I have a chance to get a pair of 3.7i’s for a good price.
Is it worth the upgrade from my 1.7i? Opinions are welcome!
Yes if your room will hold them.
To me it is easily worth the upgrade.
Definitely! I went from Magnepan 1.7 to 3.7i. What a hugh improvement! Better in all aspects of the music. Go for it!
I heard that Thursday morning my 3.7i’s will finally arrive! First pair had to be refused, shipping damage.
FWIW, years ago I went from 2.5Rs… then to MLs… then very quickly dumped them to the MG 20.
It is fascinating to me… the lower end Mangepans have (or had, I have been out of it for a few years) sound so similar in characteristics to the higher end models… it is kinda surreal. Other brands… well their cheaper units can sound radically different than their higher end models but these Magnepans are different in that way.
That said, once you enjoy the bigger models, there is no turning back. You just get MORE. And it is worth it.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
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My experience with planars (electrostats and magneplanars) is that SQ and listening experience improves with size of the panel. I would not hesitate so long as they don’t overwhelm your room as dawkinsj cautions.
That said, I have heard 3.7’s sound fantastic in some smaller rooms, I would jump on the opportunity.
I have 1.7’s with a complete PSA rig, including a P20. They just keep getting better with every upgrade. My speaker cables cost more. 3.7’s are
on my short list and the quicker ribbon and larger
bass panel might be the way to go. Can’t go wrong with either. They just like good power and your wallet.
But…what do we work for anyhow?? Do it! 
I’ve been digging my new 3.7i Maggies. About 100 hrs maybe only. They are the best imaging, honest, natural speaker I have ever used on my system. I bet I take my dealer up on his offer to offer full trade in value within a year if I decide to get the 20.7 or 30.7 in the future. That would depend on budget and room size ( as I am looking for a new house )…
Try putting them along the long wall… I have a disagreement with Paul… I found Magnepan’s to be very sensitive to side wall reflections. You want to have the reflections from the back sound wave delayed… near sidewalls shorten the distance… also diffract that rear wave… this acoustic delay and distortion helps your brain tease apart the information and makes for wow-imaging. Sounds counter intuitive… Look up Haas Effect and stochastic interfearance localization.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
I would second that suggestion. I did this with my M-L Summit X’s and the improvement in soundstage width and depth and resolution was not subtle.
Some compromises in dealing with room nodes, but what in this hobby does not require compromises? All in all, a worthwhile experiment.
Room nodes… argh… awful. I didn;t realize how bad they are until I hooked my sound pressure meter and started playing test tones. Single frequency tones… just play a tone, and move the meter 1". Wow, the volume swings. Not all frequencies of course, but most and some, where they perfectly interact with room dimensions, go off of the charts. From this I learned that diffraction is your biggest friend.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Amen, Bro!
OTOH, I can employ the poor man’s EQ for frequencies less than 250 Hz. simply by sliding the listening chair back and forth just a bit (into and out of nulls) depending on the recording.
But diffraction works better, for sure
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@darrenv1070 Good to know, glad you’re happy with them. Maggie dealer is a few blocks from me, looking forward to a 3.7i demo… love the staging magic they create… enjoy!
Ok, I’m really considering these Maggies. They’re less than 2 years old, mint condition, come with Mye stands.
The only thing is they’re shipping from Cali. The owner is super careful with his stuff, and I’m paranoid about shipping Maggies as well. Here’s the thing. Freight shipping with a custom palletize/box the suckers up is gonna be… $800. Regular freight shipping with no pallet or anything is around $500.
Worth it for the extra protection?
My first pair had to be refused. Shipping damage. If they are packed as they ship from Magnepan, and strapped correctly and pelleted, then your fine. Any other way, I’d drive to pick them up with a large cargo van
It was around 500 WITHOUT a pallet, so maybe the super fancy, boxed $800 shipping is not so bad. It is coming all the way from Cali to Wisconsin.
Considering it’s a private sale with no recourse for damage, I’d opt for the pallet. Also make sure that they mount the ribbon tweeter protectors as they are the most prone to vibration/wind damage.
Ditto what Rszk said. Ask about the ribbon protectors. Do the pallet. Does he have all the original boxes? Mye stands will be separate in their own box. For the record. The speakers come in two boxes for the panels. There are also two tubes that the ribbons normally gets put in - and then you screw in the ribbon to the panel. Plus the standard stand boxes? Then you have the magnets that keep the ribbon in place that we were talking about. This is how mine came from factory. Now if people have had success w ribbons installed in the panel / delivered w the protectors maybe you don’t need the tubes for the ribbons and don’t have to install them yourself. (A tedious but easy task)
One more note. I’d call magnepan and ask them who they use.