I was a Maggie 3.3 owner for a few years and then due to many issues noted by Timwat I sold these. Actually it had more to do with me not finding an amp that had enough power that I could afford AND also retain the magic of the 100w class of tube amps I had owned.
Yes they do require a bigger room as they do their magic when spaced 10' or more apart. And yes they indeed reveal problems upstream that so many other speakers mask better. And yes they have a terrible WAF. But as wonderful as the Talon Khorus that I replaced the 3.3s with, far more extension on the bottom and even more resolution throughout much of the range with the Talons, I missed the Maggie magic so much. Ultimately 6 months later, I was on the search again. Selling the 3.3s was the single biggest mistake I ever made in selling/buying audio in 20+ years.
Finally I found a pair of 3.5s and I am once again a happy listener. The Talons went into the HT system. The Talons were a huge improvement over the Theil 3.6s and 2.3s in that system. And the Thiels are excellent speakers as well. But the Thiels do not come close to the Talons in the more lifelike and dynamic presentation. And neither of these bring on the incredible ambience, presence and bloom of the Maggies. There's always a tradeoff. If I had to do the music and HT in one system, the Talons would be the better choice due to the dynamics alone.
One thing that is absolute nonsense is that Maggies do not integrate well with subwoofers. I use a Velodyne ULD18, crossed over at 50hz. This is really what the Dr ordered for the low end punch lacking with the Maggies. I hope to soon tweak the input of the amp (Counterpoint NPS400) to high pass this at 40-50hz to give the amp even more head room with the Maggies.
And yes, when I told my wife I was buying these again, all she could say was, "those again?", in a not so positive manner. So clearly for many they are not beautiful sculptures of art like so many other speakers are out there.
Yes they do require a bigger room as they do their magic when spaced 10' or more apart. And yes they indeed reveal problems upstream that so many other speakers mask better. And yes they have a terrible WAF. But as wonderful as the Talon Khorus that I replaced the 3.3s with, far more extension on the bottom and even more resolution throughout much of the range with the Talons, I missed the Maggie magic so much. Ultimately 6 months later, I was on the search again. Selling the 3.3s was the single biggest mistake I ever made in selling/buying audio in 20+ years.
Finally I found a pair of 3.5s and I am once again a happy listener. The Talons went into the HT system. The Talons were a huge improvement over the Theil 3.6s and 2.3s in that system. And the Thiels are excellent speakers as well. But the Thiels do not come close to the Talons in the more lifelike and dynamic presentation. And neither of these bring on the incredible ambience, presence and bloom of the Maggies. There's always a tradeoff. If I had to do the music and HT in one system, the Talons would be the better choice due to the dynamics alone.
One thing that is absolute nonsense is that Maggies do not integrate well with subwoofers. I use a Velodyne ULD18, crossed over at 50hz. This is really what the Dr ordered for the low end punch lacking with the Maggies. I hope to soon tweak the input of the amp (Counterpoint NPS400) to high pass this at 40-50hz to give the amp even more head room with the Maggies.
And yes, when I told my wife I was buying these again, all she could say was, "those again?", in a not so positive manner. So clearly for many they are not beautiful sculptures of art like so many other speakers are out there.