Looking to re-join the Maggie fold

Planar Speaker Asylum

Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

About 23 years ago I bought a pair of SMGa's and I really loved them, especially after my wife and I moved out of our apartment and into our first home. I was using them in a sort of loft area that looked down into the dining room and in this big space they sounded very nice, although there was the typical tiny sweet spot where things locked into place.

After moving to our current home 17 years ago my listening room became the unfinished basement, and they just didn't work in that space. The walls were pink insulation with poly stapled over them, and a bare concrete floor. I ended up selling them and ultimately going back to a ported bass-reflex enclosure, some old JBL's. Then I did the low power tube amp through vintage Altec Lansing studio monitors for a number of years, but this stuff is on its way out now too.

My current system is an Exposure integrated amp through Focal Chorus 826V speakers in my now-finished basement. It sounds very very good.
So here's my current issue. I like the Focal sound so much that I am considering an expensive upgrade to the Electra 1028Be model, which I can get for about $7,700 new. I was also in Audio Perfection here in Minneapolis recently, and happened to listen to the 1.7's & 3.7's. Both sounded quite nice, although their room was way bigger than mine and very lively. This got me thinking, and questioning my direction.

Have any of you current Maggie owners ever had the chance to compare your panel speakers to the Focal line? I wish there was a way to get everything into my listening room so I could do my own comparisons, but this is pretty much impossible unless I shell out the bucks to buy everything. Then I'd have to sell as used whatever I decided not to keep.
My wife WOULD kill me if I put $7,700 + $5,500 + $2,100 on my credit card to buy all 3 speakers that I am considering, so does anyone have any suggestions for me based on past experience? And no, getting a divorce is not an acceptable answer.

Thanks.
Rick

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Topic - Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - Alnicoman 01:04:49 02/19/12 (7)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - magiccarpetride 11:48:21 02/21/12 (0)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - acroy 08:11:41 02/21/12 (0)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - Atver 07:46:47 02/21/12 (1)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - Alnicoman 20:23:12 02/21/12 (0)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - tyu 05:59:32 02/19/12 (0)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - patmacav 05:38:31 02/19/12 (1)

RE: Looking to re-join the Maggie fold - Medium Jim 07:21:51 02/19/12 (0)

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