11-18-13: Mofimadness
Welcome to the""Maggie Club"! I was a Magnepan dealer for years and your comments are usual after customers brought them home. Of course, they're not for everyone, but are indeed excellent speakers.
Make sure you have lots of power to give them. Also, they really do need time to break in and will sound even better after a few hundred hours.
Thanks, MoFi. I brought them home Saturday afternoon and had them up and running by 6pm connected to a 24/7 feed from our local FM classical station. As of noon Monday they already have 42 hours on them and sound better every time I interrupt the feed to play an LP. Yummy and best of all, engrossing. Transforms listening to a virtual reality experience. My previous speakers (Mirage OMD-15s) also needed that first 100 hours, but continued improving for
I dunno
1500 hours? I know that about a year later I noticed a more refined and higher resolving presentation than after that first week of 24/7 break-in plus 3 hours daily playing.
Of course, they're not for everyone, but are indeed excellent speakers.
Funny thing about Maggies; it seems that--other than deep bass extension--the primary criticisms are logistic--the scene-stealing frontal area, free space required around them, and power requirements. I so far haven't noticed the sonic bugaboos that dog so many dynamic designs--cabinet resonances, hooty midrange, in-room suckouts at crossover points, and treble marred by tweeter ringing and overshoot. The treble on these--even this early--is exquisite; the frequency extension and delineation is all there without any harshness.
For power I'm currently using a Perrreaux PMF1150 which makes 100/200 into 8/4 ohms and it's a very good match, sweet, clear and smooth. For bass extension I already had a small elegant pair of very fast and easy-to-blend subs that flatten the bass response between 60 and about 36 Hz. As soon as I switched them in, the imaging popped into better focus, so I must have gotten a good blend.
