The Maytag Maxima dryer is an excellent large capacity dryer. This dryer makes an excellent stack pair for the Maytag Maxima 6000 series washer (
Maytag Maxima EcoConserve MHW6000XW 27 Front-Load Washer with 4.3 cu. ft. Capacity - White).
Our 12 year old Maytag Neptune stacked washer dryer died recently. The Maxima dryer is an amazing leap forward in technology, capacity, and drying speed. On every washer cycle, this dryer stays ahead of the washing machine. There is nothing worse than clothes sitting in the washing machine waiting on the dryer. The great part about buying two seperate machines to stack, when the washer goes bad, that's all that has to be replaced - dryers rarely die.
I really like the huge glass door. The LED drum light is bright and lights up the entire drum. The huge drum is shiny stainless steel. The big silver knob is used to pick the cycles divided in two - timed and sensor controlled. On the black panel on the right, the first button chooses the temperature, from air and super low to hot. The second button is used for sensor cycles. The last button is for damp signal - when the load has reached just damp level, the buzzer will sound to remove clothes before they are completely dry to minimize wrinkles. The white buttons on the far right are for two wrinkle guard times (the dryer doesn't heat, but tumbles slowly for 60 or 150 minutes), the drum light, and buzzer at the end of the cycle.
Sensor controlled cycles are amazing. I've never seen loads of laundry more evenly dried and to perfection. The top cycles select different options for heat level based on the type of clothes in the dryer. There are the basic cycles - heavy (hot), normal (medium), wrinkle control (early buzzer), and delicate (very low heat). There is a denim cycle specially designed for drying jeans. For all these sensor cycles there is a choice to have the clothes dry to a normal level, more dry, or less dry. If the clothes end up consistently too dry or too damp when normal is selected, there is a programming feature to tweak the sensor up or down a little bit. During the drying cycle, a series of words light up on the right indicating the dryness of the load.
I'm not totally convinced that steam adds anything to this particular dryer. If I were purchasing again, I might opt for the 7000 series dryer. It has some additional settings with steam for removing static in the clothes, and steam to relax wrinkles in clothes. That dryer isn't much more expensive. Unlike the washer where the steam is probably not necessary, it seems like a good feature on the dryer. (
Maytag MED7000XW MED7000XW Front Load Dryer)
This unit is 220V. The dryer comes with a special Y hose kit for the cold water. There is a limited amount of steam function on this dryer, and a water hook up is required.
We chose to stack our washer and dryer. The stacker kit is a major rip off, $20 for four screws, two metal plates and two strips of rubber adhesive tape. Those parts should be part of the dryer.
This does look really fantastic stacked on top of the washing machine. The door requires a kit to reverse the hinge. Stacked, the two doors open opposite directions - a minor but annoyance just the same. Side by side with the washer on the left the doors open in perfect harmony.
This is an amazing dryer. It is quiet and works very well.