Magnepan .7 Alternatives

@flasd wrote:  "Either too much treble..."

"Too much treble" can be a symptom of "not enough bass".

@flasd:  "Room dimensions: 11.5’ W x 12’ L... Listening Distance from Speakers 8.5’ - 9’..."

This implies your Maggies are pretty close to the wall behind them.  In such cases, it is the out-of-phase backwave which is getting the benefit of strong boundary reinforcement from the nearby wall, resulting in greater cancellation of the in-phase front wave and therefore weaker bass.  I know it's counter-intuitive to think that pulling speakers away from the wall will result in more bass, but that is what happens with dipoles.  On the other hand the closer your listening position is to the wall, the more bass you will hear, in general.

You might try this if you have the freedom to do so:  Since your room is almost square, set up your system on a diagonal, with your chair in or near a corner, with the midpoint between your speakers about  2/5 of the way out from the opposite corner along that diagonal.  I haven't tried this but it might be a way to pretty much maximize the low end and thereby fix the tonal balance.

Duke

dipole speaker dealer since 1999

that room is both way too small [maggies need much more space due to the requirement of being away from the back wall at least 3 feet] and also that room is almost a perfect cube, unfavorable acoustics as there are standing waves at the same frequencies both horizontally and vertically, causing severe lumpiness in the bass and lower midrange. bass damping is mostly futile [you’d need to take up even more of what space remains in that room with bulky bass traps] in a room of that size and dimension. IMHO your real-world choices are nearfield with compact monitors, or headphones. maggies OR Vandersteen speakers will not sound [as designed] in THAT room. that was my experience, having to save up [for years] to move someplace roomier was the result.

@kingbarbuda: "I think this narrative about Maggies not integrating with subs is a myth." One guy perpetuating this "myth" is Wendell Diller of Magnepan. In his recent introduction of a prototype dipole sub the company will soon be offering, Wendell made the statement that using a monopole sub (a woofer in a sealed or ported enclosure) with a dipole loudspeaker "doesn’t work" (his exact words).

The failure to get a monopole sub to integrate with a dipole loudspeaker is not new, nor unique to Magnepan; QUAD ESL users were attempting it back in the 1950’s. The Finnish company Gradient designed and built an OB/Dipole sub specifically for the QUAD 63, and later one for the original QUAD (aka "57"). The problem with the Gradient sub was not in its design, but in it's execution.

The Rythmik Audio/GR Research OB/Dipole Subwoofer has been available for over 10 years, as has a similar OB/Dipole sub from the loudspeaker genius Siegfried Linkwitz. Eminent Technology recently introduced their new dipole sub, so the consumer now has the choice of a number of excellent subs to use with his or her dipole loudspeakers.

I used Maggie SMGs, MMGs and the 1.7s over a 40 year period. I was one of those Magneplaner devotees.

BTW, as several have said, they integrate beautifully with REL subs.

I down-sized to a smaller home 2 years ago. My previous listening room was 16x15 feet. The Maggies were great in that room, although the 1.7s were straining trange a bit. After down-sizing to a room only 12' deep, I started having issues with the 1.7s. I just couldn't get the "Maggie sound" that I was used to from them...they were dull and lower level listening made them sound like damp cardboard. After enjoying Maggies for so long, I hated to do it, but I sold them. I picked up a pair of Kef r300s to go with the RELs, and was amazed at how much better they sounded in my room. No, they aren't 5½ feet tall, with a 4 foot tall tweeter, but they gave me much better sound in my room at all volume levels and excellent soundstage and imaging. No regrets!

The Kefs are very nice, but I got a ridiculous deal on them, so I can't say how they'd compete against other speakers in their respective retail price ranges.

1th the most recordings are bad but really bad, why do you think if you listen in a shop it sounds great? Because they take the best recordings you can sell an aiwa set with this recordings. 2th tubes with maggies is not a very good combination they like more a power and fast amp. 3th mine son plays the .7 with two svs subs sounds ok. I have the 1.7i i do it without, i had the 3 and . 20 i listen mine whole live to magnepan the weak thing is the filter you can upgrade this.