Magnepan, Best midrange?

JM Lab/Focal Mezzo Utopia's get my vote.

hshifi, the MiniDSP is a much better crossover than the CR1. It is not that the CR1 is bad, it is now outdated outdated technology. Subs have to be placed differently than the main speaker but the have to match the main speakers in time and phase. You can only perform these corrections in digital. You can also program any crossover point at any order. All planar speakers require subwoofers. They are simply overwhelmed by the physics of the situation. 
clearthinker, you and I are certainly of the same mind when it comes to Tektons. Rock and roll. However, I am not a huge ML fan. They are for people who never listen above 80 dB. As the volume increase the curved diaphragm becomes non-linear and distortion sets in. They start to sound stressed. They also have to cross over to dynamic drivers at a higher frequency, 250 Hz I believe so you wind up with disparate sound projection, line source above 300 Hz or so and point source below. As you move away from the speaker it gets brighter. I think Roger Sanders makes the best Hybrid speaker from an absolute performance perspective but he is of the opinion that a speaker only images at one position and that is all that matters. Everywhere else does not matter. I think this is a better compromise to make than curving the panel to increase dispersion but, I made that compromise for decades, head locked in a vise. I am super glad I do not have to make that compromise any more. Sound Labs has the right solution, small flat panels angled to form a continuous 45 degree array. They are better at projecting the third dimension than any other speaker I have heard and only two others ever got close, Apogee Divas driven by Krell amps and Dick Sequerra Pyramid Metronomes powered by Threshold amps. This is of course "in my experience" which was pretty comprehensive.... 40 years ago. It is impossible today to keep up with everything. 

Some short attention span members seem to think this is me. This is not me. This is another guy. https://youtu.be/7RxRTFx6Cd0?t=348

I’m hoping for further news on the "Magnepan 30.7 for Condos" - bass integration impressions were very positive:
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/magnepan-focus-group-event/

Properly placed the LRS and the 1.7i "maggies" will amaze most people. You do need a good amp, but they are not hard to find. Try the Starke Sound AD4.320; truly amazing. If you are into pipe organ music, get a subwoofer, but for jazz, folk, most classical, proper placement will do. You do lose on dynamic range, but the clarity is worth it. Enjoy!

kennyc, I would go with the 20.7s and subwoofers.

When it comes to midrange, the Magnepan .7 has strengths and weaknesses, as do all magnetic panel speakers; see my article at Dagogo.com. Even the King Sound King III and the Sound Lab Ultimate 545 (both also reviewed, and I own the King III) have idiosyncrasies associated with the panel technology. There are aspects of performance that different technologies supersede. It is easy to hear when you compare speakers in your own room. 

A speaker I recently reviewed which reminds me of Vandersteen in terms of the sound quality of the midrange, and a terrific value, but with a distinctly different, and imo in some respects better, sonic signature, is the Aspen Acoustics Lagrange L5 MkII, also reviewed for Dagogo.com. I have not heard anything else quite like the DLT (Disproportionately Large Tweeter) design, which I discuss in my article. The blend of dynamic and large ribbon gives a very precise, and yet luxurious character to the speaker. 

The takeaway is this; the DLT is winning my listening time away from even the King III ESL. I prefer ESL to magnetic planar usually. I have had a lot of great time with the King III, and it has represented for me that spacious, grand, powerful wall of sound, so I never thought that a hybrid dynamic could pull me away from that somewhat. Even what I consider to be a superior panel speaker (King III) is getting less playing time because of the unique aspects of the Lagrange L1. The midrange - all of it - is very involving, more distinct and yet as clean/precise,  more so than the panel. They are quite different experiences, but a shift in tech can cause a ruckus in terms of what the ears prefer to hear.   :) 

"Best" midrange? If you have experienced few speakers/systems in direct comparison in your room and can afford only one expression, then that would likely be your "best", wouldn't it? 

I reviewed and owned the L5 MkII. I now own the flagship L1 prototype, which can be seen at the Aspen Acoustics site, and the production model of the L1 will be coming for review. The speaker is done, but Scott is waiting on an Eton driver, a delay from the Covid shutdown. 

"Best" midrange? If you have experienced few speakers/systems in direct comparison in your room and can afford only one expression, then that would likely be your "best", wouldn't it?

fundamental problem with all 'best' threads for any gear on this and many other forums

speaks to the experience level and capability to discern of any respondent as much as the subject matter of the query -- and the former is rarely disclosed or known

best
I want the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best is subjective.
Maggie’s midrange is fine. With Magnepans it’s not about that. Others have good midrange as well. More about overall dynamics and type of music listened to and subjective determinations by each person regarding what they want to listen to.  Also Magnepan setup for best results can be a challenge. They are best well away from walls. 

@murphythecat

best
I want the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

only the best will do ... must have the best, not second best, not third best, the BEST

😆😆😆😆

"these are the best Jerry! The Best!"

The 12" concentric driver with 1" polyester tweeter in my Emerald Physics 3.4s is better than my recollection of my Maggie 3.5Rs

I should be more specific and say they are best/most special well away from rear wall.  Maybe 1/3 or more of the way into the room.  Not so much side walls. 

So somehow you missed it, even after I cued it up? The Tekton "have the qualities of EVERYTHING I like about the Maggies, AND the Snells, AND the Vandersteens..."         Is it possible to read any post without this clown posting his shill Tekton crap...Please moderator,pull the plug on MC!

Some short attention span members seem to think this is me. This is not me. This is another guy. https://youtu.be/7RxRTFx6Cd0?t=348

Reading comprehension. Get some.

BDS. The virus is spreading...

jjss493,224 posts07-27-2021 9:58am@murphythecat

best
I want the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

only the best will do ... must have the best, not second best, not third best, the BEST

~~~~
WEll I am back
My tech geek has blocked my Magnepan Speaker Project, It is officially ~~CANCELED~~~
Yeah i know, i mouthed off how special the mids are. 
I have a  jadis Defy7, which has a  reputation for beinga  bit touchy with certain speakers.
And so taking his strng urging advice,,I had to cancel The LRS Project,..

I just bought a  pair of DavidLouis 6.5 , bigger brother to my DL 4 inch.

My new Speaker Project will be adding a Crescendo tweeter xossing at say 4khz and running wide open wide band DavidLouis 6.5 the yellow cone style , Which he recommends over his other 2 , for superior female vocals.
This set up will be much more Defy friendly.
maybe not the best mids, but certainly superior to many big brand  name speakers.
500hz-3k hz is the critical hz's in any speaker.
WE need to  forget rock solid , tight accurate  drums/ bass and also  highs when reviewing any speaker. 
What happens in any demo at a dealership, is , we get carried away with deep powerful bass on a  nice test cd and glorious super sweet dynamic, sparkely crystal clear highs,, 
Meanwhile we over look (Not tuned in ) to muddy, fluffy, colored , distorted lower mids - upper mids. 
Happens every single time.  Dealer test quality cds , can  get you to sign the dotted line every time. 
Buyer beware. 

Last week, spoke some time on the horn with Josh over at Madisound about speakers , performance, and fidelity
He  summed up Seas Excel Magnesium line quite well with the word **Neutral* = Non colored.
The only  weakness with the Excel line is their rather low sensitivity.
Josh also brought up  one of Murphys Law,, the one that say, 
**You can 2 of the 3, but never 3 of 3*
Translate ~~You can have rock solid accurate bass,(Scanspeak) + most glorious sweet crystal clear highs (Magnepan ribbon tweeters) ,,,,the caveat will be the sacrifice of something in the midrange fq zone...
= The fly in the old soup.
For my musical preferences  entire midrange section is everything. 

jjss493,224 posts07-27-2021 9:58am@murphythecat

best
I want the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

only the best will do ... must have the best, not second best, not third best, the BEST

The mids in the Seas W18's, DavidLouis 6.5 , Seas Crescendo, perhaps not near the best,,,but certainly are not prone to crappy midrange. 
faults and weaknesses which  many famously expensive commercial big name  speakers  suffer from this fatigue syndrone. 
(Vandersteen, Thiel)

Here  in this video is exactly what I am refering to.
WOW what peaks of distortion,, Fatigue in less than 1 hour.
I could not stay in this showroom longer than a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4w8BavaC_0

Expensive, famous, popular. yet prove Murphy's Law.
2 of 3, never  3 of 3. 

Ck out all YT reviews of the Magnepan.
Every review gives 2 big thumbs up,
Try to  that on any speaker on the market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KzmktPjk5o&t=535s

mozartfan07-23-2021 8:19a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please keep in Mind, 
These speakers, although may be  ideally the best midrange for your classical music, your Defy7 may not be the **match made in heaven**
So please be aware , ck 1st with your geek guy to make sure your Defy7  is  a happy camper paired with the LRS.
,,~~~~
 Be right back,,,,
OK just cked with Tech Geek.
**Defy7 may nt like the LRS ohm load, and so why take the risk?/**
I told him, I agree, why take the risk.
86 db/4 ohms...
hummm, 
Nah, I'll stay with what is now making some really nice fatigure free musical sounds.
Just ordered another DavidLouis today.
Yet once again, the big trade off. 
Have to give up Magnepan beautiful midrange, and keep the Defy in good working order.
Tech feels best amplifier for this load is a  ss amplifier.

Magnepan’s are a very well known loudspeaker. Perhaps the OP is on the young side (his vocabulary suggests that such is the case ;-) .

I got my first pair in 1973, the original 3-panel Tympani T-I. Looking for more transparency (the T-I was somewhat veiled), and a more extended top and bottom end, I sold them the following year, replacing them with the Fulton Musical Industries (FMI) Model J, which featured six of the wonderful RTR ESL tweeters and a dynamic woofer in a transmission-line enclosure.

I got the transparency and extended high and low end I desired, but paid dearly for it. The tall, wide, and deep soundstage, the lifesize images of musical instruments and height of voices---all "hanging" in space---created by the T-I evaporated, replaced in the Model J by the same old problem of many "box" loudspeakers: the music appeared to be being squeezed through two holes in a wall at the plane of the front of the loudspeakers, all instruments miniaturized in size, voices lowered to waist height. The Maggies---even with their failings---provided a suspension-of-disbelief listening experience, the Model J did not. I now own a pair of the very much improved Tympani, the T-IVa.

And while the Fulton produced a greater quantity of bass than did the Tympani, that bass was not of the same quality. Maggie bass---particularly mid-bass---is extremely "taut", lean and clean. In musical terms, staccato. Very percussive (transient impact), with no overhang, no fat. It reproduces the upright bass like no other loudspeaker, as well as the bottom registers of the piano, and low-pitched (tympani, kick) drums. And while the very lowest notes produced by the pipe organ are missing (the 16’ pipe produces a 16Hz tone!), the "shuddery" quality of the pipe organ sound is reproduced to a degree unmatched by any dynamic loudspeaker I’ve heard. Well, with one close exception: the low frequencies produced by a superior OB/Dipole sub, a topic for another time.

Listeners who are gobsmacked by their first exposure to a Maggie may be forgiven for being unaware of the fact that Magnepan is not the only company producing magnetic-planar loudspeakers. I am mentioning the Eminent Technology LFT-8b because of the main thrust of this thread---the reproduction of the midrange of music. VPI’s Harry Weisfeld declared that the LFT-8b produces the best midrange reproduction he has ever heard, regardless of price. I encourage the OP to attempt to hear the best value in all of hi-fi---the Eminent Technolgy LFT-8b, a steal at $2499/pr. Reviews available on the ET website.

Magnepan’s are a very well known loudspeaker. Perhaps the OP is on the young side (his vocabulary suggests that such is the case ;-) .

I'm 65 years old
Just some learning disability thats all.
anyway, Just heard some bites of your recommended

LFT-8b

Sorry I do not like the mids,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHtqBBn_VLA

Listening to classical choral music with Maggies is unbelievably beautiful and that music is all about midrange. 

@douglas_schroeder , When you listen to speakers "in your own room" you are in effect listening to "your room."  The Aspen Acoustics speakers are overwhelmed by their tweeters. The tweeter is line source but everything else is point source. They radiate differently line sources projecting much better. As you move away from the speakers they get brighter. This creates a sound signature that many audiophiles love. I had a friend way back in Miami who stuck these huge RTR electrostatic tweeters on top of a box speaker (can't remember which one) and he kept them turned way up. He thought it sounded great. I couldn't keep my eyes from crossing. 
I have not listened to the Kings, do not know them at all. But I do know ESLs intimately otherwise having lived and worked on them for decades.
They can be so neutral they become boring for people who have not been able to take advantage of them to the fullest. It is always a bad idea to change horses in the middle of the stream. Line sources and point sources have such disparate radiation patterns and projection that it is always a bad idea to go from one to the other, particularly in the middle of the audio range. If the Little Sound Labs have one big problem this is it. They switch from line source to point source behavior at about 350 Hz. 

Like so many things Maggie, the "difficulty" of sub integration is WAY overblown.

Agreed.

hartf36, it is and it is not. Subs are easy to integrate if you have the tools and know what you are doing. Otherwise, it is virtually impossible. For most a matter of luck more than anything. Most are not even trying. They are using a low pass filter only on the subs and not a two way crossover which is mandatory if you want to get it right.

You write like a 10yr old, your post is barely comprehensible and so full of grammatical errors that it's hard to take you seriously

mijostyn, did you bother to read the article about the Aspen Acoustics speaker? The ribbon has an attenuator so that its output can be perfectly dialed in. The separate tower allows for both toe in and baffle slope adjustments as well as positioning relative to the main cabinet. Imo, your concerns about integration are addressed quite well in this design. In fact, the DLT (disproportionately large tweeter) allows for this hybrid to have characteristics that simply are not available to most hybrid ribbon speakers. Without even hearing the speaker, you have discounted it, but I'm not that surprised. 

I have conversed with enough designers, manufacturers, and hobbyists in this community to know that skepticism based on what they think is their default setting. However, when the speaker is before me, performing as well as ESL/dipole and dynamic speakers holistically, and better than them in a few parameters of performance, then the accepted wisdom doesn't mean much.     :)
 

"
Sorry I do not like the mids,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHtqBBn_VLA
"
no more need for audio show, youtube auditions is where its at.

@douglas_schroeder , The best you can do is get the tonal balance right at one position. Move closer and they get bass/midrange heavy. Move further away and they get treble heavy depending on the cross over point. That is just the tonality of the speaker. Because of the disparate radiation pattern and energy you will never get them to image correctly. It does not matter where you put the tweeter ribbon. But, they are your speakers and all that matters is how you like them. The only speakers I have ever heard image correctly remained true to form throughout the audio band. They are a three way ribbon loudspeaker, a three way dynamic loudspeaker and an almost full range ESL. 

I've moved away from stat/panel designs,,
back into the cones,
~No sweet spots
~Any amplification friendly (minus SETs, obviously)25watts doable 6-8 ohms 
~Any placement will work just fine
~all around sound bass/mids/highs all represented.
~Not expensive(under $3G's
~cabinets can be built DIY  from $100 Home Depot Sanded Plywood. (Horns not needed)
~Subs not needed
~added tweets not needed
~Do not break down, no upgrades needed(as long as you buy the right drivers , the latest offerings), if upgrade, easy, pop one woofer out , add another. Same with tweet, Just dumped the Millennium, adding a  Crescendo. 

I have had 3.6 Maggie’s as my primary speaker for about 15 years.  Two things stand out, get Mye stands for the as the sound improves dramatically with them.

Second, have enough power to drive them easily.  After a couple of name amps, my journey ended up with McIntosh MC501 mono blocks.  They truly bloom with current.   Yes, the cost is high, but after 15 years I certainly have my money’s worth.

Good thing we downsized our home substantially or I would really be wanting 30.7s.

I have had a couple of different Maggies over the years...I really like them.  I currently biamp them with two Bryston 3Bs...best midrange and high end anywhere near their price point.  I dont care much about strong bass; I have the home theater speakers for that.

I am currently running three systems in a 35x25x10 room. One is a Magnepan 3.7i, musical fidelity M6PRX amp and M6PRE. The second is 
Martin Logan Summit-X with a Nakamichi PA-7 and CA7. The third is an Altec A-5 with a Sonic Frontiers Line 2 preamp and a couple of homebuilt tube mono blocks. I can tell you that in my opinion and 95% of those that have been here that the midrange on the Logans is better than the Magnepans, not by much but noticeably better. As far as the Altecs it seems to be highly dependent on the type of music I play. My sources for all three systems are streaming  Qobuz through a Roon Nuc with a Mytek  Brooklyn Dac Plus or vinyl. Vinyl is through a PS Audio phono stage, Nottingham TT, Denon DP-80, TT-101. I have played both digital and analog in all the systems and the midrange results are the same.

At this price and whatever the model you consider (1.7i, 3.7i or 20.7...), there are no better loudspeakers on the market in each category for reproducing Vocals and acoustic instruments such as guitars.
Timbres and soundstage are just incredible.
You need an amp with current to provide dynamic... but the Maggies will  take it all.
A few tubes in the chain of components to add warmth.
Two good subwoofers to take care of the bass if you go for the 1.7i and the 3.7i (though these ones will also do the job with no subs).
No special need of sub with the 20.7s... but it could help.
You can play them loud during hours without feeling any fatigue.
Music and emotion will surround you.
Listen to Joe Cocker's "You are so beautiful" or George Michael's "As" or Stacey Kent's "What a wonderful world" with the Maggies and you'll get right away what I am trying to say.


 

@bdp24 , you were humming with the Tympanies but lost it with the ET LFT 8B. It has the same problem as Doug's Aspen Acoustic's speakers just lower down. Have you listened to the 20.7's ? IMHO I think they are Maggi's best speaker ever. I just wish they had made them 8 feet tall. As an aside the pipe for a 16 Hz tone would be around 30 feet long.

I think a lot of the point was lost throughout most of this thread. The OP was originally referring to the quality of midrange in the little, less than $1K, Maggie LRS and we end up talking about $8K - $25K speakers. In my opinion, for less than a thousand dollars, when it comes to incredible midrange, a large realistic stage, great imaging and impeccable detail there isn't anything under 2K that comes anywhere close.

As far as bass and the perceived amount of power that it takes to drive the LRS - Hogwash. They will do mid base down to 100 Hz very well, with a moderate amount of power, unless you're trying to drive them to 110db. For bass below 100 Hz, when set up properly, any decent sub will integrate very well. As frequencies fall below 100 Hz they become non directional and are anything but quick and punchy - more like deep and throby and integration is way less of a problem than made out.

I have the Maggie 1.7s and drive them very nicely with a 100W Rogue integrated tube amp. Most of my listening is at less than 80db so lack of power is no problem. Augmented with an ADS sub with the filter set at 60Hz and they sound incredible........Jim

Oh, I see, this is supposed to be the Maggie Fanboy Club Thread!  "At this price...No better speakers on the market..." What nonsense! That's only IF you think the character of the sound is perfect with a panel. We're supposed to fawn over the little Maggie and pretend it's all that, as though nothing else comes close in midrange. Please, give me a break. A fine bookshelf dynamic speaker can be every bit as enthralling. Magnetic planar is one expression of speaker, with plenty of shortcomings. And that from a guy who owned the 1.6QR and the MMG, and uses the MGMW o the walls of the listening room for HT purposes.

Of course this thread was about midrange; I didn't realize it was to promote cheap Maggies as though they're the end all, be all in inexpensive speakers. Forgive me for mentioning midrange in better speakers - and better technologies/genres such as the DLT of the Aspen Acoustics Lagrange L1. 

Note well, community, the panels have problems of their own, and the character of the midrange is typically, shall we say, flat? Yeah, flat, along with the rest of the presentation. Dynamically flaccid. You will NOT get away from that; anyone who actually does comparisons to horn and better dynamic speakers hear it. We have defenders like mijostyn who are so beholden to panel sound that they will try to tell owners such as myself what the Lagrange L1 speaker sounds like when they have never heard it. He heard one hack system with an add on ribbon that seemingly was not integrated well, and he thinks he knows the genre. Wrong. 

Great, wonderful, the little Maggies have inordinately good midrange in the mind of some for the money. I can concur with that. There are also speakers that have midrange that makes the little Maggies sound pathetic in all respects, midrange, too. Let's see, the title of the thread was, Magnepan, Best Midrange? I addressed that, and the answer is a resounding NO, we can't discuss that! Magnetic planar and ESL is one type of midrange/presentation with its own issues. Horror, we can't have that conclusion, can we! Summon the dipole die hard fans! Rally the troops to do battle to preserve the notion that Maggies and Sound Lab speakers are unassailable! 

It's a situation like the old Quad speakers. We're talking a seriously compromised sound quality compared to contemporary speakers. Really poor. The focus on them is the midrange pretty much because that's all they can do. That they fail at many other things is disregarded; they are given the same kind of pass as the magnetic planar technology in small builds. They are simply not all that when put on the spectrum of all speaker performance. If that offends some, so be it. 

The irony of all this is that the OP has a track record of inordinate obsession with his favored genre of speaker. He also obsesses about FR. He remembered panel speakers, then in a pirouette decided that was the Great Solution to his disdain of bass, where midrange is the only big deal. He was going to inform the world about Maggies! He was going to put the speaker brand, "on the map". The inexpensive dipole became THE great expression of sound - all of this unheard, except for his method of assessment of speakers by watching youtube vids. Yeah, so this thread topic was written during his Magnepan phase. Of course, now that he has under $1K because he had no idea what he was doing and didn't realize the combo of gear he bought wouldn't be ideal for a Maggie, he has soured on the speaker and is back to FR! 

It's a circus, but I wanted to add general info about the DLT genre represented as far as I know only by the Aspen Acoustics speakers. So, we have our Sound Lab defenders and our Maggie saviors come running to try to preserve the integrity of the perception that the dipole is the end all, be all. All because a poster with ignorance and under $1K to spend flips opinion nearly as fast as you can flip a coin. 

Jim, you have no idea what you could get out of those speakers. 100wpc is insipid and while you may like it tonally, you're hearing a compromised sound quality from your 1.7i speakers. Listening level has no bearing on that; you're fundamentally under powering them for what the genre of speaker needs to sound good. Now, if you can't accept that input from someone who has owned Maggies, reviewed the .7, reviewed the Sound Lab Ultimate 545 (at the time U4iA), and owns the King III electrostatic, then I'm not going to argue with you about it. 100wpc is cheap, but not nearly what it takes to make any Maggie sound as good as it can.   :) 

Sorry to offend Doug. Just pointing out that, regarding the OPs original post on the Maggie LRS, I am in agreement with him that there are not many, if any, that will do as well in the mids and overall performance at that price range.

While I do like the Maggies (ribbons and electrostatics in general) I also have a particular liking for open baffle speakers and over the years have owned and enjoyed many different speakers. Just keeping it straight - I am a member of no ones "fanboy" club......Jim

with going dirt cheap, most other good speakers (magnepan, vandersteen, Wilson, and hundreds of others)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
None us here are interested in **the good speakers***
either we have the best or nothing.
Magnepan has too many isssues to deal with. 
Which is why my tech geek had to cancel my fantasy on owning a  pair of Magnepan's. 
These speakers are not tube amplification friendly. 
This is old news, but should be emphasized when discussing anything panel design. 

btw my speakers are the best and about to get even better..

Arriving this week, DavidLouis 6.5 yellow cone wide band paired witha   a  THor, soon to be upgraded with a  Crescendo tweeter. Have 1 already,  The tweet is a beast, far superior to Seas Millennium. 
Oddly enough fits right in perfectly to the Millennium slot in the front panel, yet alomost 2x's the magnet weign and total weight. 

Sure it is going to be one strange speaker, Thos witha   added wide band, but it is the most perfect combo for my  symphonic cd  collection. 
Richly detailed, full with super wide soundstage. Every nuance in the orchestra can be heard. 
Going to get even better with the new upgrades. 

@douglas_schroeder, You can look at a bus and know right away that it won't fly even though it is a mode of transportation. You have enough experience to know this. I can look at some speakers and know were their worst flaws are and what they are going to do. Some speakers have fatal flaws, flaws that I can not personally live with or maneuver around.
Many people like their TVs set with over saturated colors. Looks cool but is not realistic. Same with HiFi. The problem is that you know right away you are listening to a reproduction. 
As for dynamics you are 1/2 right and 1/2 wrong. Panel speakers like large ESLs can make bass but they suck at it and fall flat when it comes to low end dynamics. I always thought I could maneuver around that problem with subwoofers. It took 20 years of farting around and digital electronics to lick that problem. As for the rest of the range large ESLs are every bit as dynamic as horns just much less efficient. The snap of a Sonor snare drum is something special to hear on ESLs. They can do this because of the very large size of the panel and their acoustic impedance is close to that of air. Planar magnetics and ribbons are a compromise especially when you start adding crossovers in the midrange. Dynamic driver haven't got a prayer in hell. Distortion is magnitudes higher, they are an impedance mismatch to air, they spray sound all over the place usually indiscriminately and they are severely range limited requiring crossovers not to mention the problems you get into with enclosures. The only advantage they have is size, a huge advantage. The only place they excel over other types is in the deep bass at very long wavelengths. 
The little Maggies do have great midrange considering the price. Given the right amplifier and a decent subwoofer system I can imagine performance exceeding that of most dynamic speaker, certainly anything near their price. 
I like panel loudspeakers for well defined reasons. Modern 8 foot ESLs are handily the best panel loudspeakers. You have to be able to live with the size. As the previous owner of Tympany's, my current speakers are tiny:-)

@ douglas_schroeder
I am very flattered to have elicited such a reaction.
But a little over the top, right?
For my part, I have found the loudspeakers (Maggies) that live up to my expectations (especially in the midrange frequencies that are most important to me - the title of this thread) and at a price that my bank account can afford. And now I listen to the music I love in peace.
This is what matters in the end.
Bye now!

leaving aside the click bait thread title and @douglas_schroeder ’s commentary (which i agree with in substance, if not in tone), i would venture to say that there are speakers available at modest cost (used) that certainly compare well to, if not exceed, the midrange transparency of little maggies

spendor bc1
spendor sp1 or sp1/2
proac super tablette

are just some examples... overall different presentations of course, but if we are just talking midrange purity, bbc heritage monitors take a back seat to none (and i would say, are substantially easier to drive too)...

" only the best will do ... must have the best, not second best, not third best, the BEST"
and for some reasons you think the best is the Seas drivers or whatever you think today, via youtube listening sessions, decide which is best.

fact is, there’s many many just as good midrange drivers.

passlabs tested dozens of midrange drivers and he ended up with audax pr170mo. why? cause its one of the only midrange that are 97db efficient. these are the best for his high efficiency system. does he claim its the best driver in the world, nope.

yet you, who havent tested more then 3 drivers, claim all sort of ridiculous stuff.

hshifi347 posts07-24-2021 7:53pmHello,
Maggies don’t do well on the heavy bass


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnepan's have issues.

It surprises me how popular these speakers , have been and still are in demand.
~~VERY~ amazed

Here isa  speaker that will out shoot any magnepan in a  NY second

Bass YES
Mid YES
Highs YES
Easy load for any tube amp. 
Magnepan is blown out the water in all departments.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224515675545?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D2016...

twodolphins  I think you may have that backwards, Maggies are much more dynamic and organic than electrostats. I've owned many Maggies, my latest pair are 20.1's driven by Classe CAM350's. I also currently own Acoustat Spectra 33's driven by 2 - Acoustat TNT 200's which were just rebuilt and MonoBlocked by Roy E. I love the way the Stats sound, very precise and analytical ,but no way as musical as the Maggies. The Acoustats are the first and only pair of electrostats I've owned, but I've listened to the big SoundLab Panels, and they sound just as precise and analytical as the Specta 33's just more.
hshifi, you've mentioned that Maggies don't do well on heavy Bass, have you heard Maggies from the IIIa's and up with the proper amplification? My first amp that powered my 2.5r's, IIIa's, was a Harman Kardon Signature 1.5 Power Amp and my 20.1's are powered by Classe CAM350's Monoblocks, low bass, not a problem and Plenty of it. My house shakes and my lights dim when I push those puppies, even with a dedicates 20amp circuit. Just before I read this post, I got an email from Roy E. stating that I'm next on his list to get my Spectra Interfaces rebuilt and upgraded, maybe they will sound more musical after the rebuild, Time will tell.
 

 and up with the proper amplification?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When any speaker
~~Requires~~~ 
correct amplification for best  performance,, you know we have problems. 
Like AER/Voxativ requiring SET amps, fpr best bang.
Panels  for best bang, big ss amplification.

I just do not see any justification in either design as superior to regular old xover cone designs.  Which need no specific amps to sound their best.
The only wide band I know of that is friendly to any amp are the DavidLouis. 
MADE IN CHINA.
Perfect?
No, but certainly best bang  in a  shootout with  panels and high sens wide band.
Thats  for sure.