[stereocilia]

I love the Magnepan 1.7s, but they just could not get out of their own way in my room; they needed a differently-shaped space.  Sometimes I sort of felt like I was cowering beneath them. They sounded amazing at moderate volumes and higher, but, at least on school-nights, I had to observe bedtime volumes where they sounded (oh, no, here comes the pun) a little flat.

Since my dealer's fabulous trade-up policy allowed for full credit towards upgrades I purchased PSB Synchrony Ones after auditioning Revel f32 , B&W 805D, Sonus Faber Liuto, and Thiel CS2.4.  Of course, I thought about waiting for the 3.7s, but they're even bigger than the 1.7s, so there's no way that would work.  Even the PSBs are at the size limit.

I've had them for about a week now, and I am extremely pleased with the sound.  I think my system has never sounded better.  The Synchrony Ones, if anything, have a slightly sweet and slightly dark character.  Basically, I don't hear any discontinuities from bass to treble or from pianissimo to fortissimo.  I still think that for the right room and for the price, the Magnepans can't be touched, but I prefer the PSBs.  As an added bonus, I have no use whatsoever for subs. The Synchrony One needs no bottom-end support.

By the way, I like them with grilles on (at least this week).  That way, I don't feel like the drivers are 'looking at me,' and I can't immediately detect any acoustic difference either way.

[mr_bill]

The synchrony one is a great speaker. I'm not surprised you liked it better than the others you listened too. The liuto is great as well as the thiel 2.4. Id love to have a pair of the 3.7s. I'm not surprised you liked the S1, its a great speaker.
Was the b&w 805 the new diamond Version?

[stereocilia]

The synchrony one is a great speaker. I'm not surprised you liked it better than the others you listened too. The liuto is great as well as the thiel 2.4. Id love to have a pair of the 3.7s. I'm not surprised you liked the S1, its a great speaker.
Was the b&w 805 the new diamond Version?

It was the diamond version.  The highs were nice but not as nice as I was expecting for its price class.  It wasn't especially dynamic and it could have used a sub.  Overall, the 805D just didn't bring as much fun as any of the others, and frankly, my wife despises the "microphone" on top look.  She could get over it, but, she won't have to.

[Letitroll98]

I sympathize with your placement problems with the Maggies.  With my PSB's in the HT setup, it was about 15 minutes of adjustment and kerplunck, instant lock-in with imaging and frequency response.  That's in a living room with decor considerations.  I've spent about 200 hours and reams of frequency plots trying to get my Maggies to image correctly and have a reasonably flat frequency response in a dedicated, treated room.  I'm about ready to pull out the Snells (which also never needed a sub).

Paul Barton has never made a speaker I didn't enjoy on some level, at least none I've heard.  I haven't heard the Synchrony's, but they look gorgeous.

[stereocilia]

Yeah, these PSBs really sing.  It could be that frequency response is a secondary consideration to the sheer soudstage size that Magnepans present, and I doubt that sensation can easily be captured with a FR measure.  What do you use for measurement?  Also, which Snells?

[Letitroll98]

Yeah, these PSBs really sing.  It could be that frequency response is a secondary consideration to the sheer soudstage size that Magnepans present, and I doubt that sensation can easily be captured with a FR measure.  What do you use for measurement?  Also, which Snells?

Yes, the soundstage evaluations are all subjective of course.  My paradigm is no boundaries, no limit to how wide or deep the recording can generate perceived size.  If the NYP is recorded at Avery Fisher Hall it should sound like Avery Fisher Hall.  Sara K recording at Chesky should sound like the drum set is 20' behind her and the trumpet is 20' to her left, etc.  So I'm kinda critical there, ya think? 

FR for me presently is very rudimentary.  RS sound level meter, with the corrective adjustments applied later, and Stereophile Test CD's.  So I can only approximate, I shoot for smoothing out the bass modes at 41-83Hz and bass nulls at 125-167hz, then a fairly smooth mid and treble from there.  Yes, I understand the limitations and errors, but I work with what I have.

The Snells are Type E Series IV, the ones totally reworked by Kevin Voulks with the narrow front baffle and redone crossover.  Amazing how they still sing after all these many years.  Thanks to my (still) GF who insisted they were better than some Mirage model I wanted.  She was so right.   

[stereocilia]

I'm not so sure more FR information than that would do anything but drive me crazy trying to correct every little bump.  Of course, that's a psychological problem, but that's also why I can never have a 21-band EQ.

I have mixed feelings about my wife being smarter than me about audio sometimes.  It's great, but on the other hand, I'm supposed to be the expert.