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Classical music, symphony AND planar speakers

Does anyone like this combo? ie Martin Logan, Magnepan, $5 k or less?
Maybe it is the same person with a different name on several other forums that says they don’t sound good together, IDK

OTOH I have heard that solo acoustic?instruments, voices, and small groups are rendered well or with a distinct realism.
recluse
frogman
7,472 posts
 
Orchestral music not good with planars?! What planet does that person live on? The best rendering of a realistic orchestral soundstage “spread” and scale that I have ever achieved with the speakers that I have had in my system has been with planars. Scale wise, it was my modified Magneplanar MGIIIA. For even more tonal realism, albeit on a much smaller scale it is my Stax F81 electrostats. To my ears, no contest,  compared to all the more conventional speakers that I have owned.  All driven by tube monoblocs.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,868 posts
 

I’m with @frogman. My first audition of the Magneplanar Tympani T-I (three panels per side) in 1973 included Boult’s version of Holst’s The Planets on EMI. Never before had I heard the full depth of the orchestra reproduced: the percussion section sounded further away than the wall behind the Maggies, and raised above the rest of the instruments (the section is often on risers). When I opened my eyes at the end of Jupiter, I was actually startled!

Large panels also reproduce the size of a grand piano, pipe organ, drumset, upright bass, and other large instruments like no box speaker I have ever heard. And singers mouths are reproduced at a lifelike height. Almost all box speakers make music sound miniaturized to me, like the figures and furniture in a doll house. And, like the music is coming from two bricks removed from a wall separating the performers from myself. Panels sound like the wall has been torn down. Wide open, free from any and all physical restraints.

brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I used Magnepans for about 25 years, including SMGa, 1.6QR, and finally 3.7Rs.  I listen to a lot of orchestral, probably 50-60% of my listening time goes to orchestral.   I moved on to a pair of traditional dynamics about 6 years ago.  One disagrees with @frogman on reproduction of classical music at one's own peril, and I will not do so.  If I listened only to orchestral music, I'd probably stick with Maggies.  But I don't.  I don't want to hear the Bach sonatas and partitas for violin coming through a pair of speakers that make the violin sound like it is 12 ft wide.  Solo vocals are likewise unnaturally large.  String quartets are problematic in this respect-With most Maggies, the transition from the midrange to the tweeter is not seamless.  My floor standers present the violins in a quartet as point sources.  In a good recording, I can hear the first and second violins separated in space.  Never got that with any of the Maggies.  All that said, on Friday, I will be the proud owner of a pair of Quad ESL-57s.  This path was suggested to me 10-12 years ago by guess who?  @frogman .  Bet anything he doesn't remember that.   But the Quads will not replace my floor standers.   I will use them on those genres where they really shine, and use my floor standers where they have a better presentation. 
recluse OP
270 posts
 
Wow,

Thanks for everyone's thorough input and universal recommendation.

It seems from google the Maggie followers are more numerous. Now I just need to look for Maggie distributors with in home trial period. Any ideas, I guess in the southeast US,  since shipping might be monstrous?

Thanks again
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,868 posts
 

@recluse, being in the southeast, consider looking into the LFT-8b from Eminent Technology, located in Tallahassee Florida. The LFT-8b is, like the Maggies, a magnetic-planar design, at least for much of the bandwidth. A pair of LFT drivers (one above the other) reproduce 180Hz up to 10kHz, with no crossover in that range! An 8" dynamic woofer handles 180Hz down, a ribbon tweeter 10kHz up.

The 8b is 5' tall and 13" wide, and weighs about 65lbs. About the same sensitivity as Maggies (83dB), but an 8 ohm load (good for tubes). Dual pairs of binding posts, for bi-wiring or easy bi-amping. ET doesn't have many dealers, but they will send you a pair with a money-back audition period. Reviews (most from the UK, where the speaker is very highly regarded. Also a review in TAS by Robert Greene) viewable on the ET website. VPI's Harry Weisfeld says the LFT-8b has the best midrange he has heard in any loudspeaker, regardless of price. $2499/pr.

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