Magnepan vs Martin Logan

Hello Joel:

You're comparing apples and oranges here. Maggies with the ribbon tweeter are wonderful, delicate sounding speakers that can reveal every nuance in a good recording. Midrange on the bigger series is a thing of great beauty, for a time I had 3.5r's and enjoyed them greatly, however I prefer the slam of a hybrid.

Martin Logan are a bit more difficult to place for proper imaging, a sweeter sound overall than the maggies, but with
the addition of low frequency "slam" that you may find lacking in the maggies. Some folks say that Martin-Logan has yet to properly integrate the crossover between the woofers and the panel in their line, others cannot hear the transition at all. Neither speaker is "better" than the other. You've got a bit of listening to do to find which sound will be right for you!

I've owned both the Maggie 3.5r, and ML request. In the end I went back to a speaker that I had owned previously, and found that I like better than almost anything out there today, the Infinity RS1b.

Hope this helps!

Paul

I agree with Beemer--it's not an easy call. I have listened to Maggie's and own Martin Logans. The placement is critical on the MLs--there are several threads on this topic. Once it's right--it, in my opinion, is hard to beat. As to the cross-over, it depends on which speaker. I own the Monoliths and the cross-over point is at 125Hz (it's also active). At that low a frequency it is very difficult to detect, but some of the other MLs have higher cross-over frequencies. The room and the placement also have a tremendous effect on how discernable the dynamic driver is compared to the panel (again, see the threads that discuss bass and treble integration and speaker placement for MLs). Neither of these speakers will reproduce large scale dynamics like the Infinity or most other dynamic speakers--that's not to say they won't play loudly with the right electronics--they will--but not with the same punch (dynamics). Good luck--and if you can listen to these and decide which is right for you.

Joel, I have listened to the big maggies. They did sound nice and were driven by bryston 4bst. I did not get to compare them with the ML's, side by side. But I did end up buying the ML aerius i's. At the time I bought the aerius I's I also bought the 3bst. Then I discovered the bat vk200 amp which I bought to replace the 3bst. No regrets at all. I auditioned the bat 3i pre amp in home with my bat vk200. The surenergy of the 3i/200 was incredable. I know what people say about the Martins not being dynamic, but apparently they have not tried them w/the 3i/200 combo; very dynamic and pletty of power. I will be buying the 3i in the future and won't look back. All I can say is WOW. pete