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Placement of Magnepan 1.6's or 3.6's

I'm rearranging my living room which is 18.5' X 11.5'. I'm getting ready to buy new Maggies, (I've had Tympani 1D's for 20 years.) I planned to get 1.6's and have them facing the short width of the room. A friend suggested that I might have them face the longer length, in which case I could fit the 3.6's. I didn't consider that before because I have a Steinway B grand piano that is 7' long and will sit across the short width of the room. If the speakers are basically a couple of feet from the corners of the room, the body of the piano will partially obstruct the listening V between the speakers and the listener. Is that a problem? Does that listening space need to be completely unobstructed? The Magnepan brochure has them pictured in a corner directly against the wall with a couch a couple of feet out. What do you think? It would be great if they could fit and sound at their best facing the large length of the room. If the piano is not a problem, would the 1.6's be enough or do I need to get the 3'6's?
Thanks.
Tony
tconny
jvogt
212 posts
 
I'm using 1.6QR's in a 10' X 17' room with the speakers
on the long wall. I'm using them in a nearfield setup,
with the speakers about 3 1/2 feet from the back wall
and the listining position about 6 feet from the speakers.
It sounds excellent, in large measure because of the
"breathing room" behind and lateral to the speakers. I
tried them on the short wall, firing down the long axis
of the room and the sound was noticeably poorer - ill
defined imaging, congested, poor bass response. Boundary
reflections are a significant problem with Magnepans. If
you have the piano partially blocking a speaker, it will
degrade the sound. Also, I use a Rel Strata III subwoofer
which gives all the bass I need. It integrates very well
with the 1.6's.
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,375 posts
 
check out the Cardas website, there are specific instructions on how to set up planar speakers. I went to a friends who has the 1.6s and they were already sounding pretty good, but we really improved things by following the Cardas setup technique. I don't think you can expect to get the best out of either the 1.6s or the 3.6s with them only 2' off the wall.
bigshutterbug
383 posts
 
Hi Tony! From my experience with Maggies, they will usually sound best against the longer wall, but the 11 foot depth of the room is just as big a problem, especially with the piano you have. Having them on the short wall is not the best setup either, due to the lack of width with your soundstage. The 3.6 is so wide that the two side by side take up almost half the width of the room! It would be best to try another room, or remove the piano if you plan on enjoying either of these speakers in the proper context.
Good luck!
travis's avatar
travis
239 posts
 
I have to think that whoever set up the photo-op on the Magnepan website didn't know anything about these speakers. I have my 3.6s on the short wall firing down the long dimension (18.5' X 11.5). I prefer nothing between me and my speakers, not even, unfortunately, a table to hold beverages/snacks/CDs. IMO, it looks like the 1.6s on the long wall firing the shorter distance for you. The further out from the back wall you can pull the speakers, the better the sound will get. A good sub-woofer can make a good difference.
charker's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
charker
20 posts
 
I think you should set them up in my living room!!!
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