Ideas on speaker like Magnepan but with high WAF

Great comments.

I've had the Decware Radial in mind for a while. Anyone actually heard it and thoughts on how it compares to Magnepan speakers?

OHM Walsh styling may not be everyone's cup of tea but footprint is small for sound delivered and placement fairly close to walls is possible. Decware is more omni and might require greater distance to walls, not sure. Have not heard Decware but would like to. Styling is nice for sure. I have had OHM Walshes and Maggies for years while married. My wife objected to the Maggies being out in teh middle of the room for best sound mostly. HAs never complained about OHMs and even has allowed them in her sunroom and in teh living room in years past. WAF concerns will vary of course. mmg+sub is a potential more WAF friendly option to consider than larger Maggies. I could probably live with that in many moderate sized rooms or smaller.

You need more modern OHM Walsh series 2, 3 or X000, the more recent models, to compare sound to modern Magnepan. ORiginal OHM Walshes from the 80's are less refined as were the Maggies from then I suspect.

I can speak for Series 3, the line before current up to about 3 years ago or so. FOcus and detail is competitive with Maggies and Quads I have heard. Midrange is most coherent and very musical but is presented much differently than with Maggie. Macro dynamics and bass are exceptional, more like better conventional speakers that also use dynamic drivers, not the strength of Maggie. Microdynamics are very good but the best Maggie setups might have an edge depending in certain cases, hard to call. OHMs can go closer to walls in general. THe most unique difference is the directionality of Maggies versus the omni nature of OHM (or Decware) that enables optimal listening from pretty much any location in the room. Speaker placement is also more forgiving with omnis though small changes there can have significant effect on sound like with any speaker.

You might take a look at BG Radia, I had a pair of their long floor standing ribbons, had Magnepanish sound, and the wife liked thw looks. Needs a sub, though.

In some ways I feel that a good pair of minimonitors comes closest to
approximating the planar speaker experience for these reasons:

1) Well engineered mini-monitors have more of the total price in the drivers,
and therefore can be very light and fast. This is required to approximate the
full-range planar experience.
2) Mini-monitors, having small, thick walls, are less prone to panel
resonances and box coloration than large floorstanders.
3) The small front baffle of a mini-monitor nearly eliminates baffle diffraction
and provides a cleaner, more precise image than a speaker with a large, esp.
wide baffle.

However, given that Maggies are dipoles and fire an equally loud signal to the
rear while creating a self-canceling void to the sides, they energize the room
differently than minis or omnis. The room's sidewalls figure less into the
overall sound equation with Maggies.

Omnidirectionals throw a big soundstage and have a near universal sweet
spot. When the tonal balance is right (and of the ones I've heard, they're
usually very good at this), they sound very natural and the entire listening
room has largely the same tonal balance. The image stays stable relative to
the speakers regardless of where you choose to sit or stand. My 2-channel
analog-sourced rig is anchored by a pair of Mirage OMD-15 omnis. These s/b
pretty WAF-friendly as they are small elegantly shaped and finished columns.
If you need bigger w/more bass to fill a bigger room, they offer the OMD-28s
which are only a couple inches bigger in each dimension but have more
sophisticated drivers and bass that reaches into the 20's.

If you want some magic and beautiful unobtrusive speakers, get a pair of B&W
PM1 minimonitors and supplement them with their outstanding, well-
matched PV1D sub.This combo is stunning in its honest tonality,transparency,
soundstage, and imaging. Everything about this rig draws you into the music
and makes you forget you're listening to speakers, let alone whether they're
panels, cones, or omnis. And they're so cute your wife will want to take them
home like a golden retriever puppy.

Mirage OMD28.

http://www.amazon.com/Mirage-OMD28-Black-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker/dp/B000WVAW6O