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A question for Maggie owners

I am curious about Maggies in the $3-4K range. I currently have Von Schweikert VR-4JRs fed by Wyred 4 Sound 500 monoblocks, a Modwright pre-amp and a computer based source. I have always been intrigued by planar speakers and a friend of mine sold them out of his store until the store closed. I know the entry level Maggies have a return guarantee but I am sure that they are not everything Maggies can be. What are your thoughts on switching speakers? I am used to the bass of the VSAs, but have a very musical Hsu subwoofer to pair with them. I am satisfied with my system and I am asking out of curiosity and can buy the Maggies to try but don't know if it is worth the effort.
tgrisham
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Maggies are, first and foremost, planar speakers. The dispersion of sound is quite unlike the typical "point source" speaker. A "line Array" speaker is somewhat similar.

You must first decide if you like the planar characteristics. Some do and some don't. After that you can worry about bass response. People who get all upset about Maggie bass response have been reading too many specs instead of listening. The perfectly smooth nature of the bass rolloff largely compensates for the fact that, except for the largest Maggies, the lowest octave if you need it, is left to a subwoofer.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
eldar,
Yes and yes.
I'd add that the low sensitivity is made easier to take by what you refer to. The level doesn't drop with distance as quickly as box speakers. And, they are an easy load, so many amps are a good electrical match, even if you don't prefer the sound or presentation.

Talking line-source, many users will swear by the 8 foot ceiling as best.
dividebytube
50 posts
 
just a quick note - as said before, Maggies love power.

I'm running 1.6QRs and got a very noticeable improvement by bi-amping. I run 250Ws of Threshold power on the bottom and use a tube amp on top. Bass is rolled off on the tube amp since it doesn't need to reproduce those frequencies anyways.

The sound difference with the tube amp in place was jaw-dropping.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
At the stock 600hz crossover and with 250watts to the bass, I'd estimate needing maybe 150 watts to the top-half, so the amps run out of 'steam' at about the same time. That would be about a 60:40 power split...

Keeping in the Threshold scheme of things, if I had VERY deep pockets, I'd biamp with a pair of Pass amps...The INT-30a and the XA30A. I doubt I'd ever even get the meter to flicker out of 'a'.

And given the nature of the Magnepan beast, I'd do a few minor wiring changes, too. Get rid of the fuse and maybe install real binding posts to rid myself of those pesky banana plugs....which I've been putting up with for >30 years!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
When I was setting up a biamp rig for MG1.6 I discovered that the high end needed a more powerful amp than I had expected. The trick is that I was looking at the amp's ability to swing instantaneous voltage peaks. not at power. Since voltage capability generally goes along with power you end up with a more powerful amp. You don't need the continuous power: just the voltage. Because of the way amps are designed you have to buy power to get the volts.
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