Timm I agree, they are not for background listening, The only problem with the 20.7 is they cost 3 times of the 3.7i
Haha. That is funny. True they cost more. I think the 3.7i are at 5900 and the 20.7 are 13.5. But. I just think the 20 is worth it. My opinion.
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Of course I rather the 30.7. The 3.71 cost US$5,900 and the 20.7 are about 16,900 euros. I would like to know the differences they have to cost about US$14,000
Oh. Yes. I was speaking USD. I have no idea on what happens to pricing outside the US. The 30.7 would take a lot of justification for me. I never thought I would ever go that high on a speaker. But, when the markets go down - they look like a great investment!! Haha.
I get the feeling magnepan might come out with a separate bass module which they toured with the 30.7 for Condos. We shall see.
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I got to hear the 30.7s at the Listening Room in Chestertown Maryland and meet the factory rep. Nice guy. They were something to hear. Now if you’re asking me whether they’re worth what they cost over my 3.7i & DWM bass panel set up, probably not. Like most things in this hobby, I’ve reached the point where I need to pay a lot to make small differences. I guess it comes down to what you can afford and your other life priorities.
Diminishing returns. We all have to grapple with it to some extent, regardless of our budgets. Unless we have no budget. 
So how much did the DWM add to your 3.7?
This hobby should be labeled the intoxicating value in diminishing returns.
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I think the DWMs added a lot to the 3.7is. It’s still not 20.7s but pretty close for about half the money. 20.7s sound better than my setup at volumes I seldom go to. Sound wise, the base goes deeper and the mid bass and slam were improved. Also, you can tune/place the panels independent of one another for best effect.
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That room is way to small to bring out what the 30.7 can do. I heard them in New Haven, CT on tour. The room was 3X that size. I think it was 35’ X 32’ X 13’ ceilings. The 30.7 sounded incredible.
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The 30.7s are special but they need to breathe. 
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Yeah, The Listening Room’s old show room was a lot bigger but I did get to hear them, even if it wasn’t in an ideal room.
I live in Minneapolis and love my Maggie 20.7’s. I mention that because I should have a hometown bias towards them. The one thing that I don’t love is how the 20.7’s consume my living room. I am a single guy that doesn’t have a real WAF to worry about but I have been trying to replicate the 20.7 sound without the size.
Anyways, I have been thinking about MBL’s as an alternative to the Maggies. I just got these 120’s in last night and I am going to be making some comparisons between the two. These MBL 120’s retail for around $24k with the stands, I bought them used at a much lower price. Will give updates after further listening with both the grills on and off. So far some similarities, some things better, and a few things might be worse compared to the Maggie 20.7’s. Too early to tell. More to follow.
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First, very nice looking speakers; will be interested to hear your further thoughts. I love your view, I must say my second thought was the equipment set up gives me the impression of the stage setting for a rock band. 
Chas
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What subs are underneath the Rel?
Darn nice setup!
Those are not subs but actually ASC Sub Traps. They help tame vertical room nodes by lifting the subs off the floor. They also act as a mini Tube Trap under the subs.
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Nice setup!!
Let me make an assumption (I owned MG20s before…): The MBLs rock harder and are more fun, the Magnepans are more lovely sounding.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Will let you know my impressions and those of others after listening for a while. Don’t want to share my first impressions as I think confirmation or recency bias may be in play. Need some more listening time. Have a great day.
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Appreciate your sharing a possible move from Maggies. I hesitated to suggest something other than Magnepan in this conversation. We just replaced 1.7s with a pair of Revel 228 BEs and the same pair of REL S/3 SHO subs. We have not lost much, if any soundstage, but have gained some jump in the bass and the crystal/tingle sound on high ends, such as from cymbals or a snare drum. Not harsh, just sounds that we didn’t realize were there.
Really like it and yes while my wife was OK with almost 30 years of Magnepan monoliths in our living room, she is quite happy getting some wall space back…double win…
Living south of you in N. Mankato.
I have heard full MBL Reference setup and it remains one of the top sounds I have ever heard.With deep pockets that would be strong contender as the ultimate all out setup. If i bring all my gear in ,I just need to find maybe 500K€ somewhere to buy them 
cheap stuff.
After that we listened to full Corona!! 
line including those 120 speakers ,and in the middle of the song walked away laughing. Comparing to just heard full Reference setup ,they had nothing. Zero. No surprise though. I wonder if they can better Maggies 20.7 model at any level,but I haven´t heard them side by side. Here they retail pretty much the same,Maggies a few thousand more expensive than 120`s around 16K€ vs 20K€.
If I were to look MBL speakers 101 E mk2 would be sweet spot around 50K€ retail in Europe. Lesser models are too trickled down to sound nowhere the same as top models IMO.
How are you feeling they sound now after some settling time vs 20.7 ? 