No other $550 speaker will give you the amount of WOW factor the MMG's do, though. The imaging and natural timber/tone of instruments are incredible at that price. They are a great intro to audiophile sound.
and therein lies the answer as to why the Maggies are such a love fest.
they can't be beat for the money. Yes, there are limitations, but there are far more advanteges to outweigh them.
i am still dreaming of that magnepan sound, and i'm very certain that I'll own another pair someday. I could easily see a set of 3.2r or 3.3r (or 3.6 if i'm lucky) in my living room with a nice sub.
If I ever have an HT system, it will be maggie based. I can't immagine one of their surround packages sounding anything less than completely realistic and holographic just based on what I've heard out of two speakers. And,their starter surround kit is only $900 new! daaammmmmnnnnnn!!!
I love my VR4's, they give me everything that the maggies ever did, except a certain "magical somethng" that I got very used to and is now gone.
Maybe it was just a really, really strong first impression that they made on me. I'm sure that has a lot to do w/it. One thing I know is that i'll *never* own another pair of Martin Logans any time soon. Having heard both, i'll go Maggie any day if I go back to flat speakers.