Comparison of Magnepan 1.6QR to the 3.3R

Pricewise the 1.6 and 3.3 are close, within $200, so there's not much to save with the speaker purchase. On the flipside though, I would have to spend more on the amp(s) to drive the 3.3. The 1.6, from what I've heard, is an easier speaker to drive than the 3.3.

Someone selling a 1.6 made the following comment to me. I welcome your comments and observations:

'The 1.6s are much better: more coherent and
musical. The ribbon on the 3.3s does not have the same character as the planar woofers. Secondly, the speakers sound
better out the back than the front, because the woofer is blocked by the front mounted perforated steel plate like the older
maggies. This was corrected in the newer maggies like the 3.6s and the 1.6s, where the plate is in the back.'

FWIW - my Maggie 1.6s are a little big in my 13 x 22 x 8 room (especially the 13' width) I do not feel they have quite the room to 'breath' so I feel the 15' width of your room would be about right.

cheers

Phil

I currently own 3.3R's and traded up from 1.6QR's so I can give you some recent comparisons. First of all,the 3.6R is a different animal than either the 1.6 or 3.3.In comparison with the 3.6R the 3.3R is less dynamic overall(not drastically assuming the same system for both) with tighter bass and more coherence of the panel drivers. The changes were made to the X-overs,drivers and revision of the cabinet frame. . Tonally they are very similar and soundstaging wise also very close.The 3.5R was mostly a X-over change and typically Bi-amping a 3.3R will bring the sound closer to the 3.5R

As for the 1.6QR. This is a very good speaker that is more amp friendly,a fairly constant 4 ohm load,where the 3.3R will dip in the midrange to about 3 ohm or so. But as for the sound, they both share the maggie magic and correctly driven and placed in the listening room will disappear. The 1.6 is the more vivid and forward presentation with tighter bass and sounds very,very good IMHO.

However...The music really starts to get serious with the 3.3R. There's just no getting around that awesome ribbon tweeter. sweet,extended without any trace of hash or hardness and imaging and soundstaging that compare with the best. This is a world class speaker all the way! Feed it fairly high power tubes or high power solid state(you can read all the hundreds of "which amp should I use for my maggies"" articals and threads here and elsewhere. but current and stability of the amp into lower ohm loads are key. A very good tube pre-amp, and the best front end sources you can afford and the correct placement in your room will make you smile for a very long time! The presentation is more relaxed with a better sense of instrumental placement and staging. Vocals are breathtaking and have more natural space. Deeper and wider soundstaging.and deeper,more authoritative bass. If you like classical,chamber,vocal,any jazz , this is your speaker. The cost difference is very minimal as was pointed out. Probably $300-$400. max to get into the 3.3R's. I'd check them out for sure!

Never compared these directly, but I always loved the 3.3 when it was around, and at the time it was clearly better than the smaller Maggies of its day.

I assume the 3.3s are older than the latest Maggie technology...Jim W. of Magnepan openly proclaimed that the 1.6s were superior to the (at the time) current 2.7s..which featured the ribbon tweeter...the ribbon tweeter might be superior on its own...but the coherence and the bass of the 1.6 is what really has made it the giant killer it is...even after hearing the 3.6s...I would be hard pressed to go beyond the 1.6s...Maggies are very room sensitive...so unless you have a huge room...the 1.6s will treat you right...