Maggie LRS vs .7

I had the .7’s for 2 years… At 1st loved them, then I noticed I missed the attack and slam of a regular speaker. I tried it all, added 2 REL subs, Airborne Magna Risers, various jumpers, found I was only listening to what sounded good on the Maggi’s.

Took a while to get them sold. Check out US Audio Mart and here on Audiogone, Lots of sets for sale that I’m sure from users who’ve felt the same way. I’ve been told that anything above the 1.7’s is the way to go with Maggi’s, but at that price point you’ll have so many other great options.

Just trying to save you the hassle of trying to unload them at some point in the future. 

I have extensive experience with Magnepans dating all the way back to 1976. Yes, they are incredible and incredibly sensitive to their room. If you have a Maggie-friendly room there's nothing that can touch them even remotely close to the price. The best Maggie setup I ever had was a pair of MMGs (predecessor to the LRS)  run in a perfect Maggie room off of a circa 1980 NAD 7125 receiver. That system wouldn't play headbanger loud, but at normal listening levels it was superbly balanced, threw a huge soundstage, and  was just fun to listen to.   If your room isn't so friendly, nothing you can do will make them work. If you can't get at least 3 feet on each side and 2 feet to the back wall (those are minimums, not optimums), then forget about Magnepans. I have my current .7s for sale, simply because I lack a suitable room. That said, If you simply want 'more' Magnepan, then the .7s will provide that, and the 1.7s even more.

You don't mention subwoofers, but I would also consider the REL t/7 or t/9, the SVS Micro 3000, and KEF KC92. Small fast, tight  subs that blend well with Maggies. Finally, I would put them on risers, at least 6" to 9" to clean up any thickness in the lower vocal range and to raise up the soundstage.

Happy LRS owner. A couple of thoughts for you.

- In order to get LRS to have magic. High pass the input to the amp feeding them and integrate with a sealed sub.I use a 50 HZ high pass filter before my main amp and a Rythmic 15 in sealed sub set at 50 Hz. Little maggies have a difficult time dealing with low frequency input. I think this applies to the .7s as well. My sound is full range in a larger than you would expect room for LRS. Mine are 4 ft from the front wall and 3 feet from the sides.

- Have a nice set of dynamic speakers to swap into your set up. I have a set of old ProAc monitors that provide some variety in my system presentation. 

Have experience (still own) both LRS and .7 with (still own both) H390 and 590.  I think the .7s had all the great sound of the LRS and more.  Still fast, just a larger sound.  Both were great choices. I’d be interested in trying 1.7s, but have gone the opposite direction (decware with Harbeth SHL5), and need to sell some stuff before I buy anything else.

LRS and LRS+ sound great with a pair of the little REL T/Zero MKlll subs...I tried based on recommendation from Johnny R. ...