My 2.5’s have a new Home!

Chico Jim · « **on:** 16 Apr 2018, 07:49 pm »

I brought them out of retirement a month ago and I’m in audio nirvana again! The room is so neutral and open. They sound huge at 85db and engulf you in beauty. It’s like falling in Love all over again

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 Apr 2018, 10:19 pm »

Enjoy! From a fellow Maggie owner.

Chico Jim · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Apr 2018, 11:01 pm »

Thanks!

I rebuilt them many years ago and have loved them to no end. They had the typical delamination and end curling and had a dead ribbon, sent both back for rebuilt units and haven’t had any issues since. They did have some storage time until i moved to a place with a proper room for them. The 2.5’s were short lived only because they were too good! Wendell sure liked them. They create outstanding room energy and have the 3 dimensional soundstage that is intoxicating. But, I digress as you already know that

66mgb · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Apr 2018, 01:57 pm »

The 2.5's probably stole too many sales from the 3 series of speakers. I used to have 2.7's and found them to be more cohesive than the 3.6's I now own. It's too bad they still don't make a smaller ribbon planar today for those that have smaller rooms.

Chico Jim · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Apr 2018, 02:30 pm »

Wendell said something to that end about the 2.5’s. I sure love mine

I agree that in the right sized room that they sound as big as thr 3’s and that they’re as coherent and engaging.

Dieterle Tool · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Apr 2018, 03:37 pm »

Congrats on pulling the 2.5's out of moth balls Chico Jim. Those are real sleepers. I just got my 2.7's back from the factory (they finally started to delaminate last fall). It would take the mighty 20's to get me to remove the 2.7's from my listening room. If you have any DIY skills, a set of rigid stands will improve them even more.

-Dieter

Chico Jim · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Apr 2018, 09:31 pm »

Dieter, I suppose, yet I’m pleased the way they perform as they stand. Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun. That said, I’m exploring the idea of solid brass or aluminum rails if cost feasible.

66mgb · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Apr 2018, 10:40 pm »

Don't know if Mye make ones for 2.5's, they sure made a big difference on my 3.6's

Dieterle Tool · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 01:03 pm »

OK, I'll play. Those 2.5's are great just as they stand, you might even say they "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee".

-Dieter

66mgb · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 07:38 pm »

Don't see them come up for sale often, here is a listing on eBay for a pair of 2.5's No dog in this fight just saw the listing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnepan-Magneplanar-MG-2-5r-Planar-Speakers-Audiophile-Made-in-USA/183175651946?hash=item2aa61ea26a:g:okkAAOSwgptauWIQ

Dieterle Tool · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 08:54 pm »

^ nice find 66,

Typical description from a magnefan (or good salesmen).

Your 3.6's look great with the cherry trim. And, are those your MG's? The '69 is really cool.

-Dieter

66mgb · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 10:09 pm »

My 66B I have owned over 40 years, the 69 that I restored from a basket case , I sold 2 years ago, it was very fast! Got the cherry trim from Magnestand to replace the black trim, had to strip it and refinish it. He had them laying around from a set of 3.6's he did.

Chico Jim · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 11:00 pm »

Grant makes wonderful stands, no doubt. My problem at the present time is that my humble abode has a concrete slab foundation. I live in a fourplex single story building and a neighbor once complained about my bass migrating to her unit. I moved the subs into a near field configuration, it helped, but still is an issue. I guess I need to get a pair of Auralex SubDude’s to tame the wandering bass energy to keep the peace.

SteveFord · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Apr 2018, 11:56 pm »

You need to turn on the charm and seduce your neighbor and then all bass related problems will be forgotten unless you get into a fight.
Stay on her good side.

Chico Jim · « **Reply #14 on:** 19 Apr 2018, 12:06 am »

Steve, truer words cannot be said. I love feeling the music, nevertheless, I neec to add a decent headphone and a tube headphone amp to my set up at some point when i want to heat it loud.

SteveFord · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 Apr 2018, 12:28 am »

Woo Audio is worth looking into.
It takes a while to warm up, though, just so you know. The stuff is built like a tank.

Chico Jim · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 Apr 2018, 12:46 am »

Will check them out!

Chico Jim · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 Apr 2018, 11:44 pm »

Being that I’m on a tight budget, I MacGyver’d a pair of iso platforms for under a crisp Hundy. Went to my local Guitar Center and bought some montor isolation foam and mated the foam to 1/4” thick ceramic 15” floor tiles. I then played Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons “Sahara” which is well recorded and has plenty of content under 40hz to ho with ample mid bass. The first thing i did was run the my 2.5’s sans subs to see what they were measuring. They go down to about 38hz before dropping. With this info, I put the subs on their new platforms and at the previous settings and was amazed by the fact there now was way to much bass. I dropped the low pass to 44hz or there abouts and decreased the gain from 50% to 20% (where my ears liked it). I then performed an real time analysis and it was showing no suck outs or other issues. I’m amazed that i was able to decrease the gain so much, it just shows how much energy I was feeding into the floor.

Another nice thing, the bass is also faster and cleaner, as it needs to be. Still going to be saving for a nice headphone system!

Chico Jim · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Apr 2018, 09:52 pm »

Apartment life has taught me a few valuable lessons regarding audio. After getting a complaint regarding how loud my bass was, reconfigured my subs near field, this helped somewhat. The real culprit was the concrete slab foundation which acts as a diaphram. My neighbor friend said she can hear the bass still, but not as bad, a start. No doubt, i needed to decouple the subs from the floor and i made my own isolation platforms. I initially lowered the gain from 50% to 20, and lowered the low pass to 44hz from 50.

This was enlightning as it really cleaned things up, much more definition and detail. That was yesterday. Today I played some more material that i knew very well and brought the gain up to 25%, this is where my ears were happy. I remeasured the spl and found it to be very flat down to 32hz, with a 9db drop at 24hz, which is perfectly fine with me and no doubt the one neighbor.

I’m amazed how much bass the 2.5’s are producing, clearly the room is very good acoustically. Allowing the panels to handle more of the bass really improved the soundstage and added more weight to the music. Everything seems faster and more accurate. This old guy learned some and is enjoying the lessons results!

SteveFord · « **Reply #19 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 12:17 am »

I can relate to your neighbor.
One of my neighbors has installed a monster subwoofer in his pick up truck and he likes to rock out in the driveway at night.
I may have to fire up the Marshall amplifier in self defense.