Why anyone in the world would ever want to listen to old fashioned piston speakers after hearing these Magneplanars is beyond me. These speakers are unbelievable. The sonic picture is beyond any speaker I have ever heard and probably the best kept secret in speakers. The objection of lack of low-end response and their power hungry nature is simply not my experience. Our Denon 5600 provides plenty of power and the bass response is clean without the typical distortion heard in cone speakers.

A truly incredible speaker, the Magnepan 1.6 QR replaced my aging Apogee Centaur Minors. The Maggies are much more coherent from top to botttom than anything else in their price range. I compared them favorably with the Martin Logan Arieus which seemed to lack top end extension and sounded very "midrangy"; they also sounded like a electrostatic panel and a dynamic woofer- not very well integrated. The Maggies on the other hand sound extremely natural, the "quasi-ribbon" having every bit as much of top octave air as my "true ribbon" Apogees. The bass is much better as well, blending in better and they also go deeper with more punch. Detail and soundstaging are also first rate especially with jazz, vocals and classical. They are visually "huge", and need room to breathe so be prepared to move some things around. Other than that, everything the reviews have said are true- they are an incredible sonic value.

I am elated with these Maggies. As the manual suggested they did need a break in period after which they loosened up nicely and produced good, clean sound with remarkable clarity and imaging. My listening room was very bright so I added an area rug and also installed the resistors supplied with the 1.6's which toned down the high end. I am most impressed with the bass, as to my ear this was lacking in some early heritage models. I find the 1.6 bass powerful, clear and sharp - not at all boomy. I chose the 1.6 over the 10.1 home theater model as the 1.6 handle both movies and music quite nicely and I thought were a better value. I give them 4 stars only to leave cause for upgrading to the true ribbon top of the line model some day...

I take it back! [See my review of the 3.5's posted 11/10/98, which included the 1.6's.] I repent with sackcloth and ashes! To cut to the chase, the 1.6's are fantastic. I heard these speakers while visiting another city, so I didn't have my own music. Furthermore, I demoed them in a very small room that had the speakers only about 1 foot from the side walls and maybe a bit more from the back wall corners. To top it all off, there was a massive projection TV smack dab in the middle of the speakers. Needless to say, I was not expecting much (especially considering my previous experience with these speakers). The associated hardware included a Pioneer top-of-the-line DVD/CD player used as a transport, a Proceed AVP preamp/processor, and a Proceed 5-channel amp (125 watts); the wire was cheap $10/ft stuff.
I wasn't familiar with any of the CDs available at the shop so I grabbed a handful and began the demo. I was struck at first by the fact that the speakers sounded extremely clean, but wasn't particularly impressed. Then the magic happened. I played the first cut off of Rickie Lee Jones' "Pop, Pop" album ("My One and Only"). This cut had RIckie singing with a string bass, flute, and percussion. Recall the horrific room setup, folks. Well, what I heard was just plain spooky. The soundstage was huge...these were real people STANDING UP and performing right before my eyes. The palpability of the acoustic bass was just stunning. The bloom of the strings, the plucking technique, the fingers deftly gliding across the neck.... Folks, I just closed my eyes and "saw" this performance unfold in my own private room. Rickie's voice sounded like a woman standing in front of a mike IN MY ROOM. I "saw" her tilt her head as she really "got into" a note. I repeat: This occurred under positively horrendous demo conditions. By the way, these things have a shocking amount of (coherent, precise) bass!

These are $1,500 speakers?! I humbly repent of any and every unkind thing I have said about Magnepan. I am going to audition these magnificent speakers in an audio-only room and with my own familiar discs. I'm just giddy at the thought of how much better these babies can sound under better conditions. Here's a telling point to keep in mind. I went across the hall and listened to the same CDs in the store's reference audio-only room. I heard the ($4,000/pr) Sonus Faber Grand Pianos, driven by an all-Levinson system, top-grade cabling, and acoustic treatments in the room. I PREFERRED THE MAGNEPAN SYSTEM...even under a cost-no-object basis! At $1500/pair, I have to agree with FI Magazine: These speakers are wonderful...but just plain giant-killers for the price.

This site is, most unfortunately, marked by ill-considered hyperbole when posting reviews. If you have read any of my other reviews (Aerius, ProAc 1SC) then you know I am not given to mindless rants--either positive or negative. So I hope you will give some credence to what I am about to say. Folks, DO NOT BUY ANY SPEAKERS AT ANY PRICE UNTIL YOU DEMO THE NEAREST (in price) MAGNEPAN SPEAKER.

Magneplanars are by far the best budget speakers on the market. I started out with the MMG's and upgraded to these. Very Big difference. I love magneplanars I have heard countless stories about how people have sold them, bought something else, then ended up buying back their Maggies! I wouldn't trade these speakers for any other brand. I have them set up in a hometheater type environment with a big screen and the whole nine yards. (nothing looks better beside a big screen than a 6 foot tall pair of speakers) They still image great. As to the bass limitations I have no complaints. Practically every good speaker on the market has a bass limitation. That is they don't reach down to 20hz. Usually if you mate them with a good amp then their is no limitation. I know that I should get caught up in how they look, but every person that has walked into my college apartment has literally gasped! First at the sight, then at the sound. I agree, audition these first before you buy anything else.

WOW! LAST MONTH I RETIRED MY 1ST SET OF MAGGIES, I"VE HAD THEM SINCE FEB. OF 1978. THE NEW 1.6'S ARE EVERYTHING MAGNEPAN CLAIMS THEY ARE. I WAITTED ON SENDING THIS REVIEW UNTIL THE SPEAKERS HAD A BREAK IN PD., I'M PUSHING THEM WITH A SONOGRAPHE SA400 USING A CJ PV12A PREAMP. I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE MY ROOM. YES PLACEMENT IS IMPORTANT AND ROOM TREATMENT IS HELPFUL, AS WITH ANY SPEAKERS, BUT AT $1400 THESE SPEAKERS CANNOT BE TOUCHED. I'LL NEVER LISTEN TO BOXES AGAIN

I heard the Mag's 1.6's recently and must say they are a "wonderful", detailed, airy speaker that image a lot better than the Mag's of old. However, I will be a stick in the mud and say that they are big, need proper placement (ALL SPEAKERS DO, BUT THE MAGS ARE "SUPER" CRITICAL) and need to be in a large and or dedicated area. Also, I found that you still need to keep your head in a vice to trully appreciate the beauty that these speakers offer (raise your head up and down, left and right and you will see what I mean). At the price though, they are hard to beat and if one can find a proper place in his or her home they are in for a wonderful time.
I have also heard that the 1.6's are not critical to low end equipment which means that you can have a "complete" system for around $3,000.00 to $3,500.00 that will compete with the big boys. In my opinion, I find the 1.6's are not the Porsche they would like to be but more like a corvette which offers a lot bang for the buck.

I just listened to these in an audio shop, hooked up to Goldmund amplification and a Meridian CD player. They sounded nice and open. But: there was a distracting upper bass prominence. And they're big and obtrusive physically.


Nice price though.

I really wanted to like these speakers. Unfortunately I found them a bit ringy. I auditioned them at a dealer with an aragon amp. I was disappointed and heard them on two other occasions with similar results, sorry

I have a chance to listen it at listen up. The more i listen it, the more I love its sound. The sound of maggie 1.6QR is very clean. It provides huge soundstage almost any kind of music. Althought, someone may think this thin speaker will not have much bass power. Surprisly, its bass is tight and clean especially with the good reciever. I heartly recommend it to everyone. It is the best sound speaker in its price range.