Which magnepan

How about the .7?
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/magnepan-7-loudspeaker/

@yogiboy 

that could be an option.   I missed that one when I was on the site.     Thanks

18x21 should be big enough for 3.6's
I have mine in a 15x12 room and they sound great
Are you talking about imaging or focus? 
Alan

Your room is plenty large enough for the 3 series.   You need to look at setup and listening position.  

the 3 series would be out of my price range....and really dont want to buy a used pair.         
for the short time that I had the 3.6r's in the room, the drummer sounded as if he  were up by the ceiling and  I had them a few feet from the back wall and about a 1 - 1.5 from the side walls.      think I was sitting 7-9 ft away ( + - ).

when I had the 2.6r's, those were in the living room and they had more room to breathe.   finding a pair of those in good condition is getting harder and dont feel like getting a pair and then have to send them in to get repaired.

Why not 1.7? I had them and loved them. All the xx.7 are improved over xx.6.

I agree with the others about the room being big enough for 3s. I had IIIs in a 14x22 room and they sounded sublime.

While I agree that your room is probably big enough for the 3.x series, I think you would be very happy with the 1.7i.  I have both the 3.7i and 1.7i.  I think the 1.7i provides very close to the same musical performance as the 3.7i at a much lower price.  I use mine with a REL sub to supplement the very bottom but, in truth, I could live very happily with the 1.7i's alone.

LarryRS 

@secretguy 

the room might be big enough, but when I tried the 3.6r's , they just didnt work.....I dont know if it was due to the low ceiling ( 8 ft )? but they didnt sound right.        

is there a huge difference in the MMG i to the .7 ?     

The MG 1.7 has some stiff competition in the Eminent Technology LFT-8b, another speaker employing magnetic-planar drivers. The ET also contains a ribbon tweeter (10kHz and up) and dynamic woofer (180Hz and down), and is about the same size as the 1.7---13" wide, 5' tall. Occasionally offered second hand for around $1500, it plays a little louder than the 1.7, with deeper bass and a less "wispy" tonality. Instruments and voices are reproduced with more body and weight. A great value.

I've been wanting to hear them too. They have like 3 dealers.

I have my 1.7 set up in a room by 14 by 20 and it works very well.. Had MG11b's and SMGa's set up in the same room. Just did the crosser upgrade for the 1.7s and have about 10hrs on them.. all I  can say is wow.. will be posting pics and a write up soon.. 
Get the 1.7 .. upgrade the crossovers and you'll be very happy you did.

I owned 3.5Rs and could never get past the door size room blocker physical size.  I tried a wide variety of amps, both SS and tube (Rogue 150s), but found them hard to drive.

I supplemented the bass with 2 SVS subs (one Ultra and one Plus). Eventually I replaced them with Emerald Physics KC IIs, which are easy to drive 94dB, the bass is good that that I no longer use my SVS subs.

I ordered the KCIIs with the WireWorld OCC internal wiring upgrade (+$500). They include this wire in their more expensive speakers, but mine was a first to put it into the KCIIs. I was told by the assemblers that the improvement (by comparison to the basic wire) was amazing 

IMHO, they are well worth the stretch

In your price range I agree with those that recomment the 1.7 series.

My opinion is to try all that qualify in your budget/equipment match and take them home and listen for a week-end.  That should point you in the right direction.  Typically, the larger the Maggie, the more power amp(s) you need to get the SPL up to fun listening levels.

Whatever you decide, you are getting the most accurate speakers made, period, IMO.

If you're close to Indiana, this may interest you:   https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/ele/d/magnepan-17i-loudspeakers/6661088405.html

Larryys , I have heard all the maggies at a dealer who is a long-time friend
and heard them a lot .I thing you are spot on with the 1.7 's .

I have a pair of 1.7s bought new in Nov. 2013--nearly 5 years ago. I power them with a Perreaux PMF 1150B amp rated at 100wpc into 8 ohms and (I presume) around 200wpc into 4 ohms, which is the typical Maggie load.
I also supplement them with a pair of very compact Mirage MM8 subs, which are 9" cubes. The drivers are an 8" active sub and two 8" passive radiators. They're powered by switching amps making around 340 watts per sub, with peak power around 1300 w.

The room is a little more than 12'w x 16'd, with a 15'h peaked cathedral ceiling. The living room is also open architecture, with only a 4'h boundary between the living room and the rest of the floor, which features an open architecture entry hall, dining room, and kitchen. So that's a lot of space to fill, but on the other hand the spaciousness makes for trouble-free acoustics.

So anyway, the 1.7s have no trouble filling the space and do everything I've ever wanted speakers to do. The realism is stunning. Voices, brass, acoustic instruments, and especially piano has me turning my head in reaction to find the piano or tuba because they sound so real.
Of course the little subs help fill the space. I have good bass extension down to 36 Hz.
Every time I listen to my Maggies they remind me how noisy conventional speakers are.

"for the short time that I had the 3.6r's in the room, the drummer sounded as if he were up by the ceiling and I had them a few feet from the back wall and about a 1 - 1.5 from the side walls.     think I was sitting 7-9 ft away ( + - )."

Even if your speakers were along the shorter (18') wall, my quick computations tell me your speakers are about 13 feet apart, and you're only sitting 7-9 ft away. I have a difficult time thinking your imaging, soundstage, and/or focus could be very good whether you have 3 series or 1 series Maggies.
Although I have only owned 1 series Maggies (five different models), I think I can safely assume, "A Maggie is a Maggie".  The 1.7i models will have a simular sound as the 3.6 model you didn't enjoy.  You might want to re-think you room layout and acoustics before plunking down your hard earned cash.
Just my 2 cents worth. 🎻

I've had 3 pairs of various Maggies in my system since the early '80s.  They have many strengths, and one of the best among them is their imaging.  If you're having difficulty getting Maggies to image well, there are a few things that may be the issue, but the speakers themselves are not it.  I'm currently running 1.7s in my system, and I would suggest that you wouldn't want any smaller model considering the dimensions of your room.

Most potential issues have been addressed by others here, but I'll reiterate them to give them the attention that they deserve.  First, placement is absolutely critical for these speakers.  Literally inches can make a substantial difference in their performance.  Toe-in is something that especially needs to be experimented with.  Also be sure to play with the tweeters being on the inside vs. the outside edge by swapping your left & right speakers.  It can literally take weeks to fine tune the placement of Maggies until they're just right.  And, of course, you will only have one relatively narrow sweet spot.  My wife has always joked that I'm anti-social due to the single chair in my listening room...

Second, Maggies are very sensitive to what is upstream from them.  In fact, considering their relatively low price, they are amazingly so.  You really can't skimp on decent components and expect your Maggies to still sound good.  That includes things like cabling, vibration control, etc.  This doesn't mean that you have to spend a fortune, but you have to select other aspects of your system with an eye on synergy.  For example, I'm running a Rogue Sphinx integrated amp with my speakers. A very cheap amp price-wise, but the Maggies love it.  Surprisingly, I tried Rogue's much more expensive Pharaoh amp with them (that has very similar technology) and I found the sound lacking.  Again, synergy is what it's all about.  That and lots of current!  :^)  

Finally, you may have issues with your room acoustics.  These can be challenging, but can be reduced with room diffusers and absorbers. Of course you can purchase those that are specifically designed for audio, or you can just use many common items such as carpeting, shelves filled with books, draperies, tapestries, etc.  Hope this helps!  Michael

I concur with those who suggest the 1.7 -- and also with those who have suggested that there's something weird going on here, perhaps with the setup. They can sound great in a smaller room than yours and I've never heard of the curious symptom you describe.

8' ceiling should be fine and so should a room that size. Generally, you want to keep them as far from the front wall (the one behind the speakers) as practical -- 3' is the bare minimum, 5' or 6' is good, even more is better than that. Proximity to side walls is rarely a problem, unless they're within a couple of feet and then you can get too much bass.

Usually I find the best results with an equilateral triangle but depending on the room, you may prefer narrower or wider. Experiment with tweeters in and out.

The curious elevation of the highs may have something to do with room acoustics. You might want to send some pictures to Wendell Diller, Magnepan's marketing director, or one of the acoustics gurus to see what they suggest.

Planar setup can take a long time! I moved my Maggies back 2" a few days ago, and everything went to hell, God knows why. Moved them forward again and everything was great again . . . 

@addyson815-  SO, what did you end up with(and results), assuming you made a decision and moved on it?

@rodman99999 

still havent made a decision yet as what to get.    

have also thought about going with a monitor / sub setup ?         b&w , pmc ( if I can find them at a decent price ), kef reference 1 are ones I have looked at ( forums and you-tube, speaker sites ).

not sure if I want to get a big speaker as then you have to consider shipping, unpacking and getting them into the room, etc....

I see.   Having used pairs of Maggies(SMG / MMg / MG12 / 1.7i) in a room much smaller than yours, with similar results to Josh’s, I was just curious.

I had 1.7 and 1.7i with a sub in a room 12 x 15 and the sound was amazing. Sometimes the instrument placement is due to the mix of the recordings you're listening to.

Hello addyson815.

I recently switched to Magnepan 1.7i several months ago.
They are set up in a small room, and create a wide and deep soundstage.  I like them more than the Vandersteen 3A Signatures they replaced.

I concur with many other posts in this thread; power, vibration control, source/preamp (or no preamp)/amp components, cabling, are all factors.

These 1.7i's will keep me busy for years.  I love them both for music and movies, and are a lot of fun. 

Ive had both 1.7 & now 3.7 in a similar sized room.  They both work : but 1.7's will give you somewhat more placement flexibility.  I would not go smaller than 1.7 in that room.

Re : other non planar options - would definitely take the KEF's on the list - unless you just want to listen to vocals.  

went to the closest Magnepan dealer today and listened to the .7 and the 1.7i's.            

the .7's were good, but it seemed like something was missing.....like not enough midrange and some detail was missing.     think with these, a sub would be needed as there wasnt enough low end.    

1.7i .     much more detail can be heard and low end was a lot better compared to the .7's .     a sub could always be added later if needed.   

I ended up getting the 1.7i's and will be ordered Monday and should be here in a week or so.

Congratulations.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do mine.

I have the 1.7i as well.... VTL 2.5 preamp, Bryston 4b, Schiit DAC, UltraRendu fed by W4S power supply. King Cobra RCA & Kimber 12TC.

The other day I was looking at an extra NHT sub setting in storage... idea!
I ran speaker level through the sub (it's in center) x-over at 50hz.
My Maggie's are approx. 4' from back wall, 7" from sides, toed in 2" with tweeters out. 12' x 21' room... listening at about 2/3 back... ATS room treatment at rear and first reflection.
WOW!?!
I can't believe what I'm hearing... dead center image... speakers completely disappear... images depth far beyond all walls (front, back,sides) this sounds like I'm sitting in the perfect spot at a concert.
WTH? This was for fun.... but now I want to experiment with higher quality subs.... or maybe not???    ;)

The 3.7i should fit in your room.  I have a 24'x15'10' room.  The length actually continues another 10'-15' beyond a kitchen counter.  I have the speakers 10' and 8' off the front wall (irregularly shaped), and it sounds glorious.

Man, I miss my Maggies.

Just like the rap song says " couldnt afford the Martin Logans so I got the Magnapans"