[Mr. Oczka]

Got  a question for all of you.  When do the new Magnepan MMG's get released?  The Magnepan website advertises the Maggie Base Panel, but I don't see any reference to the updated MMG.  I have toyed with the idea of picking up a set, but want to wait for the updated (MMG.7) model.


Thanks,

Tom

[SteveFord]

They are out but they're still called MMGs.
Order a set today and they'll be the new ones.

[pansixt]

Mine just arrived. Break-In starts tomorrow.

[SteveFord]

You look like you could benefit from a sick day, especially this time of year when the seasons change.

[pansixt]

I work Sunday thru Wednesday, 4 10's. I've got three days to play. Music.

But Yeah, there is that new flu. Where nothing works but the ears. Er well maybe one other thing.

[Letitroll98]

Welcome to the club, you're gonna have a lot of fun James.  Just don't be upset if the first placement doesn't work, they will change remarkably with a 1" move.  I don't subscribe to it exactly, but a great starting point is to use the Cardas speaker placement guide for dipole speakers.  http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_calculators.php  If you're ceilings are 8', the distance from the rear wall will always be 4.94', which isn't a bad distance (or 6.18' if you have 10' ceilings), what it calculates is the distance from the side walls.  I like to use it as a starting point and adjust by ear from there, sometimes I don't use it at all.  There's also the Hong Kong (HK) placement, the Rooze placement, the pre-Rooze placement, all kinds of fun to be had with dipoles.

The other issues:  Toe in or straight ahead, and if toed in, how much.  I like straight ahead, but for the toe in crowd they usually pick only a couple of degrees, barely perceptible, or crossing a foot or two behind the head.  Tweeters on the inside or the outside.  Even people in one camp or the other end up switching sides regularly.  Inside more precise imaging, outside more expansive soundstage, all mitigated by the spread distance and toe in.  Rule of thumb, tweeters closer to you, e.g. lots of toe in, tweeters on the outside, small or no toe in, tweeters on the inside, but that's overruled all the time by personal preference.  Stands flat on the floor, or use the little riser thingy's for a more upright stance.  (Custom stands and vertical placement are for another time)  I used to use the risers all the time before I built my custom stands.  But since I've gone back to stock stands for S&G, I like the greater tilt of the stands on the floor.

Hope this gives you some starting places, enjoy. 

[pansixt]

Thanks Dan.
I'm sure I'll want to elevate them some, possibly around 8 inches, as I've read a lot of folks find this helps but also because of the Fur Ball with Legs
excuse for a cat that lives at my house.
What did you use for a DIY model when you built your custom stands or did you design them yourself?

[SteveFord]

Be prepared to hate them right out of the box.
I know that I did and 20 years later, they're still here.

[Rclark]

Excited for new MMG impressions 

[pansixt]

Be prepared to hate them right out of the box.
I know that I did and 20 years later, they're still here.

On the contrary. I was very pleased today with the first break-in session. We threw several types of music at them mostly MP3's, and they sounded great
right out of the box.
On good recordings the bass was strong and not muddy. The mids and highs were clean and transparent.
Left them playing and went to dinner then came back and listened to some vinyl. All in all I was liking the sound.

This was powered with a vintage Pioneer SS integrated, six feet apart, at most two feet from the wall, (the long wall of a rectangular room), all of the things that you supposedly shouldn't do. They sounded great.

After about fifty + hours I will bring them home. That's when the real trial begins with placement and positioning and getting the room right.
But then will follow true happiness. I am sure and I am stoked.

James

[Philth]

I got my MMGs a few weeks ago as well. I have a smaller room, and the most I can move them from the wall is about 2ft before they are in the way. Surprisingly, moving them about six inches closer to the wall improved them quite a bit. I'm still toying with all the variables, but 1.5' out, tweeters outside, and toed in 1" is really great to my ears. I'm about 6' away from them, and they are about 4.5' apart. The high end is a bit much for me, so I put in the 2ohm resistor and that seemed to help. A friend who owns 3.7s mentioned he was impressed with the sound out of the box, but suggested some dampening behind them which I will eventually get to.

All in all, I am very happy with them. I was only expecting a fraction of what the 3.7s can offer, and they did that and a bit more. For my budget they are working out really well.

[pansixt]

Thanks for weighing in Philth. It is good to hear of your similar experience with initial placement results.
My initial listening was with no toe in, standing almost vertical and tweeters inside. 

I realize that experiment can bring greater returns as far as positioning and room treatments, but I have been concerned about needing more space
behind the MMG's and not having it in my room without significant rearranging. I can space the planars wide but hopefully when I get them in my room
I can live with 2 to 2.5' from the wall. For a while at least.

Another AC'er who is helping me with break-in has 1.7's in a dedicated listening room (with MMG's on the walls for HT) and we listened to some of the same tracks with the 1.7's which admittedly is without his main big tube amp which is out for some detail work, and then the MMG's again, and they came up warm and strong.

[Letitroll98]

Thanks Dan.
I'm sure I'll want to elevate them some, possibly around 8 inches, as I've read a lot of folks find this helps but also because of the Fur Ball with Legs
excuse for a cat that lives at my house.

Cats are either death for Maggies or they don't notice them at all, there's no way to predict.  A year or two ago for fun I bought that Pioneer SX 912 receiver that Dr. Geddes used and Jimbo liked so much, but it won't do 4 ohms.  All excited to play with my toy I just stuck the MMG's downstairs in the HT and hauled up a bunch of box speakers to the listening room.  A few hours, or a day or two, can't remember, I said Holy Shite, I've got a cat with full access to two 4' scratching posts.  She never noticed them for the month or two they were downstairs, go figure.  In any case, 8" won't be near enough to protect them from kitty if she has a mind to scratch there.  I would just keep the door closed or something. 

What did you use for a DIY model when you built your custom stands or did you design them yourself?

I designed them myself using 1"x2"x2' oak slats from Lowes for footers and L shaped shelf supports for risers that just happened to be 1 3/4" wide, had holes exactly the right height and 2" apart that fit the mounting bolts for the Maggies perfectly, and some spikes from Parts Express.  I got about 5 1/2" of lift.  However there are a lot of flaws in the design, the metal shelf brackets weren't exactly 90° resulting in a 3° forward tilt, which I used for a time, then put risers under the footers to level them out, an inelegant solution.  And bracing wasn't what I thought it should be both for the stands and the speakers, resulting in me recently going back to stock feet to experiment with tilt back and rebuild my stands.

I'm tossing around plans for fully bracing the fiberboard from bottom to top, adding a couple degrees tilt back, and more heavily bracing the footers.  Easier to construct when the weather warms, so I'll play with the stock stands for a month.   

[jk@home]

I've been running my MMGs "nude" (sock free) for a few years now, as our cat is 13 years old and I am just running out the clock . But I was recently told that cats can live up to 25-30 years. ... JK, actually the cat is the only other member of the household who appreciates the Maggies. Many times she will lay down right in front of me, in the sweet spot. Think she likes New Age best, B-52s worst!

[pansixt]

Thanks for the tip. And no Rock Lobster in my house without watching for the feline

[NIGHTFALL1970]

My oldest cat was about 23.  Most of mine live to about 19 years.
I keep the cardboard from the boxes my Magnepans came in wrapped around the front of them when not in use.  That "anti-scratch" spray from the pet stores does not work.  I just have to keep an eye on my three cats when the speakers are uncovered.

Also I keep them straight.  If I toe them in at all the image smears and the bass gets muddy.

[medium jim]

My oldest cat was about 23.  Most of mine live to about 19 years.
I keep the cardboard from the boxes my Magnepans came in wrapped around the front of them when not in use.  That "anti-scratch" spray from the pet stores does not work.  I just have to keep an eye on my three cats when the speakers are uncovered.

Also I keep them straight.  If I toe them in at all the image smears and the bass gets muddy.

Not certain about MMG's, but I toe-in my 2.5's and there is no smearing....I aim them at my shoulders, (right to right, left to left).  BTW, I had a Maine Coon that we had to put to sleep when she was 23.

Jim

P.S. An important thing in the set-up is how high or low you sit to listen....optimal is where your ears are about in the middle of the panels or just a bit higher, it really helps the soundstage.  Too low and everything is too high and the bass is muddy, too high and every thing is too low and the highs are accentuated.

[pansixt]

Wish there was a hard and fast rule of placement. But, What? If it didn't hurt, Everyone would have one!!

Damn Nightfall, 23 Years? Maine Coons are the shit. I was fortunate to have one that lived with me years ago. Jake never thought about going out of the house
until one day when he stole (found) a big Bud, (not a beer). He was an outdoor Cat after that. Then we moved his fat ass to Colorado, and he chased the
Coyotes away from the house. True Story. I guess the tricksters had another use for him. Or Me.

[medium jim]

Wish there was a hard and fast rule of placement.

Damn Jim 23 Years? Maine Coons are the shit. I was fortunate to have one that lived with me years ago. Jake never thought about going out of the house
until one day when he stole (found) a big Bud, (not a beer). He was an outdoor Cat after that. Then we moved his fat ass to Colorado, and he chased the
Coyotes away from the house. True Story. I guess the tricksters had another use for him. Or Me.

Trinket was the runt of the litter and spent the first half of her life as an outdoor cat, I still miss her after all this time (it has been 7 years).  Scotty has a Maine Coon as well.  Some day I plan on getting a Hybrid Cat that is Maine Coon (for their temperament) and maybe a Serval, which would be a Savannah and since I would be new to the game, a F4 or F5, which means four or five breeding's from wild. 


Jim

P.S. I know everyone says it, but Trinket was the smartest cat in the world and the most loyal...she bossed us around!

[pansixt]

Another testament to the Maine Coon.
When Jake finally passed, my Dogs Jackson (Brittany) and Forrest ( German Short Haired Pointer) hovered over Jake until we could bury him.
He ruled.