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What would be the main differences between the 3.6's vs the 1.7's?Are thw 3.6's more efficient?
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Some 3.6's can be more than 10 years old and require maintenance. Cheep if you can do it your self but could be another $1000 for Factory rebuild and shipping.Ask for the serial numbers and call the factory they will tell you when they were made.
For Reference #SN 70786-1and 2 which were purchased in March 2005 were manufactured during January 2004.
Just my opinion.
Edits: 03/28/16
Very good point on age and condition.I have not heard back from the dealer yet.
I would go for the 3.6 but with the caveat that you might not like your upstream electronics once the ribbon tweeter exposes their weaknesses. The second big plus is the ability to biamp the speaker with a beefy amp for the bass and a good sounding amp for the top end.
Third, you get more bass extension (they still need a sub for a medium -large room) and more ultimate output and dynamic impact.
With the crossover at 200hz and 1700hz, a BIAMP between lows and mid-tweet would only need maybe 40% below and 60% above the 200hz point.
You Could make very good use of a PAIR of stereo amps, one per speaker. 200x2@8 would not be a bad place to start. And better use of power would be had by going 'active' and making or buying a line-level crossover which would yield maybe 2db+ in this situation.
And using MODERN DSP stuff, it wouldn't be impossible to TRIamp. Perhaps start with duplicating the speakers crossover, just to get on the page. Modify later to hearts-content.
Too much is never enough
the high-pass is first-order; you can do a passive line-level HP simply with a single low-value capacitor at the input to the amp. However, the amp must have a reasonably high input impedance. The low-pass DOES need to be active or DSP.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
I will try to hear them and find out if what he would give me in trade.
Can't speak on the two speakers listed above but I was caught in the same dilemma back in 2000 when I was auditioning Maggies for the first time.In my case it was the MG 3.3 vs the MG1.6r. Again, not the same as the 3.6 vs 1.7 but close enough. The 3.3s completely blew me away since it was the first time I ever heard Maggies (or dipoles for that matter). Never had I heard instruments isolated and finely defined within a soundstage. Even though they had modest equipment feeding them, the greatest component that day was the "room". Wide, open and copious, it gave the 3.3's plenty of room to breathe.
In the end however I chose the 1.6s (they were both being offered for $1500) and I never looked back nor regretted one second of my decision.
The 1.6s are a class act and they really have no business sounding as good as they do. They're more 'accommodating' to mid-fi equipment but sound even better with so-called high-end gear.
I now have the MG20s and yes, the ribbon tweeter is everything folks say they are but they may not be so accommodating as the quasi ribbon (as great as they are); they'll definitely let you know if ANYthing down stream is not up to par.
Also in the Maggie world size matters; the bigger the footprint of the Maggie in question, the bigger the bass, the greater the presence of soundstaging. Also the bigger Maggies play much louder without much strain as the mid (1.x series) and smaller (MMG series) Maggies.
HTH, and as always YMMV.
Edits: 03/26/16 03/26/16
I don't have 1.7's but do have 1.6's ("Gunn'ed" some years ago) and 3.6R's. The main differences I think you'll find: The 1.7's will be at somewhat more coherent sounding, the music more "cut from one cloth", as it were. The 3.6 generally won't do this quite as well, though good setup will help. The 1.7, with its QR tweet, will be a bit softer on top- though the "supertweeter" on this model may improve on the 1.6 in this area, I don't know firsthand. The 3.6R, of course, has the ribbon, which is wonderful. It's like the difference between a really good SD TV (the QR) and
a good HDTV (the ribbon). It's not just extension- it's also just simply excellent resolution. The ribbon, of course, being so revealing, means sources and recordings are laid bare.
Finally, the difference in bass may not be as great as one might expect, given the size difference, especially if the smaller panels are given a lot of space from the wall behind them (and plenty of power, and braced, ideally). Of course, this is true of the larger models :) . Hope this helps.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
Thanks.There is a used pr.of 3.6's for sale near me.I'll stick with my 1.7's.
you say the 3.6's are nearby so go have a listen for yourself. All anyone here can do is "guess" which one you would prefer. You can answer that yourself by giving them a listen. Unless the 3.6 owner has vastly different electronics and a way different room, my "guess" is you'd like the 3.6's better.
Well guys, I was a Magnepan dealer for many years and have personally owned almost every model they have ever made and currently use a pair of 3.6's.
IMHO, as good as the 1.7s are, they aren't quite in the same league as the 3.6's.
Since the 3.6's are local and close to you, I would REALLY recommended that you go and listen to them. You owe yourself to hear the difference, even if you don't buy them...but, I bet you do :-)
about the ribbon- once you've heard it, it's hard to go back. The bad thing about the ribbon- once you've heard it, it's hard to go back.
If the price of the 3.6 is really, really good, and (as GL said) your room size is adequate ( mine is 19 x 13 and wouldn't want ANY smaller) I'd at least strongly consider it. Bought my 3.6's locally used, just on a flyer. Every once in a while, I put the 1.6's back out here, but always end up returning the 3.6's to duty.Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
Edits: 03/26/16
Dont be afraid to use the tweeter attenuator on the ribbon, i think the 3.6 and 1.6 are a bit too hot in treble. All those ribbon integration problems disappeared with a 1 to 1.5 ohm resistor. Psychoacoustics are weird, but thats how I heard it.
I would definitely audition the 3.6 with the attenuator.
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