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Building a System around Magnepan Speakers...

Hello everyone,

I am creating a separate thread here from my resent question I posed about building a decent system for around $2000. I have decided that I want to build a system around Magnepan speakers. My budget is the same, $2000 or so. I am a bit flexible but I don't want to spend a great deal more than that.

My questions are:

1. Which Magnepan Speakers should I get? In my budget I could get the MMG, the MG 12 or a used 1.6. Could you advise on what the differences are between these three models? At the moment, there is a listing on Audiogon for a 1.6 that is going for $900 and that seems extremely reasonable for these speakers.

2. What amp should I use to drive the Magnepan speakers? I am looking at integrated amps only. I have heard that tube amps don't usually have enough current to drive these speakers well, so I guess I am really looking at solid state integrated amplifiers. What is the best solid state amplifier I can get for under $1000 used? A review I read suggested that a Rotel RA-1062 would be a good bet for driving these speakers. I have heard that the RA-1062 has a reputation for being one of the most reasonably priced "high end" amplifiers that can be bought. However, some would indicate that it does not have enough power to really drive the Magnepan speakers to their potential.

So, can you advise me one what type of amplifiers I should use to drive the Magnepan speakers that can be had for less than $1000 used?

3. Do you think that I should get a subwoofer to use with these speakers? I am sure this would be out of my budget, but perhaps as a future upgrade. I just want to know as I have heard that Magnepan speakers have a reputation for lacking a bit on the low end. If you think they would benefit significantly, what subs do you think would be a good match for these speakers?

4. Finally, are Magnepan speakers a good match for playing vinyl? Are there certain types of music that they do better with? My plan would probably be to start with a digital source, probably a computer or hard drive unit with a high quality dac playing lossless flac files. Then later I will buy a record player and get into the vinyl realm.

Those are all the questions I have at the moment. I do believe that Magnepan's have a reputation as some of the best values in high end speakers, so I was naturally drawn to them. I didn't think of them initially because I always thought they were out of my budget, but I have learned that all three of the models I referred to can be had for under a grand.

I hope some of you might be able to answer my questions about these speakers and designing a budget conscious system around them. Thanks for helping to make this site such a valuable resource for people like me.
jrodefeld
ahendler
416 posts
 
In answer to your post point by point
1. I think the 1.6's will be a good buy
2. Your statement about tubes is not true. I drive my 3.6's with a VTL-ST85 and they sound great at 85w per channel. I would recommend VTL, VAC, ARC for tubes and Odyssey, Emotiva, Parasound and Pass for solid state among others
3.You will eventually want a sub. Plenty of good subs always available on Audiogon
4. I have a lot of vinyl and my lps sound great on my Maggies. So do cd's, sacd's and downloads. Speakers do not discriminate among the type of source
Good luck and enjoy
Remember setup is very important to getting great sound out of Maggies
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
i own the 1.6's. i have powered it with a tube amp and several solid state amps.

i have found that i prefer the sound of the mids and highs with tubes, but the bass has more impact and greater extension with a ss amp.

i have yet to find an ss amp whose upper mids and treble i can tolerate.
frogman
7,437 posts
 
When reading the above advise concerning the room and power requirements of Maggies, remember that (IMO) much of if is for achieving the best sound that they are capable of. Maggies are capable of spectacular sound with ideal placement and with ideal amplification. They can also sound very very good with less than perfect placement and with less than perfect amplification. They don't necessarily NEED to be six feet from the back wall, although they do need a decent amount of breathing room all the way around. Power requirements depend a great deal on how loud you like your music and what type of music you listen to. Planars have unique sonic traits that are definitely worth experiencing if you are
the type of audiophile that values "the journey". If you don't have a clear sense of what planars are about and are looking for your last system then stay away. If you like the process then go for it; you may fall in love as I did. With that in mind remember:

-if you like listening at low levels, beware. Maggies like to be played fairly loud especially if your amplification is less than SOTA.
-if you value and are familiar with the sound of acoustic instruments, and listen to classical music and acoustic jazz, tube amplification is the way to go. IMO, Maggies tend to sound leaner/thinner than life with most solid
state gear. They are capable of stunning dimensionality with decent tube amps (100w +).

Good luck.
r1g_audio
23 posts
 
I have always heard great things about Mangnepan speakers but never actually got to demo a pair. They really were not that expensive so I went out and got a new pair of 1.6's. I have to say that after living with them for over a year, they did not produce the reselts I expected. I have a midrange system with Vandersteen 2's that are almost exactly the same price as the 1.6 so I used that system to compare. After switching back and forth between the 2 pairs, this is what I came up with. The 1.6 is an overall good sounding, cost effective, fairly well made speaker. You can certainly do far worse. Comparing them to the model 2's I can honestly say that there is not 1 single thing the 1.6's can do as well or better than the Vandersteen. I was very surprised because so many people like the Magnepan, I thought they would sound a little better. I would definitely recommend listening to them first before making a commitment. I do have a good variety of electronics that I tried with the speaker just to make sure it was not an equipment mismatch but my findings were consistent. I also had several people listen to them as well just to make sure I wasn't going wrong somewhere. In the end, we all came up with the same opinion. I just want to restate that I do not think that they are bad speakers; they're not. Just not as good as I expected. If I had to guess, I would say that a lot of people formed their opinions about these speakers in the 70's and 80's when traditional speakers were not as good as they are now. Please remember, though, that this is my own opinion. If you like them then that is all that matters. I just wanted to give an alternate opinion based on my own experience. What I likes best: Bass (quality, not quantity). What I liked least: Upper frequencies (The tweeter is a long strip of thin aluminum and that is exactly what it sounded like). If you have any questions about anything specific, post it and I will try to answer it as best I can.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
thats interesting R1g,

when I bought my 1.6s, years ago, I compared them, on the same system (Rogue gear) to Vandy 2c sig and my immediate impression was that the Maggie was way more open so I bought them. The Vandy did nothing significantly better IMO.

different strokes...
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