[Mike D]

I am considering the Maggie 3.6, the X-array, and other speakers for purchase within year.  Since there does not seem to be a way to hear the X-arrays in the St. Louis area prior to purchase, how do they differ from the Maggie 3.6 speakers?  I will be using Rogue M150 amps (85 watts triode) and a legacy audio Thumper subwoofer.

[jholtz]

Mike,

I have Omegarrays rather than X-array's. If you have any interest in them you'd be welcome to come listen. I live just outside of Des Moines, Iowa.

They'd also work well with the Legacy sub I think and the amp would have lot's of power considering they're 97+ db.

Jim

I am considering the Maggie 3.6, the X-array, and other speakers for purchase within year.  Since there does not seem to be a way to hear the X-arrays in the St. Louis area prior to purchase, how do they differ from the Maggie 3.6 speakers?  I will be using Rogue M150 amps (85 watts triode) and a legacy audio Thumper subwoofer.

[jholtz]

I should have said. If you have an interest in hearing the Omegarrays, you'd be welcome to come listen.

THEY ARE NOT FOR SALE! You'd have to pry them out of my cold fingers for me to part with them. They are by far the most accurate and natural sounding speakers I've ever owned or listened to. I love them.

I can't offer a comparison to Maggie 3.6's but I think I can safely say that the dynamics and detail are simply unequalled by any design other than an array. Effortless!

Jim

Mike,
you have any interest in them you'd be welcome to come listen.

[Rick Craig]

I am considering the Maggie 3.6, the X-array, and other speakers for purchase within year.  Since there does not seem to be a way to hear the X-arrays in the St. Louis area prior to purchase, how do they differ from the Maggie 3.6 speakers?  I will be using Rogue M150 amps (85 watts triode) and a legacy audio Thumper subwoofer.

I can provide a  30-day trial if you're interested in a pair of arrays. The Xarray is much higher in sensitivity and more dynamic than the Maggies.

Rick

[Brian Cheney]

While it is fashionable to say how much people like Maggies (they do) and go on and on about their big soundstage and other virtues, they are not good or accurate speakers in a variety of ways: frequency response (very ragged, with up to 20dB swings), distortion (single-ended motors with high double-digit THD); sensitivity (very low), LF extension (nonexistent except for panel resonance and the occasional room mode), dynamics (already mentioned), and a dipole's sensitivity to placement (middle of the room recommended).

Glad this isn't the MUG board.  If anyone asks, Rick said this.

[BradJudy]

Rick, a 30-day trial on arrays?  That's a lot of a speaker to ship back and forth.  

Glad this isn't the MUG board.  If anyone asks, Rick said this.

   

[JoshK]

I would happen to agree with everything BC and RC said, but I have noticed these things from actually listening and owning a pair of maggies, pleasant in some ways but FAR from truthful.

[Andrikos]

As an owner of a Line Array system (DIY), I cannot begin to describe how happy these speakers make me both at HIGH levels and low whisper-like levels.
The dynamics, soundstage and effortless linearity of the system is just staggering!!! Anything you can imagine you can throw at them and they will deliver in spades with the woofers not even moving. I've measured 110dB (average not peak) from 3 meters and only a Laser interferometer could tell you whether the woofers were moving or not...

I highly recommend Line Arrays (Actively X-overed and Equalized Line Sources is the future IMO) and Rick makes just about the best of them.
Definitely give them a chance to win your heart (and money )

[Rick Craig]

While it is fashionable to say how much people like Maggies (they do) and go on and on about their big soundstage and other virtues, they are not good or accurate speakers in a variety of ways: frequency response (very ragged, with up to 20dB swings), distortion (single-ended motors with high double-digit THD); sensitivity (very low), LF extension (nonexistent except for panel resonance and the occasional room mode), dynamics (already mentioned), and a dipole's sensitivity to placement (middle of the room recommended).

Glad this isn't the MUG board.  If anyone asks, Rick said this.

You pretty much said it all. I think their main appeal is the wavelaunch from a big panel and the dipole effect. Owners will often note the sound not being affected by a box / cabinet; however, in essence their room becomes the box. The room is much harder to control than a well-designed cabinet so in many cases the room interface is detrimental to the sound. IMO running a planar driver below 500hz is a bad idea, even if you do have alot of surface area. They just won't move enough air and there's too much compression.

[Rick Craig]

Rick, a 30-day trial on arrays?  That's a lot of a speaker to ship back and forth.  

Glad this isn't the MUG board.  If anyone asks, Rick said this.

   

Once he hears it he won't be shipping it back  

[Brian Cheney]

Lest we forget: the 3.6 has a treble ribbon that is actually made from very light material.  Unfortunately the ribbon is long and (relatively) massive.  Result: HF response ends at 16 kHz.  Pleasant but hardly sparkling.

I do quite well with planar midrange down to 200Hz, thank you! (After the GR mod, flat to 40Hz!!)

[azryan]

-I do quite well with planar midrange down to 200Hz, thank you! (After the GR mod, flat to 40Hz!!)

Wha-?

The only GR mod to your planar speakers raises your woofer's x-over to ~550Hz.
(not that any of this is on topic)

I believe this fits with Rick's recent comment

IMO running a planar driver below 500hz is a bad idea, even if you do have alot of surface area. They just won't move enough air and there's too much compression.

I agree with both of these other designers opinion on this matter hearing no midrange dynamic impact in your RM-30's, 40's or X's.

And I don't understand your need Brian to take shots on Rick's forum about GR?

This is the second time recently I've seen it here.

[doug s.]

i have never liked the maggie's diffuse soundstage - certainly the dipole effect, imo.

ryan, mebbe ya don't understand brian's need to take potshots about gr on rick's forum.  i don't understand why you need to defend gr on rick's forum.  are you on danny's payroll?  

doug s.

[Rick Craig]

Lest we forget: the 3.6 has a treble ribbon that is actually made from very light material.  Unfortunately the ribbon is long and (relatively) massive.  Result: HF response ends at 16 kHz.  Pleasant but hardly sparkling.

I do quite well with planar midrange down to 200Hz, thank you! (After the GR mod, flat to 40Hz!!)

Brian,

I don't mind you posting here but please leave out the GR Research comments.

[Rick Craig]

I agree with both of these other designers opinion on this matter hearing no midrange dynamic impact in your RM-30's, 40's or X's.

And I don't understand your need Brian to take shots on Rick's forum about GR?

This is the second time recently I've seen it here.

Please avoid more GR/VMPS battles here.

[Brian Cheney]

My humble apologies.  However, I was inspired by your thread entitled "GR mods".

[Rick Craig]

My humble apologies.  However, I was inspired by your thread entitled "GR mods".

I still would like to see a shootout of GR/VMPS/Selah and let the speakers do the talking  

[Brian Cheney]

I'm sure they'd finish 1-2-3!!

[drphoto]

Back to the topic regarding Maggies.

I think the success of Magnepan is they're the first "big wavelaunch"/line source speaker your average person get's to hear. And this is because of their wide distribution network.

I got seduced into buying them because I liked that life size presentation.

They're also cool looking IMHO. Non-audio types never ceased to be amazed that they're speakers.

I agree that they are highly flawed. Mostly because of severe dynamic compression. They're also not very transparent. However, the rather diffuse soundstage doesn't bother me much. I think live music is generally rather diffuse.

I'm now in the market for something else....probably a line source design.

[JFT]

I  have Linus 2's and Magnepan 1.6QR's. The maggies are more transparent than the Linus - cleaner, lighter midrange and greater treble resolution. But the Linus is more dynamic and will play about as loud with an 8 watt 300B set amp as the maggies will play with a 100 watt Kt-88 push-pull tube amp. To me the maggies offer a more satisfying cognitive experience while the Linus 2's offer a more satisfying emotional experience, especially with highly dynamic music. I would expect the "next level" arrays, with the exceptional midrange of their high quality midwoofers and the treble of their ribbon tweeters, will provide most of the advantages of both.

P.S. Being a maggie owner and a line array owner at the same time may result in feelings of divided loyalty, and severe emotional distress may result. Consult a qualified psychiatrist before trying this at home, and proceed at your own risk.