Magnepan 10.1- any good w/out a subwoofer?

I agree with Zaikesman. I have owned MG10's for a number of years, first in my music system and now for the main speakers in my Home Theater system. I think that they are great speakers but you MUST use a sub. Otherwise there is NO bass and the bass pannels will overload very easily if not rolled off with a x-over. I think that the soundstaging of the 10's are great but I was disapointed when they replaced them with the 10.1's which are over a foot shorter. This reduced the area of the bass panels by about 30% limiting bass and power handling. The other problem is that the shorter height limits HF dispersion. Basicly, if you aren't sitting down the highs disapear. I had the same problem with a pair of MG 12's that I borrowed from a dealer. The origional MG10's don't have this problem. If placed on the short wall at least 3ft from the back wall and corners the soundstage is excellent, much more even throughout the room than conventional speakers.I do wish that Magnapan would bring out a new high performance version of the origional MG 10 as their other speakers are just too wide to fit in many rooms.

I used to sell these speakers at a local retail audio/video shop, and as I recall, they were expressly designed for use in conjunction with a subwoofer. I can't agree with the above post about the soundstage; the 10's seemed no more or less touchy about listener position for optimum sound than did other Maggies, which is to say, quite critical - something I presume you already have taken into account. Other than the relatively non-existent lows, I thought these speakers actually sounded slightly better than the other smaller, non-ribbon tweeter models of their era. But for all but the smallest rooms and only certain types of music, I would say you're going to want to add a decent SW to feel satisfied.

Don't waste your money. I had a pair for 2 weeks. They are overpriced for thier performance. Either save a buck and get the SMG with a sub or the 12.1 and you shouldn't need a sub. The 10.1s also have such a narrow soundstage that if you are not positioned perfectly, then you just won't get the most out of them. You can't even share-the sweet spot is too small to have a friend over. Also, remember that as with most Maggies, more power is better. You better have at least 100 to 200 clean watts.