Love the Maggies and have had a pair since 1982, but would like to replace the 1.7s with something that will not take up as much real estate in the living room. I am willing (my wife) to look in the $5000 to $7500 (or less) range, preferring to look at used. My question is really around what might provide the big presence of the Maggies with clearer high end (Would like to hear the pure sound of cymbals). I’ve been considering: Paradigm Persona 5F, Revel F228Be, LSA 20 Statement. Berylium seems to be the answer to clear highs. Quite honestly, I’m worried that going to a box speaker after decades of Magnepans will be disappointing.
Here is the set-up:
Magnepan 1.7s
2 REL S/3 SHO Subwoofers
PSA Stellar M700 Monoblocks
PSA BHK Preamp
PSA DirectStream Junior
Cambridge Audio Azur 851N (Streamer/Dac)
Oppo BDP-103
Technics 1301 with Dynavector cartridge
Rega MM phono preamp
Interconnects: Blue Jeans
Speaker Cable: 10 gauge Monster Cable
Appreciate your thoughts…Thanks
Why not move up the Magnepan line? Maybe 3.7i
Trying to move away from the big black monoliths. My son has a pair of the 3.7is. Really love the sound, but the idea of adding more width and height is too much.
You could look for Vandersteen Treo CT but good luck finding them used.
I was in the Magneplanar camp myself for many, many years and like you I began to find them lacking in certain areas. I found a great deal on a set of Tidal Piano Ceras (mated with a pair of REL SHO/3’s) and I’d never consider planar speakers again. My second system has KEF R500’s and a JL Audio F112 and I find the KEF’s to offer off the charts good value and would consider a pair of used Reference 3 monitors a heartbeat if I didn’t have the Tidals and wanted a smaller speaker at 5-7.5k. The new KEF R serie speakers are a great value also and within your price range new. The KEF Uni-Q driver has very unique reproduction characteristics and offer a very holographic sound field to my ears. I hope you can listen to speakers with beryllium tweeters because they can sound quite bright to my and other listener’s ears. I have a friend with TAD speakers (beryllium mids and tweeters) and while they are very impressive, I’m not sure I’d want to listen to them long term. Give speakers with Accuton ceramic drivers a listen if you can, they can strike a happy balance between resolution and listening ease if implemented correctly. Used versions of speakers with Accuton drivers are within your stated budget. Raal tweeters as used in Salk Audio’s Veracity ST speaker is another avenue worth investigating (and their list price is within your stated budget.) Don’t worry about moving beyond Maggies, dynamic speaker design and performance in the price range you’re looking for has really advanced in the last decade or so.
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Thanks for the very thoughtful response. I may be able to get a chance to listen to KEFs here in Minnesota. I did wonder about the shared concern about overly bright speakers.
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Also consider some of the baffle types like Spatial Audio. The sound wave is closer to the Maggie’s than a box speaker. Since you are in Minnesota you can schedule a listen at Anticables as they are a local dealer. I won’t give up my Maggie 20.7s but if I wanted to go smaller I would consider something like the spatials.
Thanks, appreciate your thoughts and congrats on the Maggies. I’m eyeing a pair of used Revel F228be. I’m hoping to get that crystal sound when the cymbals are struck and the smaller physical size. I had planned to try to check out the Spatials but the COVID stuff has made me hesitant. I’ll suck it up and get over to Anticables
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Dynaudio Confidence 20 With subs. Small and sound HUGE! Subs of your choice. Mine are JL F113v2’s
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Thanks. There is a dealer about an hour away. So, I could audition them. We have a pair of Rel 3 SHOs