MGIIIA vs Nautilus 805

[Happyg711]

Still have a set of mg3a's that I bought as a downgrade 25 or so years ago while getting out of the "audiophile" scene.
Kids are grown, out of college, I find I have time to listen again. Although the Maggie's have satisfied me all this time (very limited true listening, lots of HT use). Thinking about what I'm missing. I don't want to get all tied up in equipment again, but I am curious. My choice as of now are the nautilus 805 or keep the maggies. I know all the other stuff matters, and ill probably upgrade appropriately eventually. But simple question, are the 805's an absolute upgrade? Or just a different set of compromises.

 

[swechsler]

MG3a as a downgrade? What were you downgrading from?

Personally I love the sound of the Maggie's line source and ribbon tweeter. I probably wouldn't consider replacing except with another line source, planar or ESL.

If I were in your shoes I'd probably look at the MG 3.7 or 20.7 (if you have the space). They've made a lot of improvements since the 1980s.

 

[frommerstop]

I agree fully with the above comment. I don't think 805s would be as much an "improvement", as just a change, and if you are accustomed to a di-pole, I doubt you'd be happy with the change.

 

[JoeESP9]

Keep the Maggies and add an REL subwoofer.

 

[Happyg711]

Very highly modified esl63s. I had a direct line to quad usa.
I've had 3.6s in my home and did not prefer them much over the 3a's.
I ve heard 20.1 more than a few times, and while they were nice, not what I was looking for at the time or now.
Just wondering is the newer generation "box" speakers like the nautilus's have overtaken simple planers. I've also had 801s and 802matrix, stayed with my quads at the time. Always liked b&w for boxes, But even those are far behind the nautilus series I assume.
Hence the choice/comparison.

 

[JoeESP9]

You have to decide, planars or boxes. After that it's all downhill.

 

[jbailey930]

if you like monitors then the BWs are your option. Good luck and happy listening

 

[Happyg711]

I went through the subwoofer thing with the quads, I even tried the woofers from a set of irs1, best I had were the panels from tympami IV's.
I have a nice Hsu sub I was using with the maggies for HT, but never have been totally satisfied with a subwoofer.
I'll stick with "full range" persay.
I don't listen at high volumes and the quads were amazing at low level dynamics. The maggies are nice when you get them going, just not as sweet at low levels.
I'm I starting to chase a fond memory? Lol.
I'll probably stick with the 3s and update the crossovers again, I'm sure there's newer mods out there.
Thanks all, I guess I just needed confirmation that the maggies are still good value.