Magnepan vs Ohm/Walsh ?


Just curious... those of you that have tried both magneplanar speakers and the Ohm with the Walsh-type driver -- which did you prefer and why?

I have a lot of experience with planar speakers, but almost none with the Ohm, so please send your impressions. If you switched from one to the other, are you happy, or what do you miss?
plato
Mlsstl,

I know what you mean about the room size. I'll be real curious to see if I can get the Maggies to strut their stuff like I know they can. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. Originally, I was going to go with the MG-12 because I'm 99.9 percent sure they would work. But the folks at Magnepan sort of prodded me toward the 1.6 (and one of my audio friends who has Quad 57's and KLH 9 electrostats). They said the bass could be managed... So I'll find out about that soon enough.

I have a larger 14 x 30 foot room that I could use, except that I've already got a very good pair of NSR Sonata D3's in that room and I know my wife would not go for 2 large pairs of speakers... nor would I want to push my luck...!
I replaced Magnepan mg 1.3c's that I ran for years alongside original OHM Walsh 2s with OHM Walsh 5 series 3 recently (actually, OHM f-5 series 3 which are Walsh 5 series 3 drivers in refurbished OHM F cabinets).

The Maggies were far more refined in timbre and delivery than the original Walsh 2's from the 80s. The OHMs could go loud and really rock though when needed, particularly in larger rooms and even outdoors like nothing you ever heard. Maggies are hard to beat at lowe to moderate listening volumes.

I now have different Walsh 2s with the newer series 3 drivers and the F-5 series 3. I prefered both OHMs and even the Triangle Titus 202 and Dynaudio 1.3 mkII monitors I also run concurrently as well to the older Maggies in most ways, at least in the room that I used to run the Maggies in. The F-5s rule there now.

For low to moderate volume listening though, the Maggies are fantastic. I would consider a pair of smaller mmgs in the future again still especially if my situation restricted the volume at which I could listen. The OHM series 3 do well at low volumes, but their forte is more realistic SPLs. The Triangles may be the only speaks I might prefer to Maggies at lower listening volumes.
I have both and i play them at the same time which creates a live performance for me. In fact I play maggies, eminent tech and ohm's at the same time using SVS subs with many electronics to make them sound the way i want, nothing better than to have all these technologies. I could not seriously pick a maggie or ohm over the other, they are two beautiful designs including the eminent tech. That's like choosing between three gorgeous babes, a redhead, blonde and a brunette? I'd rather have all three, which I do, but I need to know which wig to put on my speakers. The MISTRESS behind the three current speaker system is my beloved ACOUSTAT SPECTRA which on occasion, gets the date over the three! To put the DECWARE over the OHM is insane to me, because the decware will blow where the OHM would begins to PLAY. OHM and MAGGIES are proven winners. Decware needs to stick to their TUBE electronics