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Magnepan Owners - Need Your Thoughts Please

Spent some time recently auditioning the Magenpan 12's and 1.6's; I was very impressed with the sound, especially when you consider their modest cost.

I've always had highly sensitive horn speakers so a Magnepan is a totally new direction for me. I will keep my Khorns and consider adding the Magnepans for even more fun! Here are some questions that I need help with. Of course, I will bring them home for a personal in-house listen before I buy but any thoughts that you Maggie owners could add will be greatly appreciated! Questions:

(1)Will a pair of 125 watt VTL monoblocks (EL-34's) be enough juice to drive the Magnepans to reasonable listening levels in my large room (17.5w x 26L x 9h). By reasonable levels I mean 85db - 90db (at the most). I don't want to 'blow-up' the VTL's! They are rated at 130 watts in Tetrode mode into 4 ohms.

(2)I assume that the larger panels of the 1.6's would be harder to drive overall than the smaller 12's?

(3) Setup advice: where do I start on placement? How far from the front wall and how far from the sidewalls? How far apart? Also, are Magnepans designed to be faced straight-ahead or with some toe-in? And, what about the ribbons, placed on the outside or inside?

(4) What are the appropriate listening distances? How far do you sit back from the panels?

Would love to hear Magnepan owners' comments and advice on these questions or any other Maggie issues that I am not thinking about. Thanks!
stickman451
scpetscott
47 posts
 
My maggies sound superb with a naim nap 90 which is only a 40 watt amp. The naim gear sounds much better than a very good plinius 8200 which was rated at 175 Watts. So, big power amps are not an automatic match with maggies. I would imagine the VTLs might do a fine job. Why can't you take them to your dealer and try them there?
magfan
1,583 posts
 
Sensitivity for both speakers mentioned are close enough for either to be driven by the amp in question......But, that being said, Key is generally considered to be current delivery. Yep, probably SS, or even Mac! Bryston is mentioned often as are the various ICE solutions sold by many. I personally have a PSAudio GCC 250 which really makes the 1.6s stand up and pay attention. Maggies don't play at nose bleed levels and distort differently than dynamic speakers when pushed. And YES they are NOT a 'bad load'. Not because of the even impedance which peaks around the x-over frequency, but because of moderate phase angle.

The Maggies are also a DIY DREAM speaker. Please check out 'Magnepan Users Group' for more than you'd ever want to know, let alone try. X-over mods, stands/supports, re-framing, and anything else you can imagine. The 'fringe' treat them like pets.

I solved my brightness problem by having the speakers 'cross' behind me. Crossing in front or AT me produced a too bright hi with compressed image.
Give them plenty of room. 3+ to the back and maybe more to the sides. The resistor supplied, of 1ohm, can be replaced by better. I consider that a 'last resort'.

The 1.6 has a mid/tweet 4 amp fuse which should indicate maximum power levels tolerated.

Nobody has yet mentioned the Cardas method. Please google. That will help with setup. Look at systems with Maggies for more hints.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
funny thing, my Manley Stingray with 40 watts drove my Maggie 1.6 in a livlier fashion than my Rogue M120 with 120 watts - go figure. Your VTL may do well, it is hard to say but I usually recommend 500 watts with tons of current for Maggies.

in case you have not done this - search the archives as this question has come up many times.
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Use amps that are musical for long term enjoyment. The speakers only need to play, as loud as you like to listen...and 100's of watts won't be required in your case.

(you have the horns for head banging SPL's).

Dave
gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
I personally find the Magnepan very 'open' sound is impressive initially to the ears and brain, but the novelty soon wear off, they sound very impressive in the mid-range,
but after awhile and one gets used to the sound it sounds to my ears that the sound is ready to be mixed
more cohesively on the sound engineers mixing desk, these are obviously my personal findings, not wishing to upset those that have them, use them, and positively love their sound.
If your horns are good (I use Oris 150 horns) then buying Magnepans would be possibly a retrograde step IM(very)HO, rather than an onward, forward onto greater musical satisfaction.
At least they are easy to shift if you bought a pair and did not get on with them.
Good luck and happy listening!
Ps- if you buy a pair please keep us informed on how you are getting along with them.
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