Magnepan, Ohm, Spatial or ??


I've heard the mag 1.7s and like the "openness" and other attributes.  However, the size and placement requirements are a killer for me.   I'm thinking Ohm and Spatial would be somewhat similar.  However, I can't demo them.  Any thoughts on these compared to the mags and any other "open" speakers I should consider?

Thanks all as usual!!


soundchasr
*stage whisper*

I suspect the lava lamp has some discrete influence on room acoustics....they keep showing up in audiophile installations....

What looks like a small sub under the chess table may have an 'ouija board effect' on the chess pieces, since the 'other player' is a wall panel....

That...and the sudden appearance of what seems 'an exercise device'....perhaps an 'exorcism attenuator', to control room 'funda-mentals'.... 

*'normal voicing*

I guess the lounge chair on the left 'stands in' for an acoustic panel, given the 'open area' to the adjacent room...

*looking innocent, gazing @ my shoes....*

;)
Absolutely look at the Larsen 6.2 model and also the 4.2. Both sound fantastic and are easy to place, right up against the wall. They are also light and made with high quality veneer cabinets. The only possible objection is that they are rather odd looking. I love my 6.2s. 
Jerry,

Yes, everything sounds better with a Lava Lamp.

Those are classic Boston A40s along the side wall, one under chess table. I am original owner and refoamed a couple years back. Great little speakers! I use them for sound off wall mounted TV above the rack. Driven by a $80 Fosi Class D bluetooth integrated amp about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Sound is very good! That is my third standalone system that is mostly for 2 channel A/V but still pretty competent with music.

I don’t do surround sound. Too much hassle and I am mostly a music guy.

Yes and an inversion table. Ohm’s image like champs to the side and upside down. :)

You will notice neither of my two most common listening spots are dead center in front of the Ohms. Not needed. Imaging and soundstage is coherent and tonality balanced anywhere in the room in front of the speakers.

THe blue chair is my preferred listening location. SOundstage there extends a good 20’ left to right and narrows as you move left and loose exposure to the area to the left of the speakers. That is the "coherent" part of the Ohm CLS driver at play.

Most interesting of all (at least to me): with mono recordings the central image is tightly focused in the middle of the rear wall to the left of the left Ohm, just left of the sliding door. REcordings sound like the band is set up right around the middle with ambience similar to what you would hear in a small jazz club, like The Village Vanguard (my room is smaller but similar shaped). I’ve actually been there and compared.    Mono recordings are another particular strength of the Ohms.   So many I enjoy now that never could prior.

Could never get the old Magnepans to work well in this room when we moved in. Basement of our old townhouse which was just a wider and bigger rectangle was easier, but I always missed being able to feel as well as hear the music with planars.

A comment about Ohms v. Magnapans. Mapman describes this well -- the Ohms present a wonderful image regardless of the listener' position in front of the speakers, even in "difficult" or asymmetrical rooms.

I contrast that to the Maggies (I owned a pair of 1.6QRs) which work great IF the room is right. I loved them at my prior house which had a larger, symmetrical room with plenty of room to have the Maggies out from the walls. In the current house, they were a nightmare and quickly got sold.

Take that experience into consideration when choosing speakers. Some makes are far more forgiving than others of the room they are in.