Maggie 1.6 and Vandersteen 3A sigs

I find that the description of the 1.6 as having a great midrange and little else usually comes from those who haven't heard the Maggies being driven optimally.

I drive my pair with McIntosh amplification, a Bluenote Stibbert CD player, Clearaudio t/t and MIT wires. The most common first remark from listeners is a puzzled, "but I thought Maggies had no bass!"

You can set up the Maggies for FM listening or critical work, all depends on the time and budget you have, plus your patience and diligence with room acoustics. After this, you'll hear "boxiness" in every dynamic speaker!

I neglected to say that I found that the Maggie just had a more "live" feel. Music seems more natural than the Vandy. I also felt that the Maggie 1.6 was better suited to my living room.

I started my Maggie journey going to a Vandersteen dealer with the intention of purchasing 2Ce Signatures. But he had a pair of 1.6's sitting around. After a 4 hour audition listening to each speaker for two alternating 1 hour stints with some of my favorite discs, I came to some interesting conclusions. I found the Maggies as powerful and dynamic as the Vandies as well as having a comparable midrange. The major difference was that the Maggies have a narrower sweetspot. Both throw a great soundstage. I ended up taking the 1.6s home and upgraded to 3.6s four years later.

I'm curious as well. I know it's a matter of personal taste, but I find it interesting to hear the opinions of others and there reasons for liking one over the other. There are a lot of things I love about the Vandys. It just seems the Maggies never fail to give me goosebumps.

when I bought my 1.6s I compared them (on the same system)with a Vandy 2Ce sig (I think) and every time I listened to the 1.6s it was so much more open I had to have them. The Vandys just sounded a bit more ordinary...

I agree with Sidssp.If you have both,why are you asking other people for comparisons?Just curious.

Since you have both, I think you are in the best position to judge them.

The way I hear it is that the Vandersteen is a much more complete speaker wear as the Maggies have that very special midrange.with little else. For some, that midrange is so good that everything else can be ignored...For everyday pleasures, I would need the Vandy's