Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Magnepan Magneplanar MG3.6 Speakers by Poorpreacher

I have owned the 3.6R speaker for approximately 3 months. Prior to the 3.6, I owned the 1.6Q/R for 18 months. Both are excellent speakers which are incredible values in high end equipment. To me, the 3.6R has the most musically realistic tweeter (a ribbon driver) of ANY speaker. This is most evident when I listen to cymbals being reproduced. Nothing is over or under emphasized, the music just sounds like real-live cymbals, period. The speakers also reproduce the human voice with uncanny realism. I listen to female jazz vocals frequently, and if I close my eyes during vocal solos, the performer sounds like he or she is in the room with me. An example is the CD "Never Never Land" by Jane Monheit. Track 8 is "I've Got it Bad and That ain't Good". Her solo introduction to the song sounds like she is right there between the speakers singing. There of course is no boxiness to the speakers, because there is no box. These 3.6R speakers "disappear" totally when music is being reproduced by them. The bass is musical, tight, and goes down to the low 30 cycles in my 28 x 17 room. I do use subwoofers for the bottom octave, but in smaller rooms I don't think they would be a necessity, at least not for accoustic jazz music (which is my main listening preference). All in all I find the 3.6R speaker to be more like live music than anything else I have heard under $10,000. I find it difficult to enjoy listening to box speakers now. I can handle electrostatic speakers (but I still like the 3.6Rs better), but traditional cone drivers no longer appeal to me. If you like speakers which are about 6 feet tall, and which need to be at least 4 or 5 feet away from the wall behind them, the Magneplanar 3.6 R just may be your cup of tea. The price of the 3.6R is now about $4,200. In any case, listen to a pair if you have never heard them, you may become a convert to planar speakers, like I have been for 25 years.

REVIEW: Magnepan Magneplanar MG3.6 Speakers Review by Poorpreacher at Audio Asylum