Magnepan 1.7 or used Totem Forest

Gosh, you can't go wrong with either but the Maggies will require more powerful amplification than the Totems. The Spendor are hard to find or to obtain. I've been running an ad in the wanted section and I haven't found a pair yet. That goes to show they are great speakers nontheless. But it all depends on the amp you have or are going to buy. Maggie will tell you a good 100 to 200 watt amp is required for the Maggies. And the amp must have good bass control. The McCormack amps drive these nicely as well as Moscode amps are very good on the Maggies.

They are totally different animals. But, despite that, I consider them both to play in the same class of audio quality. I had the MG111a's for 10 years, then went to the Forests. Not exactly by choice-the Magnepan voice coils delaminated from the mylar panels. They never sounded right after the repair (my work, not Magnepans) so I sold them with full disclosure. The Maggies are alot harder to live with, I now have my living room back with the Forests only 2 feet from the back wall. Never heard the 1.7's, but, to sum it up I would have to say that to the hard core audiophile, the 111a's were a better speaker than the Forest. That doesn't mean I like them better though. They both have their atributes. Power was never a problem for me as the 111a's sounded better with 15 watts of tube power than 300 watts of solid state. I don't think the 1.7's can pull off this hat trick. I do think the Forests are more forgiving of placement and other components in the signal chain. The Maggies were ruthlessly revealing of every little thing... cables, 1/4 inch changes in toe in, placement to the walls, etc., etc., etc. Remember now, the 111a's sound is a bit different due to the true ribbon tweeter as opposed to a quazi ribbon-probably closer to the sound of the 3.6.

I had the 1.6QR's and drove them with a Unison Research Unico integrated amp (80watts @ 8ohms). The Unico handled the 1.6's with ease.

Totem: Greater pinpoint accuracy when it comes to imaging than Magnepan. Will disappear sonically in the room when setup correctly. May have edge in dynamic range but that can depend on room and equipment too.

Magnepan: Larger sound field which will be slightly more diffuse than the Totem. More enveloping sound. Intimate sound with acoustic music.

Since you said acoustic jazz my gut says go with the 1.7's.

Hello,
Hifiharv, your response was very detailed and informative but now I`m curious, what 15 watt tube amp out performed a 300 watt SS amp? I don`t doubt you at all, it`s just that regarding the maggies people constantly state that you need high power/current amps to make them perform at their best. I feel good quaility low power tube amps with an appropriate speaker is the way to go for pure musicality and less of that mechanical/electronic veiling.

Heard most of the totem line (back to back) and heard the 1.7s a few months later. I listened to Norah Jones on both systems. The Totems were feed by Cary tube amps (model slips my mind) and the 1.7 were off of Naim gear.

I an not familiar with either front-end. But the system with the 1.7 were a knockout sound wise. They sounded much more natural to me compared to the smaller totems (the wind was ok). For small jazz the 1.7 are not just good for the money they are plain out good. I feel that Totem is a good buy at their asking price but higher-end stuff out classes them.

I am going to take some flack for this, but I feel that voices through the Totems (all models below the wind) seemed forced and nasally. Not bad as a whole and very good all around for their asking price, but lacking compared to higher-end stuff. While the 1.7 hold their own against higher-end speakers. They (1.7s) are limited in the bass depth but not output if you room is averaged size. The highs are pretty good on the 1.7s but they still stick out a little bit to me in tonal balance and location.

With all that being said. The build quality of Magnepan is total junk. If you can get past the build quality they sound VERY nice. The Totems on the other hand have MUCH better build quality and nicer finish.

Just my opinion... and demoing is the key to understanding what aspects you value most.