Sunnyjim -
As a Maggie convert, I strongly believe this is where the axiom "don't decide based upon print reviews only...audition!" is mandatory.
No matter what anyone tells you, you owe it to yourself to go check out planars yourself (assuming you have not already)...either at a dealer or a fellow audiophile's home...to get an idea what we're all raving about.
It was hard for me at first to mentally get a handle on what Philojet properly refers to as "open, lack of a boxy sound"...without an actual audition I had no experiential point of reference to interpret what this meant.
After spending two hours at my local Maggie dealer (started listening to small monitors, because that's what I went in asking to hear, went to larger box floorstanders, went to Martin Logan, went to Final, went to 1.6's, finished with 3.6's), I'm a believer. I'm never going back to box speakers. At least not without coercion or duress.
I'm also one of the guys who willingly acknowledges all the weaknesses that Maggies come with (see my response to the recent thread 'Why are so many Maggies and Martin Logans for Sale?'), but even with all that, I can't go back to a box.
I recently auditioned Sonus Faber's big floorstander (Cremona?"), with very expensive Pass electronics and an SME 30/2 source...they were being played at The Analog Shop in San Jose while I was shopping for vinyl. I sat down to give them a fair listen, wanting all the highly-reviewed electronics to present the music well. The primary impression I left with?
"Nice 'table, but I'm never going back to box speakers."
As a Maggie convert, I strongly believe this is where the axiom "don't decide based upon print reviews only...audition!" is mandatory.
No matter what anyone tells you, you owe it to yourself to go check out planars yourself (assuming you have not already)...either at a dealer or a fellow audiophile's home...to get an idea what we're all raving about.
It was hard for me at first to mentally get a handle on what Philojet properly refers to as "open, lack of a boxy sound"...without an actual audition I had no experiential point of reference to interpret what this meant.
After spending two hours at my local Maggie dealer (started listening to small monitors, because that's what I went in asking to hear, went to larger box floorstanders, went to Martin Logan, went to Final, went to 1.6's, finished with 3.6's), I'm a believer. I'm never going back to box speakers. At least not without coercion or duress.
I'm also one of the guys who willingly acknowledges all the weaknesses that Maggies come with (see my response to the recent thread 'Why are so many Maggies and Martin Logans for Sale?'), but even with all that, I can't go back to a box.
I recently auditioned Sonus Faber's big floorstander (Cremona?"), with very expensive Pass electronics and an SME 30/2 source...they were being played at The Analog Shop in San Jose while I was shopping for vinyl. I sat down to give them a fair listen, wanting all the highly-reviewed electronics to present the music well. The primary impression I left with?
"Nice 'table, but I'm never going back to box speakers."