice or a couple fake ficus behind. The opposite wall can be damped, as well. They load the room differently than box speakers, so experiment.

Enjoy.

Maggies are, first and foremost, planar speakers. The dispersion of sound is quite unlike the typical "point source" speaker. A "line Array" speaker is somewhat similar.

You must first decide if you like the planar characteristics. Some do and some don't. After that you can worry about bass response. People who get all upset about Maggie bass response have been reading too many specs instead of listening. The perfectly smooth nature of the bass rolloff largely compensates for the fact that, except for the largest Maggies, the lowest octave if you need it, is left to a subwoofer.

eldar,
Yes and yes.
I'd add that the low sensitivity is made easier to take by what you refer to. The level doesn't drop with distance as quickly as box speakers. And, they are an easy load, so many amps are a good electrical match, even if you don't prefer the sound or presentation.

Talking line-source, many users will swear by the 8 foot ceiling as best.

just a quick note - as said before, Maggies love power.

I'm running 1.6QRs and got a very noticeable improvement by bi-amping. I run 250Ws of Threshold power on the bottom and use a tube amp on top. Bass is rolled off on the tube amp since it doesn't need to reproduce those frequencies anyways.

The sound difference with the tube amp in place was jaw-dropping.

At the stock 600hz crossover and with 250watts to the bass, I'd estimate needing maybe 150 watts to the top-half, so the amps run out of 'steam' at about the same time. That would be about a 60:40 power split...

Keeping in the Threshold scheme of things, if I had VERY deep pockets, I'd biamp with a pair of Pass amps...The INT-30a and the XA30A. I doubt I'd ever even get the meter to flicker out of 'a'.

And given the nature of the Magnepan beast, I'd do a few minor wiring changes, too. Get rid of the fuse and maybe install real binding posts to rid myself of those pesky banana plugs....which I've been putting up with for >30 years!