I agreee with you about the ability of the Maggies to "disapear" They really do that and I like that about them too. I must admit that with dynamic speakers I do appreciate the dynamic sound but sometimes I get the feeling(especially at higher SPL's) that the speakers are SHOUTING at me, when I listen for extended periods of time I will become fatigued much more easily than with planars.

What I do like about the Pi Towers is that I can turn up the SPL as much as I want and get good clean, clear, undistorted music that is very revealing even from a cheap SS amp without pushing the amp all. Best of all, too really FEEL the music!(as many have stated). I GET A KICK OUT OF LISTENTING TO THE Pi Towers.

The two things that are the downside for me are the directivity of the music as you stated that the speakers do not "disappear", and the fact that at high SPL's the Towers will begin to make my ears tire fast. I can listen to the planars without feeling the pain. I do not know why but the planars are just a smoother presentation to me and for some reason more musical.

I suppose that I could attribute some of the results to improper room set-up or perhaps some room treatment would be in order but was testing both side by side in the same room and so the room acoustics can have some bearing since they are such different speakers but I really thought that I was giving the benifit of the doubt to the Pi Towers since they are not supposed to be placment critical speaker and the MMG's are. I did not even have the MMG's set up where I normally have them as I thought it would be fairest to have the two set-up side by side. I did not even place the MMG's towed-in to achieve maximum sweet spot.

But there are other considerations as well - personal taste, not the least in music. The usual argument from audio freaks is that 'a good loudspeaker should play any music well'. In real life, however, & considering that most of us are on some sort of budget, the choice of audio equipment becomes a matter of priorities. There are a lot of factors involved - music taste, personal preferences, room considerations etc. (not to mention WAF!). That can lead to strange conclusions - for example, in some cases people get a more economical solution by having to different sets of loudspeakers with different strengths & weaknesses rather than buying the mega $ speakers that does it all 'right'...

Just a general comment - my 2 cents.

While reading one of the other posts I thought I should add that I have had mine all over this house and they are not hard to place. Meaning they do a good job in some awful situations. As for getting them to really gel like well set up Maggies (and I do like Mags and Acoustat too) I find that up against the wall with toe in crossing well in front of you will make you grin. They will never act like Maggies and your mileage may vary, but they sound bigger and more lush that way, and placement is free. Have fun.

Thomas