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How is the SQ on the Magnepans? I was going to go audition some locally, just to check out planar speakers as I've never heard any.
It offers some of the best bang for the buck of any speaker. Their speakers have won most speaker awards at most price points. The 1.6s are a terrific bargain at $1,800 but you can also do well at $550 for MMG or $1,000 for MG12.
I record mostly small acoustic ensembles and do live to 2 track recording which creates a lot of resolution on the disc. I chose the Maggies since they resolve all of this detail. I need to know if the microphone placement is perfect as well and that is a matter of listening to overall balance and dynamics. The Maggies do that well also. But perhaps the best feature is something audiophile's call "presence" which gets to how realistic and present the performers are. In my experience nobody does that better than Magnepan. They also create a wonderfully wide and deep soundstage.
I would audition a pair at your local dealer. I've had two of their speakers since 1990, the IIIa and then later the 1.6QR and I have been very happy.

Dipole speakers do a lot of great things like the above and also image height. The only negative is that some don't like the look of big panels in a room. Having a dedicated media room helps but Magnepan has some smaller less intrusive models like the MMG MG12.