[justplainmike]

Thanks Tom...I'll do some looking into the battery options available.  I don't need more drive at this point but would love to A/B the 130w PS with the battery and see which I prefer.  I'm sure I could sell whichever one I liked less on Audiogon or something....

[Jack Caldwell]

Hi, I thought I'd add a couple of cents to this discussion.

1) ALL of the Virtue amps really, really perform well into 4 ohm loads. The more resistive the load, the better the Virtue amps will do. The Maggies are extremely linear 4 Ohm loads. Conclusion?
YES the Virtues will probably drive the heck out of the Maggies, even the big ones.

2) I think the Virtue amps actually sound better into 4 Ohm than 8. The tuned lowpass filters at the output of these amps will have different rolloff characteristics: when the load impedance changes the overall Q of the filter will change with it, and there will be some measurable and discernible changes.

3) The differences between battery supplies and the 130W PS are BIG.
The Dodd supplies are better. I've built 24V/20A battery supplies for mine and they are even better.

BUT...
For the biggest, clearly audible benefit, top to bottom, everything gets really, really improved and makes the Virtue amps nearly unbeatable.... the LFP supplies from RedWine Audio are the real deal.
Yeah I know, a $1000PS seems like overkill for a $500 or $1000 amp? 
Well, if you just look at it as modular system, and you're able to get what is probably the best sound for under $20K... the total cost of $1500 to $2000 begins to look like a stone cold bargain.

I run my Holistic Audio Arts H3's with bi-amped Sensations and LFP supplies, and it's unbelievable how loud and clean these amps can play with moderately efficient speakers.

Yeah it's true the voltage gain on the amps is set on the low side, and that makes many people think the amps won't play loud. Untrue. You just have to have enough drive on the input to get'em to crank.

Enjoy your battery supplies!

[justplainmike]

Thanks for your 2 cents!!  It's gratifying to hear that I'm not imagining things.  I've been quite impressed at the difference in the amount of sound coming from these speakers as opposed to the loudness of my previous speakers (8 ohm 92db efficient Axiom's).  On those I was always turning the volume up in an attempt to get at the details of music.  With my MMG's the volume knob only goes to about 7-10 o'clock and I'm enveloped with beautiful sound.  Completely non fatiguing as well.

I had thought it was the dipole nature of the speakers but your insights make a lot of sense.  I think I will be ordering off a battery power supply to try out.  Will look at RWA but may start with Dodd and move up.  Thanks again.

Cheers!

[Jonathon Janusz]

Yeah it's true the voltage gain on the amps is set on the low side, and that makes many people think the amps won't play loud. Untrue. You just have to have enough drive on the input to get'em to crank.

This rings a bell with me too.  I think I remember Eric at db Audio Labs saying the outputs on his DACs were strong in this regard, which would track with what I get from the volume knob on my M901.

Staying on topic, I'm driving a pair of Eminent Tech LFT8b with my M901 and 130w PS.  I have no complaints in how the amp drives these speakers.  Very clear sound, maybe not the absolute in extension but with a smooth air on the top end, and delivering as much clean bass as this speaker model has to offer.

Cheers!

[Rclark]

bringing up an old thread because I'll join this club thursday night when my MMG's show up. I was a little nervous that the Two.2 wouldn't have enough oomph to drive them but it's looking like things will be ok. And Mike was using just the 30v/130 supply, same one my TWO.2 came with (oddly enough), and that was an impressive supply, but my Astron 10amp is a monster in comparison, much stronger and delivers a much more full range, bassier, far louder experience, and this is with 8ohm monitors, so perhaps I'm in for a treat rather than hoping for a stronger amp. Know soon.

[justplainmike]

I'm excited to hear what you think of the MMG's.  Please try with both PS and share your insights into the differences.  I'm still on the fence about getting a battery PS, but my system sounds good enough now that I haven't committed yet!

[OzarkTom]

bringing up an old thread because I'll join this club thursday night when my MMG's show up. I was a little nervous that the Two.2 wouldn't have enough oomph to drive them but it's looking like things will be ok. And Mike was using just the 30v/130 supply, same one my TWO.2 came with (oddly enough), and that was an impressive supply, but my Astron 10amp is a monster in comparison, much stronger and delivers a much more full range, bassier, far louder experience, and this is with 8ohm monitors, so perhaps I'm in for a treat rather than hoping for a stronger amp. Know soon.

Shall we all head  over to his house tomorrow night?

[Rclark]

This thread, oddly enough has me interested in trying batteries too. But yeah, I'm encouraged by Mike's words.

 A lot of people are saying it isn't necessarily huge wattage the Magnepan needs, just large amounts of current. That's why seemingly low powered tube amps can drive them and sound good.

 How much current does the Two "put out"? ... 10 amps according to my Astron power supply? Is it all about the power supply?

I'm really looking forward to trying these things out. I've read nothing but raves "best speaker value in all of audio", etc, etc, etc, music sounds real, midrange beyond cone speakers 10* the price, etc.

 I'm prepared for the fact that they have some potential downsides as well but I'm also on the work que for the Magnestand mod (DEC 4), and that will mitigate or negate those.

[Rclark]

oh... my goodness. I'm unboxing these right now (I got very lucky, the guy I bought these from is a record label guy and these were very well taken care of), it's essentially as though brand new packaging.

 I don't think I've ever been so excited to unbox anything before.

 These MMG's are far far cooler looking in real life than in pictures... And much taller than I had envisioned. They look so alien to me, a tall thin panel with strange looking metallic planar stuff just beneath the "sock" or grill. About to unpackage the second one and fire them up.

[Rclark]

 


Oh my god they're good. All for now. Lot's of room rearrangement to do. And yes, the Two.2 makes them sing beautifully.

[OzarkTom]

Oh my god they're good. All for now. Lot's of room rearrangement to do. And yes, the Two.2 makes them sing beautifully.

One of the best values in the audio world today. That reminds me of when I hooked up a British Fidelity A! on a pair of old 1957 Quads back in the 80's. Sweet music!!!!

[justplainmike]

Glad you like them!!  I'm hoping that they're already broken in for you and it saves you that time.  If the bottom end on recordings with string or electric bass sound "right" then they probably are broken in.  Enjoy the combination of Virtue and Maggies. I know I do    Oh, and welcome to the fold!

[eclein]

Congrats!!! Sounds like a great combination Rclark!!!!

[Rclark]

 

 Thanks guys, I am absolutely thrilled with the combo, I honestly feel totally satisfied, as though if I were never to have another set of amp/speakers ever again, I don't think I would feel very bad at all.

 I bought my set used, but they are the newest model of MMG, built lately because it included paperwork on a current special they're running. I rate them 8.5/10 conditionwise with flawless "socks" or grills. They are a downright good looking speaker with the I think oak or maple trim up the sides. They are much taller than photos would lead you to believe. Half the time I want to make sure they aren't MG12's. The planar section is very large (and very cool looking), visible beneath the sock. They were packaged in the original boxes. Also, as a plus, they were nicely broken in and so it was pretty plug and play.

 For the price I paid, I can't believe how nice they are, in fact, I can't believe how Magnepan charges only $599 for these things.

 I actually want to call Magnepan and thank them for making such performance affordable, it's actually far far beyond what I was expecting.

 Definitely the Virtue amp has a lot to do with it. I'm guessing I have a very high current setup because the 87 watt Two.2 really drove these speakers. And if I wanted, LOUDlY! I am actually very impressed with the amp. See, Supposedly Magnepans are very touchy about amps, etc, etc. And if you don't have that perfect amp synergy you're going to have a difficult time enjoying them.

 No, not at all with my Two.2. It allowed the MMG to play all sorts of music I'm not supposed to be able to play well with them.

 I actually had a friend over who was curious and wanted to check out the setup. I asked him what he wanted, and he chose Metallica, "Fade to Black." He said he was familiar with it on guitar and could play it.

 As I'd seen earlier in the day, this combo played rock and metal just fine. Dynamically! Better than the GR-Insignia monitors I'd just had in there. Granted, it couldn't play as loudly as those speakers(those can make your ears bleed - pointlessly loud), but I think that's the only possible area the MMG loses out, and not by much, otherwise the MMG is superior in every other way. And they are nice speakers, those monitors!

 Anyway he looked at me and said he'd seen Metallica 9 times, and that that is exactly what they sound like live. Just the extreme clarity and lifelike presentation and power of the setup was impressive. So they can play rock music very well with apparently the right power.

 I played many genres of music, but, yes, jazz, and basically any very well recorded music sounds fantastic. I had Mingus Ah Um playing earlier today. Accoustic guitar, phenomenal. I think these speakers play every genre well. And by well I mean amazing. However, bad recordings do sound noticeably worse than good ones and great recordings make you hesistate to play a bad one again.

 Oh, another thing that I'm not supposed to be able to do is integrate with an inexpensive sub. Well I am, and it sounds incredible, actually. I dialed it in by ear and I don't notice any issue with the sound. Of course I have my TWO permanently hi-passed with those ClarityCaps now so it drops after 80hz.

 I have the speakers about 4' out, with the sub pulled out front right between them, crossed somewhere around 65hz. I didn't think the sub was going to work, but instead I have a full rich sound top to bottom, and all music sounds better with the sub on.

 But like I said, I couldn't be happier with the sound. I'm on the que to get these modded by Peter Gunn in Dec and apparently it increases their performance quite a bit. I can't even imagine.

 I only used my Astron LS-10a supply and didn't try the 30v/130. Why bother giving it less power?

 Anyway, that's my report. Virtue amps work GREAT with Magnepan MMG's.

[neekomax]

Photos please!

[Rclark]

Forgive the horrendous 5 megapixel phone camera. It does daylight well, but artificial light makes everything look so grainy. Anyway.




My GR-Insignia monitors, which I've run for barely a month total. I really like those speakers!



I am actually quite mystefied by the performance I'm getting out of these MMG's, because by most accounts I should be miserable without some Krell monoblocks or the like.

 I should also credit the Emotiva XDA-1 dac because one of the main features is the high power of the output, 12 volts peak, 2 amps, so that going into the TWO running off the beefy Astron supply is the ticket.

 Loudness was emphasized in my review, because I was shocked to get any! But loudness is not what has me flabbergasted and amazed. It's the agility of the planar sound, the fullness, the scale, the soundstage, the 3D seperation, and yes, the lack of box resonation. Very crisp, detailed as heck. And at low volumes, compared to anything else I've heard at that level, they are staggeringly good. The level of detail is just like people have said, ridiculously good. I'm absolutely floored.

 It's all quite a lot to take in for the first time.

 

 Oh and please bear with the blankets on the walls as "treatment". I think I'll be getting to that stage of things very soon and make a more serious sounding room. But in their defense to they do actually make a slight audible improvement. When I used the monitors, as an experiment I covered all of the rear wall and corners with blankets, just to see, and it helped quite a bit.

 

[justplainmike]

I'd echo everything RClark is saying.  Exactly my experience with Virtue + Mangnepan.  Low volume to reference level (not ear bleeding) is tight and defined.  I've also read on some Maggie forums that extra watts past a certain point can't move the MMG's any more...they hit a limit based on the panel size.  I did audition my One.2 w/MG12's at a local shop before buying the MMGs.  And, even without a subwoofer and in a large room, they sounded great.  Have fun geeking out with this combo!!

[neekomax]

RClark, is that the Emotiva CD player I see there? What do you think of it? -Neeko

[bummrush]

 Just a idea if possible ,not knowing your room,,,spread those babies out ,Also forthe mention of people always thinking they need a subwoofer.YOU DONT NEED ONE,when i had mine i got such good clean tight bass ,i never figured why people think they need one

[justplainmike]

With his amp set at 80Hz cutoff, I think he definitely needs a sub.  I run my One.2 w/o a cutoff after extensive listening and futzing but I still find having a small sub to go with the MMG's adds just the right amount of bottom. 

My sub is a 8" Mirage, cutoff at 60hz and only turned up about 1/3 of the way on the volume.  It's not a stellar sub but works surprisingly well. 

I do agree that the Maggies have more bass than they're given credit for.  It's just not boomy, flabby, undifferentiated bass that some people associate with the term!

I know quite a few folks run their MMG's sans a sub and are quite happy too.