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Body for Maggies: Hegel Pass Sanders or Ncore?

I like ultimate texture, body, image density, inner detail, solid 3d imaging and still very precise timing for a pair of Magnepan Mg 1.6 or 1.7.

I am still deciding if i should go for a new 1.7 or a biamped used 1.6 or a biamped Super MMG with 2 DWM Bass Panels per side. its a 16x20 room an i listen at 80 to 85db average at 8ft from the speakers.

active biamping options with the 1.6 and Super MMG: metric halo lio 8 as DSP EQ DAC PRE

2 primaluna premium stereo amps with 2x70W from 2x 2 EL34 or
2 PASS XA30.5 or Hegel H20 or 4 tube buffered ncore nc400 monos

or just go with a 1.7 a XA 60.5 or sanders magtech and a tube pre / dac

can the mmg + dwm setup could ever be as coherent as a 1.6 / 1.7? is the 1.7 giving less body compared to a 1.6?

i only heard the mg12, have to buy used and am designing from scratch.

which way would you go for very solid, lively, fullbodied 3d images and the 1st row / instruments in the room effect?
128x128zuio
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hmmm, Maggies are often shown at dealers showrooms.... Before giving up on the brand, Why don't you take along your own Ncore NC400 devices at a dealer's place, and find out what the little things can produce driving a few well broken-in Maggie panels... Just to get an idea of the Maggie family sound when driven by 400w per channel worth of Ncore technology... You can then decide on your own if you hear music or sterilia... I suspect you might be pleasingly surprised. G.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
If you want more body go with 1.6. Also more musical on my opinion.
kuribo
524 posts
 
ncore is awesome with maggies.
tkmetz
91 posts
 
Mye stands - are a must have for Maggies to perform at their maximum capability. The improvement has to be experienced. 1.6QR with Mye stands easily outperform 1.7 without Mye stands in my experience.

Several friends and I all sold magnepan speakers in the 80's for the same dealer. They were stunned, amazed, etc., at the sound of 1.6QR with the Mye stands vs without. Midrange and HF sound quality has hugely improved, any trace of hardness in the upper mids was removed. The speakers absolutely disappeared,the soundstage could be wall to wall with added depth (dependent on the recording of course), and the highs sounded like that produced by a real quality true ribbon tweter.

If you want more body, go with the 1.6QR. I found that the 1.7 is more coherent, has more delicate highs, and is maybe a little faster on the low end, but also much more critical of associated gear and setup that the 1.6QR. That might mean they are more linear/accurate in response, but I never 'warmed' up to them.

Using a hifi tuning fuse also made a noticeable improvement on the 1.6QR as did bipassing the jumpers.

Try all of this before actively biamping. Also, I found that passively biamping the 1.6QR made little difference.

I drove the 1.6QR with relatively modest gear: modded Marsh 2000t pre, Krell KAV25a0a, modwright sony 9000, and cheap cables(MAC, Speltz, PS Audio). The Krell was an excellent match with the 1.6QR. And the 1.6QR easily handled that power and easily filled a large listening area 20x 28 and could play loud! Oh, I miss that room.

Your mileage may vary.

Good luck.
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