Maggies or Martin Logans?

Placement is important, but you have enough room. I use homebuilt subs also using NHT 1259s, and a pair of Martin Logan CLS - have yet to hear anything better, really. The only thing that comes remotely close is perhaps Avantgarde Duos, (though still not as detailed or smooth). No dynamic speakers compare. used you may be able to find within your budget. IMHO the best speaker made by ML (or nearly anyone, really), save for perhaps the Statements. I also used to have the Aerius i, and also have several pairs of dynamic speakers, inluding Aerial, Aliante, M&K, a/d/s/, etc.

-Ed

Well, I have owned a pair of Maggie 1.6Qrs for about four years now, and will offer the following advice. In the right room they are amazing--my last listening environment was a wide and deep space, which gave the maggies plenty of room to breathe, and I didn't have early reflection problems. The sound was nothing short of magic, and I could listen for hours without becoming fatigued. BTW, I use a Vandersteen 2Wq for the bottom end, along with BAT pre/power amps). Having recently moved and with the Maggies in a less-than-ideal listening room (narrow, rectangular shape), I have faced some real challenges. My next move will be to add some room treatments, as I've got a lot of energy and excitement in this room in the upper midrange. Don't get me wrong, the speakers are still stellar, but probably less forgiving of their environment. I'd use caution about putting either of these dipole type speakers in a smaller room, unless I was willing to deal with some room treatment as well.

Lastly, the M-Ls are electrostatics, where as the Maggies are planar magnetic with ribbon or quasi-ribbon tweeters. There is a difference in that the Maggie is typically a more lively speaker at the top end (all other things being equal).

I have owned both. My suggestion is listen to both with the music you *really* plan to play and you will make your choice very easily.

I currently run the ML CLS with a REL sub. It is a really nice combination. It has its limits though...

For maggies, I would only look at the true ribbons. I have owned some of the quasi ribbons, and they are not the same.

mdl.

Although I generally prefer the sound of Maggies to MLs when it comes to the models that are available used in your price range, I will point out that in a tightly-spaced HT setup, the curved panel design of the MLs may be preferrable for it's wider-angle listening window. I'm not convinced that dipole radiators are a good idea in smaller rooms (though yours might not be too small, depending on the layout and setup), and the answer to your placement-sensitivity question is yes, panel speakers can be more prone to response anomolies than box speakers if not optimally positioned. Additionally, you will need to satisfy yourself that a small panel speaker won't limit you too much dynamically if you like to run loud, and that your amplification is up to the task of driving either a relatively insensitive load (Maggie), or a high-capacitance, low-impedance load (ML), both of which can be more demanding and less forgiving than an average dynamic coil box speaker load.

Before you spent big $ on those I will suggest that you try a used pair of SMG (±$250).You could resell them very easily & they will give you a taste,at home,of the path you are following.Don't forget that those speakers are very sensitive to the electronic you are using;they will often start a "quest" for the best sound & spur the "upgrading devil" in you.IMHO don't go with ML if you don't have a very high level of electronic already like:Audio Research-Krell-BAT-Bryston ST-Rowland & be prepared to spend 2K on interconnect & speakers cables.