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Posts: 155
Joined: August 16, 2011
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I will try, however I may not be able to give you the most accurate description of the differences between the two for a couple reasons.#1 The Maggies are placed about 1.5 feet directly in front of the B&W's. It's easy to tell having the very large B&W's behind them is affecting the sound in a negative way. #2 I have not had that much time with the Maggies and I'm still playing with positioning them. Saying that, these are two completely different speakers both with their own strengths and weaknesses, obviously. The Maggies are more balanced, meaning there are much less peaks and dips throughout the frequency range. This could be partially caused by a few things. The B&W's could use a larger room and also a more powerful and better quality power amp. The driver integration seems better in the Maggies. It's almost impossible to hear where the woofer, mid and tweeter pick up and drop off. They are very seamless. I believe the Maggies may have a bit more detail but I'm not 100% sure on that one yet. The Maggies seem to be less fatiguing. I listened from 6:30AM till 12:00PM last Saturday and I never felt like I needed a break. The right side of the room is open to my computer area. The Maggies have a more natural bass. While listening to acoustic bass, the room is not pressurized and doesn't vibrate things in the room as much. Not sure how to explain it but the Maggies have this natural sound to them with certain recordings and types of music. I believe it's partly due to the excellent driver integration. The B&W's are a massive speaker with 2 12in woofers, 2 mid-range drivers and 1 tweeter in each speaker. This is in a room that is about 20 feet by 25 feet? Roughly..
The B&W's are far more dynamic and go much deeper and can play much louder than the Maggies. As someone who likes to play the drums the Maggies can't come close to the B&W's on percussion tracks. They also have this presence with some recordings that I have never heard with any other speaker. They can assault you, kick you in the face but put in another recording and they can sound laid back & graceful. As big as they are they do not make instruments sound larger than they are but can make an organ sound almost life size. With big orchestral ensembles the B&W's are effortless with no strain. This goes for the pipe organ too. I have this Bach recording that will give you goosebumps when it hits the low notes. The Maggies are not as good at doing this. I have another room in my house that is much larger than the room I currently have this system in. I have been trying to think of what I want to put in this room. Do I want to try my B&W's?, the 1.7's? or my Martin Logan CLS-IIZ LE's? Recently I have just started really thinking about this. Moving the B&W's is A LOT OF WORK!! And would take 2 people a couple hours to do. In this room I can give all the speakers good breathing room behind them, specially the CLS and 1.7's. Also I will be able to have 8-12 feet behind me while listening. I have been into this hobby since I was 14. In that time I have owned about 15-20 different pairs of speakers. Most I have sold, traded...ect There are 2 pairs I have never sold and never plan too. #1 the B&W Matrix 800, #2 The Martin Logan CLS IIZ Limited Edition. The Magnepan 1.7 may just be added to this list of speakers I will not sell. All in all I love both speakers and would be happy with owning either one for many many years. I have owned the B&W's since I was about 24 or 25, I am now almost 35 now so I have had them a long time. The Maggies still give me that new speaker excitement. Please excuse my typing. It's obvious I am not great at it :) I'm not the best and explaining things either.
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