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What are some of the downsides of owning a Magneplanar .7 or 1.7i ?

Thinking of moving up speaker wise, and so am considering  the fabled Magneplanar speakers, that is, either the  the .7, or supposedly new 1.7i.   (BTW, I am not sure the Maggie .7 is necessarily an upgrade, and has less bass than my current box speakers...see below)

Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other downsides of this design.  For the last 30 years, I have owned several traditional box design speakers. 

I currently have a pair of Golden Ear Technology model 7's....which I like and generally sound good However, I  would like to confirm what a planar design brings to the table in sound quality. I have read many times about the box-less sound  provided by this design, and its wide sound staging and low distortion. 

I think I have enough power with BAT VK-200 amp (100RMS) to drive the .7, but not sure that is enough to drive the MG1.7i. to higher volumes The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE. 

The listening room area 12 X15ft, but opens into kitchen/dining area divided by a medium size couch. The rest of the space is approximately 12X18ft behind the sofa with a stupid counter island ( so I cannot move the sofa back any further.. The ceiling is 8 to 9 ft feet high ( not a cathedral ceiling, praise the Lord) . It is a bit of haul to the dealer I bought the Golden Ear T's from who also carries Magneplanar line.  All advice welcomed.    Thanks, SJ   

sunnyjim
simonmoon's avatar
simonmoon
515 posts
 
My post above, hinted at a couple of problems with all Maggies, as they are built.

1. The entire speaker is unstable, and will move forward and backwards slightly when playing.

Installing stands to prevent the speakers from doing this, is an must of you want to hear what the speakers are capable of. As soon as I installed my DIY stands, I noticed an immediate improvement in bass and midbass definition, image focus, and slight improvement in dynamics.   

2. Use of relatively cheap x-over parts.

I am not sure if this is still an issue, but it was with pre 3.5 models. Swapping out the caps with same value, but better quality caps, improves overall clarity. 

I understand that Magnaplanar is doing their best to deliver a great price to sound quality ratio, and they succeed very well. That does not mean that a bit of low $$ DIYing can't squeeze substantially better performance.  
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

I recently took a magnet, and tested all the parts on the terminal plates of a pair of Tympanis. The parts appear to be the same as on current models, and here’s what I found: The speaker terminals (those short little tubes into which you insert banana jacks or bare wire) are ferrous! Steel, I presume. So are the nuts which secure the terminals to the plate, as are the rivets which secure the fuse blocks to the plates. All the other parts---the plate itself, the tags onto which the internal wires are soldered, which are then installed onto the backs of the terminals, and the fuse holders, are non-ferrous, aluminum perhaps.

The steel speaker wire terminals have to go. Steel?! Luckily, the Cardas binding posts fit perfectly in the holes into which the stock posts were installed, no modifying needed. However, the Cardas posts are just slightly deeper than the cavity in the MDF speaker frame, so one needs to move the plate out from the frame a little. I got some aluminum stand-offs at my hardware store, putting them between the plate and the speaker frame, and it works perfectly.

The fuse blocks are connected to the + speaker terminal with round clips, so when the terminals are removed, the fuse blocks can be left disconnected if one chooses. Another piece of trash removed from the signal path, for increased transparency.

rackon
301 posts
 
Classical music is my thing (choral singer and organist, spouse was principal bassoonist with symphony  orchestra). I went from Maggies to Alons to Nolas...to GoldenEar Tritons. Hubby and I recently auditioned Maggies (.7, 1.7 and 3.7). We preferred the Triton Two+ or Three+ by a considerable margin. Plus much easier to place in our room. Easier to drive. And much more satisfying to us on large scale orchestral and choral works. (We thought the Triton 7s were nice speakers for the $$ but they did not float our boat. The Threes are more transparent, dynamic and better in every way to my ears, worth the upgrade.) However, if you love planars, I say go for whatever floats your boat.
jafreeman's avatar
jafreeman
689 posts
 
The stock feet supplied by Magnepan should be replaced with the Mye Stand or similar, and the stock fuses should be replaced for an easy upgrade--Synergistic Blacks are the best by far, and the bass crossovers on the older 3.X series should come off their mounts for isolation--the Cardas jumper kit is great for that. Two small subs bring out more dynamics up and down.  After all this, and for the cost, there is an open, full soundstage.  And, they benefit greatly by getting them up off the floor for isolation from vibrations feeding back into the stands--even Mye Stands--which provide a secure platform for an isolation scheme--without a heavy box, and with only a perimeter frame, Maggies are sensitive to vibrations--in my experience and opinion.
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