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Upgrading Maggie MGIIIa's to 3.7i - worth it?

I'm suffering from upgrade fever but nothing is easy.  I'm quite addicted to the Maggie sound so considering an upgrade from my ancient IIIa's to 3.7i's.  But of course there's a catch - the old MGIIIa's got a full factory rebuild a few years ago. This entailed new membranes/wires, tweeters and covers.  At the time Magnapan said they'd be "much better than new."  And so it was.  They sound great!

And so, the question:  Is the upgrade to 3.7I's worthwhile?  To be worth it the improvement would have to be substantial, not just incrementally better at this or that.  What might I expect? FWIW, they're being driven by a recapped ML No. 322 which drives them very well indeed.  Any thoughts?  Thanks,
raueda1

Showing 2 responses by raueda1

raueda1 OP
20 posts
 
Y'know, it's a funny thing.  I've never felt that I lacked for bass.  The speakers are in pretty large space.  The room is about 16x30 ft with tube traps in the corners.  One speaker is about 5 feet from the side wall while the other is roughly 20 ft from the side wall.  Both are about 3" from the rear wall.  Maybe this setup is conducive to good bass. 

In any case I'm still very much on the fence.  The 3.7i's would set me back about $6k.  I suspect that the 3.7i's would be an improvement, though I doubt it would dramatic.  As it is the IIIa's sound damn good and they're factory renewed, hence better now than they were to begin with.  Moreover, there are certainly other upgrades that might have a bigger impact, though at the moment I'm not sure what they'd be.  Maybe better streamer?
So, I'm going to try to find a dealer someplace to give the 3.7i's a listen.  This will doubtless be a long and drawn out process.  Thanks for the remarks.
raueda1 OP
20 posts
 
I agree that the bass from the IIIs, 2.7QRs and 3.7is are sufficiently good that many don't feel the need for subs or a bass system. Understandably, however, I believe the vast majority just don't know what they don't know because they've never experienced near state of the art bass performance in their room and system. BTW, I include myself as a former member of this group.
I'm absolutely sure this is true!  But to be honest, I just don't want jump  into that particular rabbit hole (seems like all this stuff is one rabbit hole or another).  First, in this case I'm content not knowing what I don't know, leaving me in an ignorant bliss.  Second, I just don't really have the space for such an array and it would take massive rearrangement.  Finally, my upgrade fever might take a turn in other upgrade directions.  I've mentally budgeted for the $$$ for the  3.7i's but there are other possibilities too.  Better speakers for the "casual" living room system ([i]lots[/i] of room for improvement here!)?  Upgrade media streamer the big system?  Other?  Thanks for the comments though, even more grist for the mill. The journey is the destination sometimes.....
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