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Planar speaker characteristics

I’m thinkIng of the possible advantages of going planar.  Here’s my situation:
I currently have Triangle Stratos Volante 260 speakers, and I love their sound. The issue with these are that they have poly switches in the crossovers that limit the volume they can achieve.  Rectification of this issue is a long story, I’ll spare everyone the details. Before I acquired these speakers, I briefly owned a pair of Magnepan MMG’s, and was quite impressed with them. Unfortunately, also at the time I didn’t have the amplifier power to drive them to potential, and after all, they are the smallest end of the Magnepan line.  After acquiring the Triangles, I also got a pair of Parasound JC 1’s.  As of right now, I really do love the sound of my system. But the memory of those Magnepan’s kind of haunts me, now that I have the power to drive a pair of the larger models. I’m thinking in the 3 something range. Can someone with Magnepan experience tell me what characteristics they love about their Maggie’s, and also what they don’t. What I love about the Triangles:  midrange detail and musicality, not clinical, but not too warm. The “jump factor” as a reviewer put it in a review of the Signature Deltas.  What I don’t like are the aforementioned volume issues, and that they are fairly lean in bass extension. High quality bass, but not as deep as I’d like. However, and this is an important however, the addition of a subwoofer has effectively solved that issue. What makes The Magnepan sound appealing, and also not?  Not interested in electrostats. Also, please try to stick to the question.  Not really looking for commentary on the Parasound’s. I love them, even as my greener sensibilities and my electric bill don’t. 
Much thanks in advance,

Dave
dprincipato

Showing 1 response by mlsstl

mlsstl
1,405 posts
 
I had a pair of 1.6QRs and really enjoyed them. However, the one pair of caveats with Maggies is the room and the placement of the speakers in it. Maggies are bipolar and put out as much sound volume to the rear as to the front -- this makes them interact differently with the room than a conventional box speaker.

My original room was a large living room, about 25' X 14' and the speakers were able to be out several feet from the wall. Then I moved and ended up with a 14' X 13' room with the speakers only able to be out about 18" from the wall. That just didn't work so I sold the speakers and moved on.

If you don't have a good room and/or can't get the placement right, you are going to have problems. In the right room and properly placed, they sound fantastic.
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