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Thinking of Magnepan ... finally!

Until recently, most of my amps have been tube-based with the exception of a few great SS integrateds thrown into the mix for fun. That's probably the main reason I have stayed away from Magnepans (or other speakers of its ilk) thus far. Now that I have an Aavik U-280 integrated amp that can do 300 watts @ 8 ohms and doubles to 600 @ 4, I would love to scratch that itch finally. Keep in mind that I do not intend to get rid of my other speakers (Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphene, Harbeth SHL5+, Fritz Carrera BE) since I love them all for different reasons. The Magnepans will be rotated in the main listening room with Joseph Audio Perspectives. One thing I like about Maggies is that they are relatively lightweight so I can move them to the closet without breaking my back when not in rotation.

Since I've never owned Magnepans before, I have a ton of questions and doubts. So here we go ...

Bass (or the lack thereof) -- I've been told that the Magnepans are very light on bass and definitely require at least on subwoofer. Is this true in all cases? Anyone using them without subs and happy with the performance? TBH, I really would prefer that I don't use subs but not set in stone for sure.

Breathing Room -- my room is 20' x 15' with 12 foot ceilings. The speakers will be placed along the short wall (15'). I can pull them out by about 4.5 feet from the front wall and 3 feet from the side walls. Seating distance will be approximately 8 - 9 feet. Is this good enough or do you think more distance, especially from the front wall, is required to truly enjoy the speakers?

Mods -- I've also heard that the stock components (crossovers, fuses, etc.) and stands are suboptimal. Is this true? If so, what are the minimum requirements to bring the speaker to a higher standard and at what cost? 

Value -- For someone who is just starting out with Maggies, which model is a good entry point? I know that LRS+ is a good value, but my other speakers are very very good, so I want to do justice to the Maggies as well. But at the same time I don't want to spend more than I need to. Where do you think the sweet spot lies, i.e. which model(s)? I will be looking for used only since I've already spent way too much on other speakers.

Imaging -- I've also been told that imaging on Maggies is not that great. I have never heard Maggies before so I have no idea if this assertion is true or not. Your thoughts?

And finally, I want to hear from folks who love their Maggies. What is that you love most about the speakers? What qualities do they bring to the table that no other speaker does? Are there magnetic planar speakers from other brands that I should also be considering? Keep in mind they have to be readily available in the used market. So please don't suggest something that doesn't meet this requirement.

However, to bring some balance to the feedback, I would also love to hear from those who tried Magnepans and moved on to something else. Why? What was it that you didn't like about them? What did you move on to?

Thanks in advance and a sincere request: Please keep it civil ... no need for haters of Magnepan to use this as an opportunity to diss the brand.

128x128arafiq
yyzsantabarbara
4,914 posts
 

@mclinnguy I am not making a general statement that speaker cables do not matter. I have been using the Audience FrontRow speaker cable on my now sold LRS+ (office) and my Livingroom systems. This cable can compete with any cable at any price. It was easy to hear the difference on my Livingroom system when I did a speaker cable shootout last year.

What I am trying to determine is if I did not need to use the FrontRow on the LRS+ in the first place. Today I have setup the Magnepan Mini system with my KEF KC62 sub. The only difference between the LRS+ system I had, and the Mini system today are the following:

  • different room
  • 2 sets pf Blue Jean 10 AWG speaker cables for the Mini vs 1 set of FrontRow speaker cable for the LRS+. The Blue Jean are brand new and were just setup on the Mini.

The similar parts are the following:

  • Sanders Magtech amp
  • Benchmark HPA4 preamp
  • Schitt Yggi+ Less Is More DAC
  • KEF KC62 sub
  • Sonore OpticalRendu fibre streaming

Even on this still breaking in speaker cables it seems like the Mini is smoother sounding and a bit more detailed than the LRS+. I will be giving this about 2 weeks of heavy play and then putting in the spare FrontRow to the bass panel of the Mini (from the amp) to see what happens.

Given how good the Blue Jean is already sounding I would not be surprised if I sell my spare FrontRow cables to recoup some costs.

 

yyzsantabarbara
4,914 posts
 

I have over 12 hours on my Blue Jean speaker cable and the Mini was bought used so it is broken in. At this early point I can easily say the Mini setup is sounding better than the LRS+ system. The top end is a bit better and there is more clarity in the Mini. This is a massive home run for me. What a great speaker and it cost $1000 used. The best speaker I have used in my office.

The 3.7 must be a very nice speaker given how the Mini is said to be a miniaturized 3.7.

BTW - I was thinking of selling the Sanders Magtech before I got the Mini. Now that I have heard it on the Mini there is no chance. I thought the Sanders maybe a little bright on the LRS+, but it is not on the Mini. It was the LRS+ that was slightly bright.

The Sanders is 500 @ 8 and 900 @ 4. Roger Sanders told me it was made specifically for the Maggies (by CODA). I did not think it was amazing on my Yamaha NS5000 speaker, but on the Maggies, it is an exceptional amp.

 

 

skiznfliz
32 posts
 

@arafiq 

I recently just sold my Maggi .7’s. I found Maggi’s at times knocked my socks off and many times I found myself cringing. With lots of stuff Transparency was spot on but other times like female vocals tended to sound unfocused. My musical tastes are basically everything but Country & Opera. Most listening consists of Jazz, Blues, Big Band, Classic Rock. One thing that got me was the lack of Attack, The Lack of Slam… Keep in mind I was running them with (2) REL T5-X Subs and like I mentioned sounded great … At Times.

Odyssey Kismet Extreme Monoblocks & Candela Preamp, so power was not the issue.

Many friends and fellow audiophiles who stopped by and hung out and listened were blown away and thought I was nuts for getting rid of them, that’s because I knew what to demo them with… But when it came time where I was doing my serious listening I was about 70% happy. Had them on Magna Risers too.
I probably would have kept them if I had the ability to swap out with cone speakers when my listening required. But totally agree, every audiophile should at least have Maggi’s at least once in their listening life.

arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,684 posts
 

Thanks, @mclinnguy Looks like I’m going to have to get rid of the painting and get some quadratic diffusers instead. A local audiophile friend has the RD Acoustics panels in his listening room. Beautiful but very expensive!!! Plus the wait time on new ones is around 6 months. By the way, I’m only buying used AQ cables as funds permit - usually around 60% off. No way, I’m paying retail for the new ones.

I think I will go with about 4 of the Gotham N23 diffusers in the center of the wall. And flank them with 4 (2 on each side of the wall) Q7Ds. Pretty pricey, so maybe I will look for used ones if I can find them.

 

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,571 posts
 

“I think I will go with about 4 of the Gotham N23 diffusers in the center of the wall. And flank them with 4 (2 on each side of the wall) Q7Ds. Pretty pricey, so maybe I will look for used ones if I can find them”

@arafiq

I love the direction you are taking with acoustic panels and diffusers. The addition of both would further enhance your listening experience. When I treated my room, I couldn’t believe the impact and improvement after the installation. For most folks, it’s an afterthought but it should be the first and foremost priority especially if you have a dedicated listening room. May seems expensive at first, but it’s lot cheaper than being on equipment and tweaking merry-go-round.

 

 

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