Ideas on speaker like Magnepan but with high WAF

I would urge you to consider Eminent Technology LFT-8, absolutely stunning in the price range, my very good friend owns it and I have been listening to them in his ever evolving system since 4 years on a regular basis (twice a month for a 6 hour non stop session each time).

I have owned Maggies as well as Kef Reference in the past and can say for sure that if I was in the market today with same budget as yours I would not hesitate to get the LFT-8's. Sound stage to die for, and extremely open life-like sound.

Audition some omnidirectional speakers, such as Ohm, or open baffle dynamic speakers. These give you the wide dispersion pattern that helps deliver the stereo imaging/soundstage you want to hear and they do it without the beaming problems of panels, which includes MLs and other electrostatics.

However, high WAF is a matter of taste. And face it, men buy their toys with looks in mind too.

Buy speakers that sound best, Man up!!

good price for a speaker many like (ML's) but i do not know if i would call their sound at all like the presentation of maggies. i find the martin logans i have heard far more 2D than the 3D of maggies & the logans have a narrower sweet spot. (by the way, just sold my maggie III series after 23 years & find myself going thru maggie withdrawals trying to find another speaker near the price of maggies &/or smaller that i could live with.) i have also gone to listen to many well-regarded speakers & been unimpressed, not because they aren't really special, but because i have been so pleased by maggies presentation. obviously, the reviews & suggestions by any of us has to be tempered w/hearing speakers yourself. it's all in what makes us breakout in watermelon smiles the illusion of real we have chosen is pleasing to our ears. elizabeth has mg3.6's - to die for sound, i had IIIa-3.5 but seriously considering the smaller maggies. we'll even tell you our sound systems are preferable to a live performances for intimate sound quality.