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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Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other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
stereo58's avatar
stereo58
3 posts
 
SunnyJim- There are a lot of posts listed here,  so I am not sure if you will get to see this response as most of them were from back in May!  Or if you have made a decision in choosing a speaker.  It is a very subjective opinion and really comes down to listening  tastes!

I can tell you from my experience in hearing a wide variety of speakers that the Maggies represent exactly what they are noted for-a wide soundstage, very low distortion (if any) and a realistic  presentation  of all instruments in their respective dynamic range.

Not only that, the vocal tracks,  especially those of female singers seem to be as if they are right in the room with you!  With regards to the size of the speakers from Magnepan.  The larger models do  have extended bass frequencies, such as the 3.7i and 20.7

However, the .7 or 1.7i  would be best served in utilizing a subwoofer as well.  I have the venerable and highly proclaimed 1.6 QR's. I am using a subwoofer with them of course.  I am driving them with Quicksilver V4 Monoblocks! My room is 12x15 too!

It is quite loud with enough power and perfectly mated for these speakers! I agree that if you have a very large listening room that you might need a more powerful amplifier or maybe solid-state to drive the Maggies to reasonable levels,  but once again that's an opinion!




randy-11
1,913 posts
 
Wendell doesn't like subs.  ;]

They want you to use their DWMs - which will "mate" better than some cone-head thing but will not give you the low low bass you may really want, and require very specific positioning re back wall distance.

if you do get cone based subs, try first and listen at the Xover freqs. - then buy 2 not just one
coldears
76 posts
 
I have owned so many Maggie’s over the years yet with all they do so well I have always come up short somehow. The speaker has progressed dramatically over the years but the 1.7s left me again wanting. I am not sure how I can explain this but here goes. Listening through this speaker every thing had colour and coherence top to bottom but didn’t sound like live music. Instruments on a stage all have varying intensity/ dynamics but the Maggie’s homogenized everything into sonic wall paper. It had tone and colour etc but seemed to lack varying dynamics within that field. Like I said hard to explain.
helomech
1,706 posts
 
@coldears

Instruments on a stage all have varying intensity/ dynamics but the Maggie’s homogenized everything into sonic wall paper. It had tone and colour etc but seemed to lack varying dynamics within that field. Like I said hard to explain.

I think that's a very good description of their sound. An album that really highlights the lack of varying dynamics - especially at low volume - is Supertramp's Breakfast in America.

 I also agree with a phrase I encountered in one review: "Maggie Mist." In my system, everything sounded like it was a bit diffused. The imaging was wide and deep but lacked precision. This really isn't surprising when one considers that the sound is radiating from an ~ 5' tall surface. Many claim that one strength of Magnepans is their clarity, however, I felt that the diffused sound really hindered them in that regard. To my ears, the 1.7s weren't any cleaner sounding than most $2K pairs of dynamic box speakers. 
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