Anyone tried Magnepan 1.6's with rock music?

I agree with Philjolet! I had almost an identical size room, and was also pushing 1000 watts (500/ch). Bass was tremendous, rock (well produced) sounded great, and I never had a desire for a Sub. The 1.6's need a SH*TLOAD OF POWER to open up the bass. I was also was using a tube (Sonic Frontiers Line 3) preamp.

I used the 1.6 as my main speakers for 3 years. They were powered by the Classe' 25 (500wpc @ 4ohms) and I used a Vandersteen 2WQ subwoofer so the Classe' didn't even need to supply energy for the bottom octave and classic rock like the Eagles Hell Freezes over communicated quite effectively. But the ultimate speaker for classic rock in the seventies is the JBL L100 or 4311 studio monitor. Much of the music of that era was mixed on those babies and Pete Townshend of the Who still uses them at home.

To me, the Soliloquies sound muddy as hell. No speed/pace at all. But hey what do I know, I think the Proacs sound muddy too and lots of people love em.

For classic rock the obvious choice is huge horn loaded boxes with 15 or 18 inch drivers. They will sound "right" because that sound is exactly what you get at a live concert.

Maggies will do their best for you, but their virtues lie in other directions.

Yeah, I kind of assumed all this info but I had to ask. Thanks, Scott