Replacement for Maggie's?

With the exception of the larger Apogee planar speakers or arguably one of the hybrid models, most dipole speakers simply can't provide the same bass slam as a cone driver.

If you can't upgrade to the larger Maggies due to the WAF, then the Apogee route is probably not an option unless you can find a pair of Cepheus 6s. Try before you buy.

I like the subwoofer idea. It shouldn't be hard to integrate a downward firing sub (or pair, if you have the space). If your floor is wood or concrete, you'll be good to go. If carpet, place some wood floor tiles or (better) a stone or granite tile under the sub.

Finally, if you are determined to replace your Maggies wth something new and with a similar (dipole) sound, I would suggest that you look at the DECware ERR or maybe even the Ohm speakers.

Thanks for the ideas guys, it sounds like I really need to take a road trip to listen to some different gear. I have thought about adding subs but felt it smeard the sound a little. Not sure if that's the right term, but it didn't sound as good in the mids with a sub. If I kept the 1.6's I have also thought about adding 2 rythmik subs but once again worry that it will mess with the already pretty good sound.

Harri, while I know people have had good results with forex the Rel subs, you might want to consider Magnepan's DWM woofer. It won't smear the sound like a dynamic sub because it's also a planar, and it's quite small. Magnepan showed it at CES with a couple of 3.7's and it got raves. Their new ad will give you an idea of how small it is, plus the kind of press its been getting:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=mug&m=196349

Also, since it's small and easily shipped, they have a 30 day home trial so you can see if it works for you.

If you then want to extend the bass down to 20 hz, you can add dynamic subs but they will only be playing in the bottom octave so they're less likely to smear the midrange.

Harri, two considerations:

First, if keeping your 1.6s is an option with peace in your household, look into Josh's advice. Apparently Wendell has suggested trying one or two DWMs to see what works in individual rooms.

Second, apparently a new MMG is being introduced this winter. That would be a smaller option while retaining the Maggie sound. And of course the addition of one or two DMWs to that might provide what keeps everybody happy. ;^)

If you go with subs, you need at least two and preferably more to approach the in-room bass smoothness of the Maggies. Let me explain:

James M. Kates authored a study published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society that documented the superior in-room bass smoothness of a fullrange dipole loudspeaker, in comparison with a monopole speaker.

Todd Welti and Earl Geddes (who was my teacher) have established the superior in-room smoothness of multisub systems using three or four thoughtfully placed subs. Basically, multiple distributed bass sources result in significantly smoother in-room bass because their individual dissimilar in-room peak-and-dip patterns average out. This is not entirely unlike the case of having two dipole speakers, wherein each dipole can be modelled as two monopoles in opposite polarity separated by a path length. Two dipoles = four monopoles (two in reverse polarity); four subs = four monopoles (preferably spread apart).

In-room bass smoothness increases proportionally with the number of distributed bass sources. Thus two subs are twice as smooth as one. And four subs are twice as smooth as two. And two dipoles (approximately equivalent to four monopoles, distributed in polarity rather than in location) are about four times as smooth as one monopole sub. That's why most people who try a single sub with Maggies give up on it, and many if not most people who try two subs stick with them (I'm leaving out some details for the sake of simplicity).

In my experience four distributed subs do a very good job of matching the in-room bass smoothness of a pair of dipoles. Of course WAF is not high with a multisub system, so this approach may not be practical in this case, but it's good to be aware of the technique.

Remember, the purpose of going with multiple subs is quality, not quantity. Not only is the bass smoother, it is also more uniform throughout the room, which is nice for anyone not in the sweet spot. Smooth bass = subjectively fast, pitch-correct bass; not-smooth bass = boomy or one-note bass, as the peak or peaks stick out like sore thumbs, unless we turn the subs down until the peaks are subjecively unobtrusive, but now the rest of the bass spectrum is not fully represented. So smooth bass tends to be "fuller" bass because the level of the subs is not dictated by the sore-thumb peaks.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer