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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
bmckenney
91 posts
 
You put them right on the Cardas dipole placement math results. I'd be quite surprised if you get much improvement from where you have them now. A little fine tuning a half inch here and there and toe-in adjustment is probably all it takes now. I'm not sure how Maggies respond to toe-in. Some speakers require quite a bit. My planars do so I get the outside midrange driver towards my ears and that really helps with dynamics. Planar's need great setup and need to be well away from the walls and you're lucky you can do that. Maybe all you need now is a bigger amp. And bass traps in corners if you don't already have them.

Bryan
rayooo
70 posts
 
I owned 1.6s for several years, drove them with KSA-150.
Bass was Ok, but no rock and roll mode for sure. I still loved them. I've got 3.6s now, and they for sure go deeper.

Setup for me is pretty much Cardas calculated. In my room, bass is greatly affected by distance to front wall. In general as the speakers are moved closer to front wall, bass diminishes.

I ran the 1.6s and 3.6s with less toe-in than recommended. they just seemed too bright for me with normal TI. It was either this or use the tweeter attenuator...(Tweeter on outside)
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
the 12s are pretty anemic in the bass dept...if you have the room...the 1.6s are a much fuller range option...happy xmas
stickman451 OP
553 posts
 
Have moved on to Plan B... Pulled out my 20 year-old NAD 2200 PE solid state stereo amp (still use it for one of my secondary systems upstairs). This thing is rated at 100 watts continuous but can swing 600 watts or so for brief peaks; so far, so good. The NAD appears to have plenty of ba$$s to drive the 1.6's... Not as sweet, smooth, or 3-D as the VTLS but at least it hasn't blown-up! Going to spend some time listening with the NAD.
jimburger
104 posts
 
I first auditioned my 1.6's with the PSE Studio V's in a room larger than yours (dealer demo room was 30+'L x 20'W) and the bass was as strong as a pair of Vandy 2CE's with the PSEs (240W@4ohms/channel). I ran my 1.6s with a Classe'25 (500wpc@4ohms) successfully in a large volume room (irregular shaped 25'L x 20'W with 15' peak cathedral ceiling and opennings to other areas) producing 90db at the listening area 12' away! Sounded great with rock and roll even without a subwoofer. In conclusion, 1.6 can really rock out with the right amp (high power with lots of current).
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