The best I can say is that I haven't ever kept any speakers as long as these.

Since the best position was found, I have just been listening.
No adjustments or worries about equipment at all.

Every other speakers I've owned have made me thiinking more about the sound and the gear than focusing on music.

In fewer words:
I don't notice them.

Excellent bang-for-the buck. The Maggie 1.6 keeps on revealing more and more music with every improvement I make in my room acoustics / electronics etc. It's strengths are in 3D imaging, instrument seperation, detail in the mids/highs. I have yet to find an improvement in my audio system that the Maggies can't reveal. The caveat ? The bad recordings sound bad, the great recordings sound awesome ! For under $ 2000 they are amazing.

Strengths :
Resolution, quickness, imaging (wide and deep) , seperation of vocals and instruments, detail, ambience
The ability and realism to transport you into the music. Imaging detail that has me turning my head around, pressing "mute" 'cause I thought I heard someone at the door, phone ring, etc. Remarkable.

Weaknesses :
They EAT power. No problem since I have a Crown Macro Reference amp that puts out over 1100 watts / channel into 8 ohms. Probably slight overkill.

They don't have the low, deep bass of many box speakers. But they make up for it in quickness and impact.

The quality of workmanship, seen only when you take off the grills, is POOR. Sneaker imprints on the mylar, paper-towel "patches" (honestly!), many 'dings' in the magnetic panels where someone must have hammered them into shape, weak non-rigid stands, $ 15 crossover parts, tweeter foil that weaves all over the place, downright tTEARS in the mylar. BUT STILL THEY SOUND INCREDIBLE ! Go figure. I love them.

I've always enjoyed good music. Built my share of Knight, Heathkit and Dynaco rigs back in college. Had EPI's and JBL l-88's for speakers. Now that I'm in my fifties and retired, I have spent many thousands in the past four years trying to build my ultimate system. With no direction except the desire to get a tube system, here goes a sad list of equipment I've purchased on ebay. Started with 4 Allied Knight monoblock tube poweramps, 2 Dyna Pam's and (count em) 4 sets of JBL L-100's (mint or near mint) 800 -1k per pair. I then moved up to Audio Research. (AR factory is less than 25 miles away). 2 - 300 w monoblocks, AR CD-2 c.d. player, AR SP9-II preamp. I purchased some of this equipment from AR's head engineer's personal collection. Even got 2 pair
of AR custom litzline speaker cables. (7 & 10 meter lengths). bought for $100.00 a pair (new old stock). AR uses two pair of wilson speakers in their two listening rooms.

Their head listener referred to up there as "Golden Ears" told me that Magnepan 1.6 qr are one of his favorite
speakers in any price range. (Magneplaner factory is less than 15 miles away from my home). I can't find enough time in the day to enjoy these speakers and gear. Have about 30 items to post on ebay this fall, starting with JBL speakers!

everything

a good sub would finish them off

The first time I listened to the Magnepan line I was talked into the 3.6's as the dealer offered me a great deal on them and at that time I thought the more you spent the better. I liked the sound of the 1.6 over the 3.6's the very first time I heard them. Dumb me got talked into the 3.6's and ended up selling them 4 months later.This was the beginning of a VERY EXSPENSIVE LESSON! In the end I ended up spending up to $20,000 for speakers (Revel Salons alot of money)and over $70,000 in my system. I spent so much money on my system all I did was worry about was that EVERYTHING had to be PERFECT! Ended up worried about the system than enjoying the music. Lost my job and sold it all. Then I decided when I got a new system I would build it the way I liked it and tried to build it in ind of "Best Bang for the Buck" system I could come up with. So I bought the 1.6's some what wondering how they would handle ALL types of music. WOW, was I surprised! They are the tallest speakers I have owned and reminded me of the HUGE Soundstage that the Wilson Grandslams presented ( not as nice as the Slams, but not $80,000 either). Jazz and the Blues just knocked my socks off and they sound very good on all music. Seperation and Soundstage is great and the upper bass is excellent. I will probably add a sub to finish them off Im not sure which way to go as i have always had full range speakers and have never used a sub.They seem to love power but theres nothing wrong with that. Folks talk alot about placement of these and I am lucky enough to have a large room so that has not been a problem. i have heard them 12 in. from the wall and did not find the unbearable. i could set here and throw all the fancy terms around but thats a waste so I would recommend that you listen to them. I would put them in the top 10 in speakers under $2,000.

Customer Service

Speaker did have some distortion in the lower bass but I will be fixing them using "Peter Gunns" recommedations. Bad Glue, easy fix!

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PSB Stratus Golds
Thiel 1.6,2.3,CS 6,CS7, MCS 1's
Eggleston Andra's
Magnepan 3.6
Revel Salons

Great musical delivery, as you get closer to them the music seems to be bouncing off the walls and it real is bouncing off the walls. Outstanding soundstage performance. Light weight and easy to position which makes speaker positioning an easy task. But you need to spend time adjusting these speakers for positioning and when you do you will be amazed that much more! I do not have a Home Theatre system and run my DVD movies through my 2 channel system and yet the Maggies are really impressive. No need to run out and get an HT system save your money! Best speaker money can buy and best sound money can buy!

Thie Size of them might make your better half relocate the stereo system in another room! Otherwise there is absolutely nothing weak about these speakers!

Recently gave my friend my 1979 Dahlquist DQ10's after many great years of listening pleasures. I went out and auditioned the Maggies 1.6QR in December 2007 for about 2 hours and I was sold right away and bought a pair that same month. Eventhough the Macintosh system the store was using for the Magnepan's 1.6 did not dazzle me that much the speakers certainly did. After many months of auditioning speakers of so many different makes and going by customer reviews I was sold almost without listening to them first! My system is Canadian made 2 channel Bryston 3BST and preamp BP20. These maggies certainly need around 200 watts per channel at 4 ohms which the Bryston amp delivers without any effort. Tube amps do not have enough humph to get the job done. Tube preamp however is another question and for this reviewer a future purchase.

The sound: A sense of enveloping you into the music without any signs of harshness. Clarity and 100% complete balance of the music in the upper, mid and lower scales. It really is like being part of the audiance. Those of you who are looking for heavy bass would not get this from these speakers without a subwoofer. Since I focus my listening to classical, opera and jazz on CD or Ipod and I can honestly say these REALLY deliver. However as I mentioned for the lower bass notes from orchestra instruments like a BASS, Cellos and Tuba I will need to invest into a good subwoofer for my music listening. The price for these speakers is much lower than some might think and after many expensive speaker auditions I can honestly say that none compare, not even close! However speakers are very personal so do audition them first but be warn if you love good sound you will fall in love with them on the first note!

Customer Service

Magnepan HQ great to work with and very informative! Their $550.00 deal is perfect for the receiver owner and ideal start.

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Dahlquist DQ10
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monitor audio
B&W
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Conrad Johnson
Apple Ipod
Panasonic DVD

The Magnepan need lots of power and careful selection of front ends as every other loudspeakers do.
The saying "Garbage in and garbage out" is exactly what those people who cannot hear the best out of the Maggies.
If setting and matching up correctly, which most people do, except those using Krell (a piece of s___); you can really hear what the Maggies can do.

IMAGING, HIGH END, MID BAND, MID BASS, AS LIFELIKE AS ANY $5000.00 SPEAKER I HAVE EVER HEARD.

IF YOU HAVE TO PLACE THEM CLOSER THAN 3 FEET FROM THE BACK WALL YOU WILL NEED RWA'S ( REAR WAVE ATTENUATORS) THEY COVER THE BACK OF THE TWEETER TO REDUCE THE HARSHNESS OF THE SOUND BUT STILL LET THE BACK PLATE RADIATE FOR THE OPENNESS OF THE MUSIC. YOU CAN GET RWA'S ON EBAY.

I'LL MAKE THIS SHORT AND SIMPLE, IF YOU HAVE ENUOGH POWER ( 200 WATTS RMS AT 8 OMHS) ANY KIND OF EAR FOR MUSIC, AND $1800.00 YOU CAN HARDLY GO WRONG WITH THIS SPEAKER. I ALSO HAVE THE MMG'S AND THE DIFFERENCE IS STRIKING!! IF SOMEONE SAYS THIS IS THE WORST SPEAKER THEY HAVE EVER HEARD, THEY PROBABLY LISTEN TO A BOOM BOX!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

MAGNEPAN MMG, NHT, DEF TECH, B&G, POLK, INFINITY, ECT

IMAGE, HIGH END, MID BAND, MID BASS. AS LIFELIKE AS ANY $5000.00 DOLLAR SPEAKER I HAVE HEARD.

IF YOU CAN NOT GET THEM AT LEAST 3 FEET OFF OF THE BACK WALL USE RWA'S ( REAR WAVE ATTENUATERS) THEY BLOCK THE BACK TWEETER BUT STILL ALLOW BACK RADIATION WITHOUT THE HARSHNESS. YOU CAN FIND RWA'S ON EBAY.

I;LL MAKE THIS SHORT AND SIMPLE, IF YOU HAVE THE POWER AND ANY KIND OF EAR FOR MUSIC AND $1800.00 YOU CAN NOT GO WRONG WITH THIS SPEAKER. I ALSO HAVE THE MMG'S, THE DIFFERENCE IS MAJOR.

Similar Products Used:

MAGNEPAN MMG, DEF TECH, NHT, B&G, POLK, INFINITY, ECT

looks quite stylish

the sound

This product is not as good as reviews says. It is not worth the money, I would say it is not even worth the trouble getting them for free. Can´t listen to them, gives me a headache. Why? They are coloured. Sounds shouty and not real-like. Peaky midrange, glassy character, bass is really bad, worse than the original Quad ESLs. Auditioned them with Krell Evolution and Audio reseach CD, Nordost cables.
Sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Quad ESL 57, 63, Beveridge 2, 2SW

Coherence top to bottom
Staging
imaging
detail
musicality

Should bi wire
Should have an amp capable of doubling its wattage at 4Ohms
Requires careful setup
Reveals the beauty and flaws of source components
a bit large for some
probably need a good subwoofer

Purchased new two weeks ago..these speakers are a screaming bargain. I sold my Odyssey Martin Logans thinking I would buy ML Vantages Summits or Quads,

Although not broken in yet, I think these already sound far superior to the various Magnepan speakers I have owned in the past with the exception of the bass of my Typani IDs. The staging and imaging are much better than the Odysseys or the Vantage but with less but very sufficient midrange transparency. Their coherence top to bottom does remind me of my USA 63 Monitors but I am able to listen to them at concert sound levels if I so choose without a Quad protection circuit clamping down when things really get dynamic.

After hearing them, I am happy that I have found a speaker I can live with at one half or one third the price of the other speakers I was considering.

Customer Service

Magnepan improperly shipped my first pair of mmgs...second pair was shipped in a reinforced box. My 1.6QRs were shipped in a well reinforced box.

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Quad
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Typani