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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
hifidream's avatar
hifidream
134 posts
 

I’ve heard a lot of different speakers and I don’t think you can beat their sound for the price. . . I would put my system up with the best of them. Like others have said going with a couple of subs will help fill out the bottom end. I recommend getting an active set up going to use four subs. I use Room EQ Wizard and Multi Sub Optimizer to help build the filters I need to cancel out the room nodes. The speakers run full range and are supported by the subs. It’s crazy how big a difference it makes and how much more accurate and impactful the base is but still perfectly integrated. I currently use a Mini DSP but I just got back home from AXPONA and was fantastic. I got a chance to meet some great people like John Siau with Benchmark and Gary Yacoubian with SVS. Two things I’m really excited about:

1. Al Clark, Pres/CEO of Danville Signal Processing. He spent a lot of time speaking with me and I’m going to be an early adopter of his dspNexus which will replace my Mini DSP at more than twice the fidelity and offers much more flexibility for an active crossover plus some fun things like Bluetooth play etc. I would never have known about this without going.

2. The best in show was the Minuet Speakers by Clarisys Audio playing in the room sponsored by and paired with Hegel amps. The combo was stunning and bests my 20.1’s by light years and there wasn’t another speaker in the place that could touch them by my ears. They have completely modified and improved on the Apogee system, solid aluminum frame weighing 210lbs per piece at 4ft tall. Frequency range 28Hz to 25KHz, my hair stood up the three times I listened to them. The sound was so coherent and effortless within the entire range. My wife couldn’t come to the show and when I called she said I sounded giddy. Of course they cost much more than my Maggie’s! I just thought I’d share as there are a lot of panel speaker enthusiasts here that might be interested :)

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

@arafiq

my memory is failing me a bit, not recalling if you are in texas, or are an east coaster (nc?)

there are a couple nice used pair of maggies, in texas, available for local pickup... 1.7i as well as lrs ... on the ’other’ used gear site 

if you are close, they could work well for you! 🍺

 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,678 posts
 

@jjss49 I'm in Texas (Dallas). I saw only one listed but it's the original LRS version (not LRS+). Maybe the other ones sold already?

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

the price was really good on that set of 1.7i’s with magna risers with local tx pickup... am sure they sold in a jiffy...

worry not, there will be others

ketchup
698 posts
 

@bdp24 

Adding a sub or two to almost any planar will result in improvements in a couple of ways. Most importantly, relieved of reproducing bass, the Maggie "woofers" will now reproduce the midrange in a noticeably improved manner. The speaker will also play louder, with less strain and distortion. And if you employ a high pass filter in front of the power amp (removing low frequencies from the input signal) the amp itself will produce less distortion, and more power will be available for the midrange frequencies.

If you don't put a high pass filter in front of the Maggie's amp, how can the Maggies be relieved of producing bass and play louder with less strain and distortion?  Do you mean only if you use a sub's built in high pass filter?

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