Maggies a waste if only 3' from backwall?

01-31-10: Audioconnection
Greetings Timaru
Just wondering with all of the Padding,drapes etc in your sound rooms pic how could the back wave of the Magnepan work their magic under those conditions anyhow? Did you read the manual on this?
Best Johnnyr

Audioconnection

Don't want to hijack the thread but your question deserves an answer so, yes I certainly did read the manual. Also, I started a thread on Agon asking for tips from other Maggie owners and received quite a bit of feedback. I took all the recommendations to heart with the week long audition. Also, my wife was out of town so I had the opportunity to spend quality time for the project.
There were two main problems I had with the speakers. First was excessive treble. The manual says this can happen in under damped rooms (not the situation in my room). The tweeter attenuation helped a bit but they were still brighter than I cared for. The second problem was a general lack of coherence anywhere but in the listening chair. If I stood up it was totally gone. Granted I listen while seated but the difference was amazing. The ability to get a coherent presentation is one of the strong points of my Kestrels I guess.
To get the best out of the Maggies I worked on speaker placement, tweeter attenuation, I even removed the panel behind the left speaker and opened the drapes (much worse that way). Removed the designed tilt by placing pucks under the legs (much worse) again).
I auditioned the MG12s in the dealer's room and was ready to buy on the spot. What changed my mind and made me decide to audition them at home was listening to my cds at the store. What any buyer should do as a minimum.
My advice to the poster is to listen in his room before buying. I am not bashing Magnepan speakers and I hope it doesn't come across that way. I understand some listeners find them magical and I have experienced that also in other systems. In my small room however, I could not duplicate it.

Philjolet, that's one of those things I've recently come to understand about the maggies, the concept of spending way more on the amps than the speakers to coax the best sound out of them. This is a concept I'm just starting to wrap my head around, having always believed that the speaker was the biggest budget item. However, space is still my issue. Yes, I can move them out farther than 3', but then they get in everybody's way, and it's just not practical unless I can put them on casters like the B&W 802D or Legacy Whispers.

Johnnyr, you are a maggie dealer, you've got the 20.1's, and you know your stuff. What say you about my dilemma? (and don't say go with vandies, lol!). Is 3' just not enough? For what it's wrth I can stretch to maybe 3.5 ft, but no practical way to leave them 5-6 ft out.

Seems like my next thread will be "what box speaker sounds most like a planar/stat but can be placed closer to wall."

Listen, owning Maggies requires that the user adapt to the speakers requirements not the other way around. If you can't get them out in the room then you are wasting what they have to offer. I've put big speakers in small rooms but it just doesn't work with Maggies. You should hear how well 1.6s sound in a big room, really nice. The 3.6s are even better but you need to pull them out, 10 or 15 feet isn't too much.

Thanx, Russ

Right Russ69 I agree.

The 1.6 should not be discounted- it is a fantastic speaker when it is fed well and has space to breath. I can only imagine that the 1.7 is better as Magnepan does nto have a history of introducing new models unless the difference is substantial.

Used that close to the wall they will sound muddled and flat. There wont be a problem with having bass but the speaker will be strangled and lose it's air.

Maybe for special listening you could pull them into the room more.