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Thinking of Magnepan ... finally!

Until recently, most of my amps have been tube-based with the exception of a few great SS integrateds thrown into the mix for fun. That's probably the main reason I have stayed away from Magnepans (or other speakers of its ilk) thus far. Now that I have an Aavik U-280 integrated amp that can do 300 watts @ 8 ohms and doubles to 600 @ 4, I would love to scratch that itch finally. Keep in mind that I do not intend to get rid of my other speakers (Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphene, Harbeth SHL5+, Fritz Carrera BE) since I love them all for different reasons. The Magnepans will be rotated in the main listening room with Joseph Audio Perspectives. One thing I like about Maggies is that they are relatively lightweight so I can move them to the closet without breaking my back when not in rotation.

Since I've never owned Magnepans before, I have a ton of questions and doubts. So here we go ...

Bass (or the lack thereof) -- I've been told that the Magnepans are very light on bass and definitely require at least on subwoofer. Is this true in all cases? Anyone using them without subs and happy with the performance? TBH, I really would prefer that I don't use subs but not set in stone for sure.

Breathing Room -- my room is 20' x 15' with 12 foot ceilings. The speakers will be placed along the short wall (15'). I can pull them out by about 4.5 feet from the front wall and 3 feet from the side walls. Seating distance will be approximately 8 - 9 feet. Is this good enough or do you think more distance, especially from the front wall, is required to truly enjoy the speakers?

Mods -- I've also heard that the stock components (crossovers, fuses, etc.) and stands are suboptimal. Is this true? If so, what are the minimum requirements to bring the speaker to a higher standard and at what cost? 

Value -- For someone who is just starting out with Maggies, which model is a good entry point? I know that LRS+ is a good value, but my other speakers are very very good, so I want to do justice to the Maggies as well. But at the same time I don't want to spend more than I need to. Where do you think the sweet spot lies, i.e. which model(s)? I will be looking for used only since I've already spent way too much on other speakers.

Imaging -- I've also been told that imaging on Maggies is not that great. I have never heard Maggies before so I have no idea if this assertion is true or not. Your thoughts?

And finally, I want to hear from folks who love their Maggies. What is that you love most about the speakers? What qualities do they bring to the table that no other speaker does? Are there magnetic planar speakers from other brands that I should also be considering? Keep in mind they have to be readily available in the used market. So please don't suggest something that doesn't meet this requirement.

However, to bring some balance to the feedback, I would also love to hear from those who tried Magnepans and moved on to something else. Why? What was it that you didn't like about them? What did you move on to?

Thanks in advance and a sincere request: Please keep it civil ... no need for haters of Magnepan to use this as an opportunity to diss the brand.

128x128arafiq
mesch
3,484 posts
 

Well this is the 1st day with my new LRS+ speakers. I have them mounted with the  Maggie riser stands. Room as described in a post above.

I am using my Pass XA-25. System is in a averaged sized bedroom well treated.

Driving the amp with my Aric Audio tube preamp which has variable gain which I believe to be set at 16-18 dB. The XA-25 has gain of 20dB.

Volume level not presenting peaks over 90dB. Amp has been on for about 5 hours and I can place my hands on the heat sinks and leave them there.  

I hear no strain from the amplifier. 

I am loving these speakers. It remains for me to continue playing with placement. Right now just enjoying some music.

 

campoly's avatar
campoly
64 posts
 

Mesch, congrats on the new LRS +! They’ll sound even better after some period of break-in.

dsper
663 posts
 

I hate threads like this because the Maggie's are the only speakers I keep thinking I should go back to. Let me explain.

My first real speakers were original Large Advents; I still own two pairs. About 15 years ago we moved into a new home with a great man cave basement with two large windows. Does not feel like a basement at all. 35 feet long by 18 wide with 9 foot ceilings. Due to a support beam in middle of the room, I am restricted to a space about 16 feet long from the front wall. 

Anyway, I was looking for box speakers and heard Magnepan 1.2's. They sounded  like Advents to me only much better. Bought them on the spot. I moved up to 1.7's but did not really enjoy them as much. Moved up to 3.6's. Loved them with a Wyred4Sound ST1000 at 500 WPC (back then, I understood power but not quality). Certainly played loud but I kept hearing about Thiel speakers being Magnepans on steroids.

Anyway, moved to Thiel CS3.6's and got lucky to find a pair of CS5i's. All that time, I still had the Maggie 3.6's. Finally found an amp I liked with the CS5i's - McCormack DNA500. At that point, I was selling the Maggie 3.6's and listened to them one last time with the DNA 500. Wow! Wonderful bass! So I agree that one needs a quality amp with Maggie's. The bass with a good amp is nuanced and you can feel it.

Then I kind of got tired with the Thiels; just could not make then disappear and felt they were a bit too polite.  So now I am going down the efficient speakers and low power amp rathole. Zu Soul Sixes and Klipsch Forte iv's.

While auditioning Fortes and Cornwalls, I was also able to hear Maggie 1.7i's and 3.7i's. Still sounded good to me. Then this thread, and I am thinking maybe I  should just forgot the Zu and Klipsch and get back to Maggies. They are really good speakers!

Thanks for listening!

 

krelldreams
128 posts
 

@mesch : Congratulations on your new speakers! I have no doubt that Pass XA 25 sounds great paired with the LRS+. That’s a combo I’ve been thinking “should” sound great, so I’m happy to know that someone is using them together. I’d love to hear it. 
 

@dsper : I understand what you’re experiencing. I’ve tried other speakers in place of the Magnepans I had at times. Sometimes I’d put the Magnepans in another room and set the new speaker up in the main system. Other times I sold the Maggies and replaced them with carefully chosen “other” speakers. I always missed them after awhile, so went back to using them again. There’s something uniquely “real” about how they recreate recorded music that I’ve found missing in other speakers. ALL speakers have their strengths and weaknesses, so I prefer the ones that have strengths in areas of sound that are important to me, and ones that don’t have any type of weaknesses that are deal breakers. My goal is always to put together a system that creates sound that is both pleasing, and “musically” correct (according to what I have in my mind). As I’ve gotten older, and as I’ve been exposed to a wider variety of combinations of equipment, and different environments, I’ve learned to trust what my ears and brain tell me… not what others tell me. I’ve also learned that it’s unfair to judge any component, especially speakers, without some experimentation. Things have to work together well to sound great.

ps
756 posts
 
Dept. of FWIW: Earlier this year I had an Aavik 1-180 at home for evaluation. The amp worked well enough with SF Guarneri Homage speakers, but when paired with Magnepan .7's I found the presentation to be unpalatable. If I had to choose one adjective the word would be "strange." I won't elaborate further except to say it was one reason I decided not to purchase the Aavik. I've had Magnepans in one form or another for decades, and to date I feel they've sounded best with adequately powered tube amps.
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