I had the 3.6's for a long time.
they are great speakers... HOWEVER, you need to feed them lots and lots of power to get them to sound good. Or should I say, the more power you feed them, the better they will sound.
I have used/heard the 3.6's with many amplifiers. Including the W-5 and Theta amps. For HT either would be OK. HOWEVER, if you into 2 channel, there are MUCH better amps for driving the maggies than the W-5 and Theta amps.
Amplifiers that can make the Maggies sing:
2 Plinius SA-100 mk3 amps in MONO
1 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amp
2 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amps in MONO
PASS 350X amp or higher in the PASS series
LAMM monoblock amps (solid state)
Do you see a trend?
Basically you need amplification that has amazing current and power to get the most out of the maggies. Most 100-200wpc amps just do not drive the maggies nearly as well as a more powerful 500+ wpc hi current amp.
I once compared the W-5 to 2 Plinius SA100 mk3's in MONO driving the Maggies. There was no comparison. The W-5 just could not get the kinds of dynamics out of the Maggies that the Plinius amps could.
My suggestion would be to get an amp/amps to drive the maggies, and get other amps to drive the other channel. Frankly the rear and side channel amplification are not that important as HT goes. I have experiemented with using high quality amps for rears, and it made LITTLE difference if any at all. The cinter is a different story. The center is a channel that a lot of sound comes out of in HT.
Frankly, I sold my maggies in an effort to get a more dynamic speaker. I have the Vienna Acoustic Mahlers which I use for my 2 channel and L/R in my HT setup. The Mahlers are a much better HT speaker than the Maggies. I think the Mahlers do everything as well or better than the Maggies in two channel except the midrange (and they are just a hair behind the maggies in the midrange.
My 2c.
Keith
they are great speakers... HOWEVER, you need to feed them lots and lots of power to get them to sound good. Or should I say, the more power you feed them, the better they will sound.
I have used/heard the 3.6's with many amplifiers. Including the W-5 and Theta amps. For HT either would be OK. HOWEVER, if you into 2 channel, there are MUCH better amps for driving the maggies than the W-5 and Theta amps.
Amplifiers that can make the Maggies sing:
2 Plinius SA-100 mk3 amps in MONO
1 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amp
2 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amps in MONO
PASS 350X amp or higher in the PASS series
LAMM monoblock amps (solid state)
Do you see a trend?
Basically you need amplification that has amazing current and power to get the most out of the maggies. Most 100-200wpc amps just do not drive the maggies nearly as well as a more powerful 500+ wpc hi current amp.
I once compared the W-5 to 2 Plinius SA100 mk3's in MONO driving the Maggies. There was no comparison. The W-5 just could not get the kinds of dynamics out of the Maggies that the Plinius amps could.
My suggestion would be to get an amp/amps to drive the maggies, and get other amps to drive the other channel. Frankly the rear and side channel amplification are not that important as HT goes. I have experiemented with using high quality amps for rears, and it made LITTLE difference if any at all. The cinter is a different story. The center is a channel that a lot of sound comes out of in HT.
Frankly, I sold my maggies in an effort to get a more dynamic speaker. I have the Vienna Acoustic Mahlers which I use for my 2 channel and L/R in my HT setup. The Mahlers are a much better HT speaker than the Maggies. I think the Mahlers do everything as well or better than the Maggies in two channel except the midrange (and they are just a hair behind the maggies in the midrange.
My 2c.
Keith