Magnepan LRS in the house!


I've been a Magnepan fan since day one. Recently I decided to trade up from my MMGs to the new LRS. I had someone hot and heavy to buy the MMGs so I let them go a few months ago and called Magnepan to order the new LRS. I was informed that in a couple months there would be a new version of the LRS called LRS+. So I decided to wait on the order and see early reviews. The reviews are way over the top! Some are claiming the best speaker ever made! So time to order, called Magnepan and was told that the current wait was 8-10 months!!! 

 Si I ordered them and then tried to find a used pair of the older LRS to have something, Magnepan, to listen to over the winter. Luck would have it, there was a like new pair available in Colorado (I'm in Massachusetts). But I was too late...SOLD! Now it gets interesting. I posted a "Wanted To Buy" ad at US Audio Mart.....A fellow, one town over calls me and tells me he bought a pair from a guy in Colorado and when they showed up, his wife said "No Way Jose!"...Get them out of here!.....A plan made in heaven!

 He delivered them on Saturday. Sunday morning I woke up early and welded up a set of risers as I read everywhere that using risers and placing the LRS dead vertical really makes them come alive.

 Once the pain dried I set them up in the listening room.....Node2i into a Gustard X16 DAC...into a Schiit Freya...Into a Pass Labs First Watt F5v2.....

 Oh my! These are NOT older Magnepan MMGs! HUGE improvement! These speakers have bass..Well defined, tight, dynamic base! But the biggest difference is midrange vocals...Not sure the risers are the reason, but vocals are right there! No moving around. I'm still playing with placement for imaging and sound stage, but even just plopped down in the room, they are magnificient!

 Going to be a great winter!

 

rbertalotto

I’m using an Odyssey Cyclops Extreme SE on both LRS and LRS+, but was surprised how good they sounded with lower power and lesser quality amps… but they sure sing with high power, high current…

Fellow Members, if this is a dumb question I apologize in advance.  I've read raves about the LRS and LRS+ speakers over the past year, but I've never looked up the price.  I'm used to reading threads on this site where $20,000 and higher speaker prices are as common as Big Macs, and the Magnepans I've seen before were $8,000 to $40,000 a pair.  Am I reading correctly that the LRS+ speakers are less than $1,000 a pair???  If so, that is fantastic to hear such raves about the performance quality of a speaker that is affordable to even young music fans just entering adulthood.  Again, if I've miscalculated the price of the LRS+ speakers, sorry.  Thanks.

Enjoy your new LRS!

When your LRS+ come in, and break in, I'd love to hear your impressions. 

I had SMG's, MMG's and 1.6's but retiring & downsizing left me with a listening room that was too small for the 1.6's.

I was always floored by the decision to equip(cripple) the lower-end panels with god-awful, cheap, L bracket stands. I still remember truly hearing my SMG's for the first time, after installing them vertically on Magne-riser stands. The improvement was off-scale. It's about time they offer a decent stand for the LRS+.....it ought to be standard on LRS too.

The LRS+ is $995 plus shipping. I believe the stands will be ready in a few months at $295

I alternated between LRS and LS50 Metas and was impressed by both.  I plan to try alternating the LRS with KEF Reference 1s.  By just moving speaker leads, they will be augmented with room-corrected Velodyne HGS-15s and high-passed with Marchand balanced passive filters.  Amp will be Ayre VX-5 Twenty.  It should be interesting.