WEB QUOTE:
Do not take it personal.
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/688946-sell-magnepan-3-6r-s-buy-nht-xd-2.html""""Anyone who has looked closely at the internals of a 3.6R knows that the internal parts and wiring—and the standard of workmanship—are below par, and cannot possibly extract the best performance from this planar design...........why oh why must the 3.6R be built like a cheap transistor radio? .........their weaknesses can be disturbing. They don’t do bass particularly well, and fair poorly in the imaging department. They also lack the dynamic impact in the lower registers of good box designs........doesn’t jump out at you with the same snap and attack that box speakers provide.........not as deep as that of other speakers. .bass is somewhat lacking, both in extension and fullness, which makes the sound slightly lean..........I initially found the tweeters to be a little too bright. Instruments like trumpets, and even woodwind instruments, had too much energy and force. ............ The stock stands, flimsy at best, are victims of a design-to-a-price policy. Also disappointing are the external crossover boxes, and the way they couple to the speakers.............. In my opinion, this setup is inadequate. How can speakers that have gotten so much critical acclaim fly in the face of everything we know about the importance of construction integrity and rigidity? It is not the ultimate classical music lover’s speaker, but it is in the game. But then, the Maggies, IMO, are lousy transducers of anything *other* than classical because they’re simply not accurate enough.
I don’t know what to say. I find the treble in every Maggie I’ve heard to be pretty bad and have no capability of reproducing the bell of a cymbal (yes, I’m a drummer). Thin and wispy comes to mind.
Maggies are just about the only ribbon speaker brand left. So if you like ribbons, there you are. If you like cones and domes, you have 200 brands. So it’s not surprising. But that is still a very small and dwindling portion of the Stereophile world, let alone the real world.
think Maggies are great for certain kind of listening or for certain tastes. I can’t live with them, but many of my customers have at least a fling with them. In the end, most of them move on because of the limitations. If I only listened to classical, I’d certainly consider owning them.
I’d also prefer to own Quad ESLs over any of the Magnepans I’ve heard over the years, no contest, because I think they have superior midrange reproduction and a smoother, if slightly rolled off treble.
Now, I am not saying they don’t sound nice to *some* people. I am sure Magnepan has the technology and skill to create a ruler flat crossover/FR, but they obviously deviated from this for a reason. They *wanted* their speaker to sound the way it does. It is a very inaccurate speaker, but perhaps this colored sound is what some people will prefer. In fact, we know their speakers sell, so they are doing something right. But what they aren’t doing right is creating an accurate speaker. In fact, those Maggies are *far* from accurate. And when it all comes down to it in the end, most audiophiles seems to want an accurate speaker.
In fact, one of my beefs with Maggies is that they are *not* dynamic at all. They have to be cranked up to sound decent but only so much so you don’t blow them.
if the Maggies flattened at 6dB/octave, then they’d have a nice, flat down tilting slope. They don’t, ergo, they’re not flat no matter *how* you measure them or correct for them. The fact that you even *think* they could sum to flat is fantastically hilarious :""""
Do not take it personal. Just telling it as is.
Lookie Here..........
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=magnapan+3.6&_osacat=293&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573...Gee, even my rarest of the rare, the holy grail of vintage speakers sold last month on the auction site at $3,800. plus $200 for S/H. And for the non-cognoscenti, Mark L., did pretty well with his ’Amati’ series 1&2.
But when the very designer himself speakers to my questions so eloquently, professionally and helpfully, t’s a little disheartening to believe the misinformed, misguided and condescending out right put-down of another person’s beliefs and there of life’s knowledge in some of the replies I received is discouraging at best.
Especially in my first post no less. With such infantile responses, I’ll just pick up my ball and jacks and leave.
So, a weeks wish for explosive diarrhea to you posters of negativity and unbelievably lofty, elitist notions of yourself’s. And too think, I was under the understanding that ’forum.audiogon’ was one of the better more friendly sites.Perhaps a few bad apples do spoil the basket.
Oh, and enjoy the music.
I’m just say’in.
Do not take it personal.
Oh, and "suck it up" while you’re at it, paaaallllllllll........
OTOH, perhaps there was a sale of those room dividers and therefore my retort is unwarranted?
I'll give that guy with the concrete listening room some quarter here though, it obvious why I do.