I'm curious how do they respond to room acoustics? Are they less or more picky than box speakers ?

As an owner of the minis I agree with you a hundred percent. Great review. As far as the soundstage I believe thats probably the nature of near field listening, the speakers are so close that I think it would be almost impossible to have a huge sweetspot. But still they soundstage they produce is awesome. The world that comes to me when describing the speakers is three dimensional. Now I know what people talk about when they refer to the Magnepan sound. I am not totally addicted, looking to replace my traditional HT set up for a MAGNEPAN set up.

@Headzone - In general, because of the added rear reflections produced by the Magnepan bi-polar design, Maggies typically will require more care than traditional box speakers when it comes to speaker placement and room treatments. Regarding speaker placement, I've come across some rather unorthodox approaches which I've not tried myself. I opted for a more conventional approach.

On room treatments... my understanding is the Mini Maggie was designed for "near-field" listening. When used in this manner, you hear more direct vs reflected sounds from the speakers (potentially lessening the need for room treatment). In my office (which is not highly reflective) I haven't felt the need to add room treatment - although at some point, I may.

Since all rooms and listening tastes are different, you may find some amount of room treatment beneficial. To find the optimal setting for your environment, experimentation will be key. Try this link for additional thoughts on Room Treatment from the Maggie Users Group.