Magneplanar Listening Comparison 1.7 vs. 3.7 Speakers

the big space you can see on the RH side extends into a kitchen - so the room is about 30 ft wide at the speakers; but is about 12 ft wide at the listening position (not counting the cavity in the chimney created by the firebox - the smney stack itself must act like a port (!))

Wendell at Magnepan says the 3.7 is acoustically SMALLER than the 1.7, even tho it is physically larger (different design internally)

I previously decided on Maggie 1.5QR and somd my Vandie 2c (or 2ce?). That was 21 years ago, and I am now planning an upgrade.

I’ve spent about 3 hours listening to the 3.7i vs. 1.7 (no i) at a dealer and the 3.7i’s do sound better to me; maybe significantly better but not hugely better. I’m not sure what to get -- or what specifically to listen for during comparisons.

I will not be able to audition the 3.7i’s at home, but he will let me demo the 1.7s at my house for a day.

I can sit them 5 ft. or more away from the back wall in a large room - fairly wide (13 ft or more), high ceilings (9 ft at speakers slanting up to 12 ft) and very long (22 to 27 ft).  It is asymmetrical in several ways. The only bad thing is a large picture window on the LH side of the room. The RH side is fine. This doesn’t seem to affect the highs so much as the soundstage.

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6248
shows a diagram and am trying to figure out how to upload a pic...

I should also say the comparison at the dealer's was less than ideal:
- time required to swap speakers was too long to get good comparisons    (where you really have just a few seconds)
- non-blind -- I could see the speakers, so the bigger, nicer looking ones     would be preferred 
- SPL levels not matched exactly (tho I tried with a free phone app) &        also tried to make the 1.7's a bit louder to help them out

On the short wall.  The pic shows where they would go - on either side of the TV just like the 1.5QRs.

I asked Wendell if the internal design differences were the reason the 3.7 was acoustically smaller than the 1.7 and he said yes.  The stmt may also be on their web site.

who advocated the smaller speakers and what reasons were obtuse?

I've spent an hour listening at the dealer's with his music, and about 2 hours with a test CD I made up.  Not against a 1.7i, but against a 1.7.

The 3.7i does sound better to me, but even if the improvement is not due to visuals (the bigger speaker, known to cost nearly 3x as much _ought_ to sound better), I am not really hearing $4,000 worth of improvement.

In my room the difference may well be less, but there is no way to test them both in my room, or even to hear  the 3.7i at home without buying it outright.

That's why I'm interested in hearing other people's impressions of particular qualities to listen for next time I try them out.

One advantage of the 3.7 is that it doesn't need to be bi-amped - much improved crossover