Treble Response, Female Vocals like "you are there", transient response, soundstage, low distortion

Room placement, lack of low bass "impact", works much better in large room

This review is mainly a comparison of the 3.6R to the 1.6 Q/R, both by Magnepan. The 3.6 R speaker is 71" high by 24" wide by 1.625" thick. This is considerably larger than the 1.6 Q/R speaker, except in thickness. The 3.6R's look MUCH larger in my listening room than the 1.6's did. I owned 1.6 Q/R speakers for about 18 months, then purchased the 3.6 R's from the same dealer, who gave me full dollar trade in for the 1.6 Q/R's. The 3.6 speaker has every one of the strengths of the 1.6, only more so, and has the following "improvements" over the 1.6:
a. The 3.6 has deeper, richer, fuller bass response, down to about 35HZ in my room. I use a subwoofer, but its volume is very low, and the crossover is set at 40 HZ.
b. The 3.6 has a much more natural sounding tweeter, and high frequency response is the most accurate and musical I have ever heard from any speaker. For me, it is the most significant improvement over the 1.6. Cymbals sound exactly like cymbals, with no "hifi" emphasis or harshness.
c. The distortion is much lower than the 1.6. The music sounds "purer", more clear, more like real live music.
d. Dynamics are greater.
e. While the soundstage might not be wider or deeper, it is more distinct, especially for front to back depth. Musical instruments can be more easily "seen" or heard in different planes from the front to the back of the sound stage.
f. For me, performers seem to be performing slightly higher off the floor of the listening room. With the 1.6's, sometimes it seemed to me that the sound coming from the drums, or the piano, were eminating from a location that would be lower than real life. Not so with the 3.6 R's, everthing is the right height.

I enjoy listening to the 3.6's much more than the 1.6's, but I really loved the music the 1.6 produced. Are the 3.6 R's worth more than twice the price of the 1.6's? For me, yes, they are a very significant improvement of the 1.6 Q/R. I think they are a steal at $3750.

Associated equipment:
Wadia 850 CD player
Linn Klout amplifier
Tannow PS110 Subwoofer
Belden interconnect and speaker cable
Room size 19'x27'

Similar Products Used:

MG 1.6 Q/R

Okay, a couple of caveats: 1) I was listening at the dealer, but with very good associated equipment, and 2) I don't think you really get to know a speaker in one or two hours. Anyway, here goes... These maggies offer a superb midrange and a magical treble. No question for me that they are five star speakers in those areas. They are missing just a little bit a slam in the bass region, and that leaves me just a little uninvolved. Now I'm not some bass-hungry nut. I own Thiel CS 2.3's. They've got good bass, but nothing fantastic. The Thiels do, however, outperform the maggies in the bass region. No question in my mind about that. If the maggies offered the pop of the Thiels in the bass, along with the midrange and treble noted above, I trade in my Thiels and buy a pair of maggies today. When I heard them, the maggies were driven by a Bryston Amp. It's quite possible that biamping would enhance the bass, but it would also enhance the cost. Also, the Rotel RCD-971 probably is not the last word in bass. Any way here are a few music-specific thoughts:
Large Scale Orchestral - Maggies are superb on massed strings and Brass!
Vocal/Choral - Outstanding with female voices and choral music.
Drums - No question the Thiels are better here.
Male Vocals - Both are excellent, but I give the win to the Thiels (don't get me wrong the Maggies really are great, but I think these little Thiels are unbelievable on male vocals).

Anyway, I'd give the maggies about 4.5 or 4.75. They need more slam to go all the way.

It's taken several months to break in the bass on these speakers, but the wait was worth it. Now, along with the stunning mid-range and highs, the bass has come alive with a penetrating, clean, precise sound. Sure, the bass cannot move air like a traditional speaker, but the sound is so clear and satisfying that I do not feel a loss when listening to music, from jazz to classical to rock. However, do not rely on the bass for home theater. I make sure that they are set to "small" so that the lowest frequencies cross over to the Velodyne sub. Otherwise, during big-bass demanding scenes such as the explosion at the end of X-files, the panels will distort. On the other hand, the huge soundstage and ambience makes these speakers fantastic for home theater. Titanic was totally enveloping because of the 3.6s.
Music is incredibly satisfying, with a very natural sound, provided you use a well-mastered CD since the speakers reveal any flaws. Overall, I am totally satisfied with the 3.6s and highly recommend them as a source for both music and home theater. Just make sure you include a separate sub for the home theater side of things.

Accompaying equipment:
Sunfire Stereo Amp for 3.6s (a great match with plenty of clean, accurate power)
B &W Matrix HTM center speaker.
Paradigm ADP-150 surrounds.
In-wall B &W speakers for 7 channel setup.
Velodyne F-1200R sub.
Yamaha 2095 receiver.
Rotel RCD-971 cd player.
Toshiba 3108 DVD player.

Clear, Transparent, Really a great value.

Needs a good amount of power.

Simply the best I have heard within the under 10K price point. The Magnepan 3.6's are so wonderful to listen to, I can't get enough. Clear and accurate, bass that is smooth and clear with high's that just seem so precise and clear. Really impressed me. I wish that I could find words...but you just have to go out and listen for yourself...
I use a Meridian 561 Processor
Meridian 500 CD Transport
Two Bryston 500wtt 7B's monoblocked
Transparent cable's

Open, spacious, crystal clear sound with imaging and soundstage not to be found in non-planar speakers.

Wife acceptance factor

What more can be said about this AMAZING value. Everything positive that has been said it true. Huge soundstage, silky smooth highs, unbelievable mids, and base that will suprise you if you place them properly and give them enough current. Headbanger music lovers should look elsewhere, but if REAL music is what you are after, these are for you.

These are well worth every penny. No where is the soundstage matched for the cost, period. This speaker delivers and delivers nothing but heaven. I am amazed every time I turn them on and play them. Yes, they do require a long break-in. And Yes, they do require high current to perform at capacity. But when the upstream components are up-to-snuff, these speakers reward you with music that a dynamic speaker just can't match.

If you have never owned a pannel speaker, these are the ones to try. They have great resale if they don't work for you and a company that has been around for years if ever you have a problem. Can you tell I like them? Enjoy.

Soundstage, width of music and transparency. For the money ya cant go wrong with these good looken ladies.

Well I gotta tell ya, as with all audio equipment, we'll never get the real thing. But we keep tryin.

This is a review for Magnepan MG 3.6/R speakers;

Let me start by saying, over the years that I have Listen to different types of music (and still do), which has given me the ability to listen, not only to the music, but the sounds of each and every instrument the recording has to offer. However, my love is and always has been "Jazz".

Over the past 25 years or so, I have had a variety of equipment and speakers. This is my first set of maggies.

I have spent a lot of time on the final setup that I'm about to base my review. Setup can only be achieved and quality sound derived from trial and error, and has taken many countless hours in doing so.

Also, I may add that optimistic setup of components has been achieved. I can no longer achieve greater sound qualities, without additional tweaks, and/or additional acoustical room treatment (s) that may or may not work.

It has taken a long time (about 400 hours) for the components to break-in for the end and final result to come full circle, I'm sure the electric company loves me.

I started my setup with the speakers firing down the length of the room. I positioned and re- positioned, over and over again. The sound had magnificent imaging and the tremendous depth was astounding. But the sound was missing one very crucial effect, there was no width to the music. I needed the “width” for my maggies to capture the realism of the music.

After very careful listening, I decided to scrap that setup and start over.

In doing so. I discovered that placing the speakers to fire across the width of the room rather than firing down the length of the room. After playing around with placement and repositioning a few more times. I was rewarded with a much wider sound stage, greatly improved imaging and of corse, much greater depth, and that is what I was trying to achieve, “width of music”.

I like speakers to disappear within the listening room. Musical instrumentation sounding as, not coming from a physical surface, if ya know what I mean.

The treble range is silky, airy and opened sounding to the point of being almost analytical in it's sound characteristics and qualities.

The articulation in the mid range of the speakers has the ability to produce voices as if the singer was in the room with you, very aliveness.

I have read many post as to the inability of the MG 3.6/R to produce sufficient amounts of bass. Nothing can be further from the truth (within there respective bass range) the bass is very tight and powerful, quick and precise when called for.


The bass abilities are quite evident when playing Janet Jackson's CD "Go Deep" from The Velvet Rope (very complex recording), and the inner detail of the recording by "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny" Beyond The Missouri Skies, The reproduction delicacy is very pleasing to the ear.

Overall the maggies has no listening fatigue, I can listen for hours on end. The sound is completely seamless.

I normally wouldn't run the Plinius amps bridged, but the maggies sound so much better, and seem to be more at ease with the extra amount of horse power that the Plinius amps can provide. “I do not detect any graininess in the sound of these amps as I have heard in other similar quality amps”.

I truly have come to the conclusion that the more clean power these speakers have, the more open and revealing they sound. I'm not talking about the 200 to 300 watt range, but ranges around 400 and above watt per channel.

To sum things up, if you have the a lot of clean power, and willing to spend a lot of time with speaker placement. You can achieve an extremely good sounding system.

A word to the wise, if you have a rectangular room and your speaker setup is firing down the rooms length, and space permits, you need to rethink your options IMO.

P.S.: Some friends of ours has a set of 1.6's, they want to bring over to hear what they sound with my equipment. So, when time permits, I’ll give a review on the 1.6's ver 3.6/R’s.

Associated Equipment:

2 Plinius SA 250 Mk IV bridged

Plinius M-16P preamplifier

Meridian 588 CDP

Magnepan MG 3.6/R Biwired

Analyst Plus Silver-Ovals Interconnects

Analyst Plus Oval 9's for bass

Analyst Plus Oval 12's For Highs

Siltech Cables (not part of this review)

Feeling of "being there". Coherence, speed (transients), sound very unlike box speakers.

Lack of deep bass, small sweet spot, power hungry (low sensitivity).

I have listened to these speakers at a dealership in town. I actually went to the store to listen to the Nautilus 801, and then took a listen to the Magnepan's at the salesman's suggestion. They were powered by a solid-state Conrad-Johnson solid-state power amp (no preamp) and a Denon cd player (not a high end model).

I thought I would never really be impressed by panel speakers, but these ones are truly remarkable. On a good recording of acoustic music (e.g. Yo-Yo Ma - Bobby McFerrin/ Hush), they come as close as real instruments playing in real space as any speaker I have ever listened to (including the likes of JMLab Utpoia's). This is an emotional speaker that lets you forget about bass, highs, soundstage, etc. and touches you with the music. The sound is well integrated, meaning the instruments sound like real instruments because of (seemingly) the absence of discontinuity between the drivers. They also make you realize how "veiled" most box speakers are. Although I really like the Nautilus speakers, on most recordings the Magnepan sounded more lifelike to me. They are just a touch colored compared to the B&W, which are really uncolored. If I had to choose between the two, however, it would be the Magnepan.

Other strenghts include a deep soundstage, lots of "air" around the instruments, singers are proportionned correctly. The bass is fast and reasonably deep, the speakers will not punch you in the chest like the Nautilus 801 can. On "rythm of the heat" (Peter Gabriel, Security), especially at the end of the song where there is a climax of percussions, the B&W was more impressive, but otherwise the emotion was the same. Most importantly for me, the Magnepan are incredibly fast (at least compared to most box speakers), which translates into guitars sounding like guitars, cymbals sounding like cymbals, you get the point. Finally, they are also quite dynamic, and they can play loud, although you will need an amp with lots of current.

I think the review in Stereophile (August 2000 issue) sums it all pretty well: in general, I heard and agree with what the reviewer described. These loudseakers, in my opinion, represent one of the better values on the market, even at much higher price ranges.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 801

midrange, soundstage, transparency

no deep bass..............

Current system:

Audio Research LS25 preamp
Audio Research D300 Power Amp
Audio Research CD2 CD player used as a transport
Audio Research DAC3 MKII DAC

Speaker Cables: BiFocal XL

Interconnects: Kimber Silver Streak Balanced

if you're a bass freak.........shop for another speaker...
like the Snells...........



Vocals sound very impressive.....sounds like the singer
is actually in your room......of course, it depends on
the quality of the recording....any of the Chesky, Linn
recordings sound great.......

It does seem to lack a little upper treble response..
perhaps it's just my system.....but the other speakers
I have owned did not have this weakness...although they
had other weaknesses.....

Listened to the Martin Logan SL3/Request. Thiel 7.2...
even the Wilson Watt/Puppy........the Maggies sound much
better........only if they can improve upon the bass
response...........I hear the Rel Subwoofers would be an
ideal companion to the maggies........will have to try and
see...............for the money though, the 3.6 maggies
are the best.....................

Similar Products Used:

Previous speakers: NHT 3.3, Snell C/V, B&W DM580, Snell XA60

Quality of mid and highs
soundstaging
Image depth

Polite bass (still to be broken in)

The MG3.6R are incredible speakers, especially that ribbon tweeter!
The first hour was nothing special except for the highs, but after a week, the sound opened up. The bass is somewhat still polite, but its audibly improving. The image depth is a vast improvement over the ML Aerius I still owned, and the treble quality is unmatched by anything in its price range.
They are unbelievable value for money!

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Aerius
Sonus Faber Minuetto
Mark Levinson 331
Mark Levinson No39

some of the best highs out there

no major

The MG-3.6 is definitely worth twice the money over the MG-III. My short-term impressions, in the order that they were noted: (1) The III's and 3.6's share the "family" sound, but... (2) The 3.6 has more powerful, dynamic bass. (3) The 3.6 is more detailed, more open, and smoother. (4) Like the III's, the 3.6's definitely sound even smoother and sweeter if one shorts the fuse clips. The difference is quite noticeable. Yes, the manual specifically warns against this, but blown tweeters and midranges aren't covered by the warranty anyway. Just make sure you have good, stable amps (you gotta biamp these for optimum performance) and exercise restraint with the volume. I ran my MG-III's without fuses for 15 yrs, and I never blew anything.

I don't want to contribute to "overall rating inflation", so I would rate the MG-3.6 at 4 stars overall and 5 for value since it does have one of the best tweeters going, bar none.

Associated equipment:

Benz Glider/Magnepan Unitrac/Oracle Delphi
Levinson ML-12 preamp for phono only
Wadia 850
KMF Audio 2-1/2 way active crossover
Levinson ML-11 amp for highs, mids
Krell KAV-150a amp for bass
Velodyne FSR-12 subwoofer
Silversmith Audio cables, except for sub (Straight Wire)
System tweaked where appropriate with putty, lead shot, etc.

Similar Products Used:

MG-II, MG-IIa, MG-III