I too have been through the bewildering array of audio component upgrades, sidesteps, unintended downgrades, and the ocassional revelation. One such revelation was the Magnepan SMGc's. As many of you have already mentioned, the intriguing quality of the SMGc's (and I imagine the rest of the Maggie range) is their ability to play MUSIC. After going from spending anywhere from $4000 for a pair of mini-monitors to $1500 for mini-towers, getting the Maggies for a cool $1200 (Canadian) I am satisified that I won't be running out in search of the elusive Holy Grail of audio. Dynamically they are limited, but, this is certainly a relative term. I don't need to listen to music in excess of 90dB in my listening room. Since I listen mostly to jazz there is no real need for earsplitting sound levels. As for the qualities I like about the Maggies: soundstage is wonderful and deep; very clean treble that gets the transistions, which are so important in music, RIGHT; a tight well defined bottom end, albeit limited (sorry to those who invite friends over to wow them by shaking the walls); and tonal balance. If only audio magazines like Stereophile would take the time to audition these speakers I'm sure Magenpan wouldn't be discontinuing them.

These Magneplanar SMGcs are excellent great-value speakers. Expecting no bass,I was surprised that the bass that was there was powerful and tight ! Detail
flooded these speakers as well, midrange was great, but not as sweet as Proac's
speakers. I'd say they're not very difficult to drive as I use the 60 watt
Audiolab 8000A (but it is high-current at 25 amps, and I'm amazed at it's power), Audio Alchemy DDE V.3 (the high output helps), Micromega Drive 2, and the REL Strata subwoofer. These Maggies blend perfectly with the REL. The REL is so good you won't notice that there's a box out there handling the missing bass from the Maggies (after all, the REL Strata is Class B in Stereophile).
So, in my opinion, REL subwoofer design will perfectly complement Maggies.

In absolute terms, I'll rate these speakers 4 stars, knowing there are even better Maggies out there. But for the price/performance ratio, these are no doubt 5-star speakers.

I've had my SMGbs for several years now and they still amaze me, primarily because they defy measurements, quantitative analysis, etc. They simply play music in a natural dynamic manner that defies measurment, except for the width of the grin on one's face when he/she sits down to listen.Yes, they are room dependent far more than conventional speakers, and, yes, you need some current to drive them, but in my system, with a Thorens table, Denon MC cartridge, NAD 5000 CD feeding a Theta Cobalt 307 into an Audible Illusions Modulus 3 preamp and B&K ST140 II power amp, they simply blow away speakers costing twice as much. The next upgrade will be to an EX442 power amp or possibly an Aragon 4004, or just maybe a larger set of Maggies.
The rating I give is based on value.

Concerning my experience with the SMGa. Simple, I could not find any thing evenremotely as musical for the $525.00 I paid for these. Everything I listened to for $1,500.00 and lower sounded like music from a box. Yes they do a
lot of things wrong and can easily be picked apart. You will have to settle for
an exagerated mid bass instead of extension. They are not going to give you
an airy treble . The only thing I found annoying about the speakers, however,
were their demand to arange your living room arond them. However what they do give you is a little magic. It's the things they do well that are so endearing.
The justice they do to a stereo image, the impact of acoustic instruments and
the human voice are very satisfying. Try them with the tweeters oriented in.
This seems to help them hide. And be careful how loud you drive them. They don't
give you the same clues as conventional speakers to wher the limits are. In
conclusion, try these people before you buy anything in any price range. They
have a thing or two to say about making music in the home.

Magnaplaners are the best deal for the money I have yet come across.

No bass.

I own the SMGa which sold for $500-$600 which I purchased about 5 years ago and a pair of MG II which are almost 25 years old !!

Maggie service is incredible. My 25 year old MG II were reconditioned for $350 (I think they originally sold for about $900 back then) about 5 years ago. They totally replaced the speaker component and sounded like new (actually better).

Every time I go out to purchase speakers I am convinced that I will purchase something other than Magneplaners. However, after listening to other speakers IN THE SAME PRICE range, I come back to Maggies.

The older ones need a sub-woofer, no matter what they tell you. I do not know about the newer models which have come out in the past 5 years.

These are NOT ROCK speakers. Rickie Lee Jones is OK, forget hard rock. These speakers are perfect for small jazz groups or acoustic guitar. Classical music and Maggies work well together.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research Preamp
Adcom GFA 555 Amp (about 15 years old, stays on all the time, still working)
Aragon Digital Converter for CD (fantastic company, products are built for 30+ years of service)

In this price range these speakers are definitely recommended. I think SMG's don't present very 3-D stage because of the back radiation. I have quite thick curtains that cover the whole back wall and it helps to reduce the back wall reflections. Midrange doesn't bring some instruments easily audible but I can hear faintly that they're all there. If you are not a casual listener you'll find yourself sooner or later tweaking with both speaker and listenig positions. Just keep on hunting that perfect stage and ambience... I have also different stands for the SMGb's. The peakers are now 1,35m tall and they are in a completely vertical position.
I have driven SMG's with different integrated and they are enough to reach the musicality level of these peakers. I have used a 30W/ch and now I'm using a 60W/ch integrated amp. The one with 60w/ch digs more details and ambience. These speakers will keep up with much higher quality front ends and amps quite easily.

I believe these speakers need rather high controlling current to pick every detail in the music. This means that you'll need an amplifier with a superb power supply. I think this is why more Watts/channel amps sound better since they have naturally larger power supplies. Bear in mind that there are <100W/ch amplifiers with large power supplies also and don't just look at the W/ch. Maybe Maggies with true ribbon would be easier to drive because it is lighter than the quasi ribbon but also more expensive :-)

But for the asking price they're very good.

For the price, these speakers are a steal. Yes, they don't go below 50HZ and have both a midbass hump and slight midrange suckout, but they present the gestalt of music so well. Moreover, the bass they do have is extremely tight and well defined. The soundstage depth, imaging, and realism of these speakers are amazing. I challenge any speaker for less than $700 to possess half of the musical characteristics that the SMGcs have. To get the best out of them, though, ancillary equipment must be excellent. I run them with the CJ MV-55 (45 watts of tube excellence), a CJ PV-5 preamp, a CAL Tercet MK IV, and Transparent Cables. Almost all of the associated equipment fo the SMGcs are more expensive than the speakers, but these speakers are up to the task of bringing out the best from the components. An astounding buy!!!!!