Need some wisdom comparing planars

Pardon me but the Maggie 1.6 does have some competition....Apogee. For about $800-1000 you can get a mint pair of Stages with the stands. They are a pain in the butt to set up but will reward you with stunning, natural sound. For about $1500-1800 you can get a pair of Duetta Signatures. Bigger than the Stages, but will compete head on with the Maggie 3.6 in everyway. Close to the price of a new pair of 3.6's is the Apogee Diva, which will cause jaw & eye injury to the unprepared. Pleeeeaaaase check out these two sites before you decide. http://audioworld.com/cgibin/sw/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=1

http://www.apogeespeakers.totalserve.co.uk/

Dear Tim,

I am also a musician and have had Magnepan 1.5/QRs (the older version of the 1.6s) and love them. I have also liked very much some more traditional speakers in a similar price range (e.g. Thiel CS2.2s). But nothing does it for me like Magnepans. Martin Logans can also be excellent especially since you seem to listen to more music with a drum and electric bass section (I almost never do), but for me that added bass driver is a real blow to the beautiful coherence of Maggies.

I would love to get 3.6s some day, but the qualities of Maggies are present throughout their line (my dad has the MMGs in his second system and for $500 new they are astounding - though not equal to the bigger models).

I am using the Musical Fidelity A3cr amp and preamp which mate wonderfully with the maggies. I had a higher power amp before, but have not missed it. the detail is so much better and I can always move the volume from 10:30 to 11:30 The A3 and the maggies bring out phenomenal detail.

I am using TMC Interconnects (which are also very good for the money) and am in the process of upgrading my speaker wire to a biwire run of Analysis Plus Oval 9 for the bass and oval 12 for the treble. I have also just taken the plunge with some less expensive after market power cords (Stealth, Kimber and Dedicated Audio). I'm not yet ready to evaluate these last changes.

At any rate, I often work as artistic director on contemporary music recordings and have tried to avoid the extremes of a "Flatter" system or a pure analytical system, and while I'm sure that improvements can still be made, I love the sound of my stereo. Were I in your position, I would not hesitate to get the 1.6s they even work for those of us who've taken the musician's 'vow of poverty' (as Audiokinesis put it).

Good luck.

Timwat,

You've got a lot of information here to sort through.

I agree with 1953 on the virtues of Apogees. I've owned Stages for eight years now.

Sean makes good suggestions regarding a subwoofer. I'd recommend a small, fast sub, also. I used a Velodyne ULD-15 for years (crossover reset to 60 Hz) and finally sold it recently in favor of Mini-Grand style dual 8" subs to better match the speed of the ribbons.

As far as amplification goes, I've found that planars can't be given enough current. I've upgraded amplification twice in the past eight years: from 120W to 200W and then back to 160W. The last upgrade was key: from Rotel to Threshold.

While I don't have any experience with the new Martin-Logans, I chose the Stage over both the Sequel and Aerius (original) because the ML sounded veiled by comparison.

My $0.02, FWIW, YMMV (and any other internet acronyms I can think of).

Tim,

The first thing one must ask themselves when getting a music system is: How much to budget?

Personally, I prescribe to the notion that you build an audio system backwards. Start with the speaker you love, followed by an amp to go with the speaker, followed by a preamp to go with the amp, etc. ect...

I have been an owner of Maggie 3.6's since they came out. I have compared them directly to the 1.6's many times back to back. The 1.6 is the best bang for the buck in planer speakers that I know of; however, I am not familiar with the above mentioned speakers. The 3.6's were the best speaker I could afford at my time of purchase, and they are one of the greatest speakers in their price range.

However, they do reveal EVERYTHING. I have heard them driven by a little ARC CA50 tube 45wpc integrated amp... They sounded pretty good considering the low power of the tube integrated amp. I have heard them driven by: ARC gear, Plinius gear, Monarchy gear, Acurus gear, Aragon gear, Cary gear, Sim Audio gear, Pass gear, Bryston gear... And a half decent listener can hear the differences (some very dramatic) between all of the equipment with the 3.6's.

The Maggies love power. They may make you power mad. If you get Maggies, I would avoid using an integrated amp. You can, but the moment you try out a decent hi powered amp/preamp combo in your sysytem, you will wonder what you have been listening to the past with the integrated amp.

I would advise either Bryston, Sim Audio, or Plinius solid state amps for driving Maggies. If you want tubes the VT100 mk2 or mk3 is a wonderful amp for Maggies. If you are curious as to what I have in my system, see my system listed in the virtual systems here at Audiogon.

Subs can work well with Maggies. Depending on your room and your upstream components, a sub can do amazing things to a system with Maggies. However for the best results, I would choose a REL subwoofer. I have auditioned several different subs with maggies, and REL works best for me. They are not cheap, but neither are most things is this pricey hobby. If your room is small, and you have good enough upstream electronics, the Maggies can be pretty flat down to 35hz. You may not need a sub if your room cannot support frequencies under 35hz.

But it all comes down to budget, and how much upgrading you want to do in the future. If you want to do upgrading, splurge and buy the 3.6's, and make amplification your next upgrade. If you want to settle now, get the 1.6's and a great used amp (this total will run about the price of new 3.6's). This will give you a very balanced amp/speaker part of your system that could keep you happy amplification and speakerwise for a long time. But it all boils down to money.

If you want to enter the Holy Grail quest of audio, there are plenty of future options for upgrade. If not, buy a system within a budget that is balanced, and enjoy your music. (It also helps to not listen to any hi-end system that is remotely better than your own as well ;) )

Good Luck!

Keith

Tim,
My system now consists of the SCD777ES source, ELAD pre to 2 Sunfire amps in biwire mono config to the 1.6qrs with an ACI titan II sub. ICs are the Jon Risch DIY Beldens and speaker cables are bi-wired analysis plus oval 9. I am currently deciding on room treatments.