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.
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.