Broken hearted...magnepan and vandersteen
One thing to be aware of when listening to Vandersteen powered bass models at a dealer is where they set contour or Q at... and why ? .7 and slightly below is lean very flat low bass. Want a better rock speaker, dial it towards .8 easy to do..... back to our regularly scheduled duel..... hopefully the OP is still having fun on the quest!!!! jim |
I liked the speed and clarity of the Magnepan 0.7's when I auditioned several speakers in the store. But they need some power. I also like the single-ended triode sound which is not enough for Magnepans. Magnepans cost less but the amplifiers available for them are more than I can afford. My solution: add a stage of amplification using a pair of 1000 Volt power supplies, radio station transmitter tubes, off-the-shelf output transformers and let the 345 triodes drive the grids of the radio station transmitter tubes. This is more than enough power for Magnepans and Mr. and Mrs. Dillard thought the pictures of it I took were the wildest looking thing they ever saw. But it took me several months putting up acoustical treatments and testing positions to get the Magnepans to sound right. Now I catch hell on other internet sites from two directions, SET purists denounce giving up sensitive horn loaded speakers which only need 245's or 2A3's to drive them because flea power and sensitive speakers are the one and only true faith. From the other direction comes someone from Bulgaria who calls the 833-A, my favorite triode, wimpy compared to their pair of monoblocks using GM 100's which are close to one meter tall compared to my puny quart jar-sized 833-A's.The lesson is don't worry about what others think about your choices in speakers and amplifiers and enjoy the sportsmanship you need for others whose tastes are different from yours. |
@gormdane Thanks for the reply to my comment. I do have the Mike Powell silver upgrade and I have noted a significant improvement. I think the MyeStands are important. They were recommended to me by my Maggie dealer, and after researching them I took the plunge. They are well made with a reasonable turnaround time. Yes, they offer stability. But more important is that they offer rigidity to a panel that is moving albeit in small amounts back and forth which motion likely takes away from where the energy likely would other go, which is to Sonics. Those have made a big difference to my system. As for amps and clipping, yes, with the Powell upgrade one needs to be careful to always turn off or mute your preamp before doing anything with your amps, because you have no fuses. I suppose that concern is mitigated by the Synergistics. The silver Powell upgrade replaces the cheap stock fuse with a silver tube. It’s not a fuse. As for amps, I run the Bryston 28B3 (cubed) monoblocks. So I have tons of power and headroom. Also good power management cabling and interconnects. I recommend the MyeStands and a fuse and jumper upgrade highly. Actually Magnepan really out to sell these or recommend them to their buyers. But that is another story. |
The beauty of the BMR is the RAAL ribbon tweeter...and as was previously mentioned, you can still buy them from Salk http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=BMR%20Monitors another RAAL ribbon tweeter alternative loudspeaker for less money that seems to be getting very favorable comments...and you have a 30 day return...is from Ascend. http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2EX/srm2ex.html |
