Maggie LRS so ridiculously good

If the bass is adequate or not from LRS/MMG?

I have the all the stuff for measuring with a calibrated microphone. Running sweeps for a couple of years now on my and several audiophiles friends requests.

For the old MMG in my room setup far from walls. I see that the frequency response goes down to ~50hz there it is dropping like a rock.. So MMG in my room is not playing anything below 50 Hz.

Yes, I could also say that "oh, it works for X type of music." BEFORE I knew better..

How can i know that playing down to 50 Hz is not enough?!

I have integrerated with a DSP, measurements and for example correction with PEQ with other things, that DSP is only controling my two 18" open baffle with a separate amplifier.

Even when it is only the bass and it amplifier that the DSP is controlling.
That DSP is doing 6 DIFFERENT duties/optimizations! (No DSP on the MMG)

But to get to the chase. I can then enable the bass amplifier and not the amplifier to the MMG. So I can clearly only hear what music content there is in the bass despite:
1. The crossover point is in the low range of 53 Hz and below
2. At 53 Hz it is a very steep slope of 48 dB/octave

So more or less only playing frequencies below that the MMG can not create and nothing else I can TODAY say with confidence.

That there IS stimulating music information EVEN on a Jazz trio (acoustical instruments!).
And on LP for example that everybody knows "Dark side of the moon" and we know there in the background there is a low rumbling "hart beat" sound.

Yeye everyone has heard that you say.. But actually there is several more "hart beats" sounds that is lower in level AND on couple more tracks than you probably did not know of. When those is not apparent and not played by a normal system.
Yes there is more on the d a r k side.. ;)
(And that on a LP!)

(Remember my subwoofers plays lower than my cartridge and tonearm resonance frequency! So you guys and girls that know what a rumble filter is can as you already suspect understand that it is much needed. My DSP is doing that duty also when it is needed during LP playback..)

But those MMG are gold! They can do THINGS that I never had heard a speaker do.

I now have a pair of LRS speakers - and looking back at these comments amaze me that some have paired 30 watts / 60 watts with these speakers and getting good results!

There was I looking for a Hegel H190 or H200 to power them with.

Have any of you chaps still got the little LRS or moved on?

@chopandchange 

Yes I still have the MMG.

Things that I have done since my post old post here in the thread.

As I said I crossover the MMG at 53Hz there the Maggies roll of.

 

I put up my super upgrade bookshelf speakers and could do A/B comparison the MMG were better in every way you name it.

 

Expect in one area!

I hade a test track that had some constant bass line and it sounded better on the bookshelf. I with a frequency analyze I could determine that the frequency were 80hz.

 

So when I have two 18" right and left woofers. Those are a bit behind the MMG and the DSP time align them ao that the MMG and the woofers are playing from the same Place and arriving at the same time to your ears.

(In other words it is like having a 3 way and no issue with localization when they are more or less where the MMG is)

 

The second thing is that the 18" woofers plays up to 2000 Hz linearly.

 

So then I thought: why not let the 18" woofers play the 80 Hz instead of that the MMG is doing it.

 

So i made the crossover point at 100 Hz instead so the woofers play now the 80 Hz plus the Maggies would get some relief.

 

When I re-did the A/B listening tests now the bookshelves had not the upper hand any longer and the 80 Hz bass line in the song were produced by the woofers as good as that the bookshelves could!👍

 

Next thing I have done on my +40 year old MMGs that has the exact same plate/binding posts/fuse/attenuation connection.

I modified and put a good quality blinding posts. Plus scraped the fuse and attenuation steel components and went directly to the crossover.

To be honest I usually don't hear any difference when I do tweeks.. And I usually/sometimes let the tweek be in the system when I have not heard any degradation either.. but when no noticeable sonically improvement were the tweeks worth it.?!

But this time when all that crap steel connectors and all the solider joints, were removed from the signal path I heard a real improvement. And I were just baffled with the thought that nobody that are listening to their MMG/LRS in orginal condition have yet NEVER heard their full potential! 

(The silly signal path for the Tweeter on the MMG/LRS:

First bad steel binding post for your speaker wire, then solider a lead to that solider to the fuse holder then contact with the fuse and the little thinn fuse lead and another end of the fuse and its clip holder solider wire to the steel binding post for the jumper (attenuation) to the other steel binding post and the last soldier to the lead that now eventually can go to the crossover..) 🤣

 

I got the LRS to finally hear get the Maggie experience. I loved it but it was a gateway drug. I wanted to hear a deeper bass and some dynamics so I sold them and bought the Magnepan .7s and I loved them more. I was driving them with some vintage stuff that seemed to work pretty well although they had to be recapped in order to be able to handle the Maggies. After a while, same issue with the .7s and then I turned to open baffle and that's where I am today. Similar open sound with dynamics and bass. Much easier to drive as well.

Well here I am still continuing to listen to these Magnepan LRS panels - they are very good indeed - however I did need to purchase a powerful amp to get more out of them.

I have chosen to use a Musical Fidelity M6si which is good ol’ fashioned Class A/B which seem to work very well.

I am not a bass freak so - I will stick to the LRS for now despite there being a very good deal on a 1.7i nearby which is tempting - but I shall refrain ...

It also helps to open the sound a little with valves in the mix somewhere - in my case the use of an Audio Note 0.1x. DAC.