[Chops]

When I had the 1.7i's up where I now have the studios I only had one of the two OB subs. It paired amazingly with the 1.7s. iirc I crossed over around 60hz for most of the time but I was continuously messing around with positioning and crossover frequency.

You are right I'm not being fair in the comparison. But I am looking at it from the point of view of do I want to spend the $ to upgrade the 1.7i's and keep them or just unload them as is for something else. The soundstage of the Maggies is amazing. But there are times when I can't help but hear problems with them. The best example I can think of is the band Radiohead. Two of their albums Kid A and OK Computer, there are sections on those albums where the music gets industrial (static-like?)....the sound from the Maggies gets mushy. I don't think the upgrades will resolve that and feel the issue might be a limitation on the panel design of the magnepan. I still think the 1.7i is an amazing speaker but at this point I'd rather get rid of it and use the $ to fund something else.

I'm quite familiar with pretty much all of Radiohead's albums including Kid A and OK Computer, and I have never noticed any kind of "mushiness" throughout the recordings. Maybe it had to do with that rather high 60 Hz crossover point and the timing/phasing between that sub and the 1.7i's overlapping the same frequencies. Maybe an artifact from other gear upstream in your system?

On my system, all of their recordings seem to be rather crisp and clean throughout, except for the intended static-like parts you talk about. Even then, those parts do not come across as mushy sounding on my system with my stock 1.7i's, just a little louder and well, static like.

And speaking of Radiohead, have you tried listening to Thom Yorke's other band, The Smile? Equally good music, very similar to Radiohead but a bit more laid back and mellow. Good stuff.

[ketchup]

That's totally different as the planars in those Super 7's aren't fullrange and are expected to be crossed over around 120 Hz.

I never suggested that the OB subs can't keep up. Trust me, I know they can. It's just that with Maggies, especially the larger ones like the 1.7i's and up, you want them to play fullrange so you can get that fast and detailed lower and upper bass they are capable of.

Most people high pass their Maggies at 80hz to relieve them of low bass, save amplifier power, and clean up the mids.  Have you tried that?  I'm just curious as very few people seem to run them full range when using subs.

[Chops]

Most people high pass their Maggies at 80hz to relieve them of low bass, save amplifier power, and clean up the mids.  Have you tried that?  I'm just curious as very few people seem to run them full range when using subs.

Odd that you say that as I've seen just the opposite. Most people that are serious about their systems seem to run their Maggies fullrange with subs crossed very low, somewhere from 40 Hz on down. Why cross Maggies over that high and completely miss out on one of their best attributes, or have subs blasting up that high, totally masking the Maggie magic in that frequency range? Makes zero sense.

If you're worried about "saving" amplifier power, then you shouldn't have purchased Maggies to begin with or purchase larger, better amps.

I have played my 1.7i's at 100+ dB on several occasion, and not once has the midrange sound stressed or ragged. When you have solid, clean, strong power, you don't have to worry about any of that.


And to answer your question, yes, I did try crossing my first pair of Maggies over at 60 Hz to 80 Hz, a pair of MGLR-1's, well over 20+ years ago. Even back then, I quickly realized that they only sounded best playing fullrange and having the subs come in where the MGLR-1's fell off. Powered by an Aragon 4004 MkII, so plenty of power and current (200w @ 8 ohms, 400w @ 4 ohms).

[mick wolfe]

Odd that you say that as I've seen just the opposite. Most people that are serious about their systems seem to run their Maggies fullrange with subs crossed very low, somewhere from 40 Hz on down. Why cross Maggies over that high and completely miss out on one of their best attributes, or have subs blasting up that high, totally masking the Maggie magic in that frequency range? Makes zero sense.

If you're worried about "saving" amplifier power, then you shouldn't have purchased Maggies to begin with or purchase larger, better amps.

I have played my 1.7i's at 100+ dB on several occasion, and not once has the midrange sound stressed or ragged. When you have solid, clean, strong power, you don't have to worry about any of that.


And to answer your question, yes, I did try crossing my first pair of Maggies over at 60 Hz to 80 Hz, a pair of MGLR-1's, well over 20+ years ago. Even back then, I quickly realized that they only sounded best playing fullrange and having the subs come in where the MGLR-1's fell off. Powered by an Aragon 4004 MkII, so plenty of power and current (200w @ 8 ohms, 400w @ 4 ohms).

  That was my experience with Maggies as well. Run full range with subs supplementing the bass.

[Chops]

That was my experience with Maggies as well. Run full range with subs supplementing the bass.

Yes sir. Exactly!