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Just received shipment of my Magnepan LRS’s

Yesterday I took delivery of my Magnepan LRS’s. I am powering them with a Rogue Audio Sphinx 2 through Stealth Audio MLT speaker cables. Sources are a Rega RP6 and an Oppo BDP 105. I know that these speakers have a long way to go to break in, but what great soundstaging, decay, depth and lifelike imaging. Can’t wait to see how they are doing in 6 months. This is my 3rd set of Maggies and I am tickled to have their sound back in my home.
thomasj
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,800 posts
 

@gammonit_2000: BS? On whose part? Have you bothered going to The Planar Speaker Asylum and reading Wendell’s quote for yourself? If you don’t believe it, you can give Magnepan a call and ask them. I don’t know if you can get Wendell himself on the phone, but it’s worth a try. Josh has no affiliation with any maker of an OB/Dipole sub, and doesn’t own them himself. Duke of "Swarm" renown himself gave the same advice to the owner of a planar who called him for advice regarding subs to use with his speakers. Planar owners have for decades bemoaned the lack of success they have had in getting any sealed/ported/IB sub to blend seamlessly with their speakers. This is NOT a new issue!

When Wendell says only an OB/Diploe sub can be successfully mated with a planar, he’s not saying you can’t use a sealed/ported/IB sub with the LRS, only that the OB/Dipole alone will meet the most stringent definition of "successful". The reason for him saying that (he’s not alone, or the first to say it) is a technical matter, too complicated to be answered here. The info on the subject is available, for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to find it. I mean, I and other long-time planar fans have known about it for years. Finnish company Gradient made an OB/Dipole sub for both Quads, the 57 and 63, which were met with some enthusiasm. You should be able to find reviews of them in TAS, which may include the technical rational for the design's use with planar speakers.

Wendell was asked for his advice on the best sub to use with the LRS, and he gave it. If you don’t like his answer, you are free to ignore it, or even disregard it.

gammonit_2000
83 posts
 
I'm not saying you are wrong, but when you get into defining success as only one approach, it seems a bit limiting.  I am new to Magnepan ownership so my definition of seamless may not be the same as yours.   As I listen to the LRS with the two REL T5 subwoofers fed off of monoblocks, with the subs directly behind the speakers and close to the wall, it sounds pretty seamless to me.  Occasionally there are some odd effects but for the most part the subs are more than additive.  My theory at least is the 8" fast subwoofer with downfiring isn't "competing" with the LRS by firing horizontally.  Further, a bigger subwoofer in this application will do zero and make for that more difficult integration.  I did speak with Eric @ Mag and he pretty much agreed with my assessment as to subwoofer choice in this case.  If Wendell wants to limit the subwoofer choice to one, then I guess that's his call.
johnto
1,023 posts
 
Yes I've found if I keep the sub volume low it seems to sound good and I'm using a cheap used Sony sub for now.
kacomess
199 posts
 
I received my LRS a few weeks ago and changed my cables (since they were terminated for Vandersteen 2-series speakers). I am very happy with the new Magnepans.
I'm using a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ as the pre-amp and a vintage Classe Audio DR-9 (400W into 4 Ohms) power amp. I spent a fair amount of time asking for opinions on optimal positioning and I refined those recommendations based on my room. Right now, they're about 4 feet from adjacent walls, 7 feet from my listening position, 4 feet (measured from inner edge of the speaker to inner edge) between them and the feet are deployed (my ears are 33 inches above the floor). They're positioned with tweeters on the inside and angled in 2 inches.

With that arrangement, imaging depth is profound and the lateral sound stage is equally impressive. Sound quality is quite good but I expect that to improve as they're far short of a 100 hour break-in phase, as are my new Kimber cables. So, I'm reserving final judgement on that aspect for the moment. At some point, I may add sub-woofers and there's an unsubstantiated rumor that Magenpan may be developing a dipole sub of its own design to complement these.
Anyway, I think they're very fine speakers and I have no regrets about the purchase.

Keith




bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,800 posts
 

"I'm not saying you are wrong". That's good, because it was not I who said it, but rather Wendell Diller, in a press release. Have you bothered to read it? Don't blame the messenger!

Whether I or anyone else agrees or disagrees with what Wendell said is not the point, and should be of no concern to you. But I would think what Wendell---the Marketing Manager of Magnepan---has to say on the subject would be of some interest to the owner of an LRS. I don't own the LRS', and it is to me.

The real best choice of subs for the LRS would be the bass panels of the Magneplanar Tympani loudspeakers. But they are long-out-of-production, huge (each of the two bass panels of the T-IVa is 6' H x 19" W. A pair is over 3' W! And that's just for one channel!), need LOTS of power (one Tympani owner on the Planar Speaker Asylum powers his T-IVa bass panels with 2,000 watts a side), and are rarely available for sale.

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