[AVphile Wan2B]

I realize SteveFord mounted his MMG’s to his equipment cabinet for his home theater and really liked the sound.  My potential situation would appear, based on the pictures of his setup, to be similar.  He has an open hallway behind the MMG on the left side and a wall behind the MMG on the right side (when the speakers are swung out into their listening positions).  I would generally thing this would cause a soundstage imbalance and/or other audio problem.  However, due to my neophyte audiophile status, I am generally inclined to trust in his greater planar speaker experience and apply this speaker configuration to my home configuration.

So if Steve had been starting from scratch, would he (and others with experience exploring the acoustics for a home theater system) select a Super MMG (w/1 DWM) or an MC1 (w/1 DWM) which will probably have to be cabinet mounted to meet the wife requirements?

[SteveFord]

How big is this room?
If it's small enough and decorating is a problem that Mini Maggie System might be the ticket.
You can put those little weasels anywhere and they sound awfully nice.
I know that's the route my wife wants me to go but the 3.7s aren't going anywhere.

If the room is too big for the Minis, I'd go with the Super Doopers and add a real subwoofer.

The MC1s would be real good if you were going for a 5.1 set up. 

Does this help?

[AVphile Wan2B]

Steve thank you for offering your insights.  The room is approximately 22.5' x 15' with a 8' ceiling on the wall were theTV,  L/R, & Center speakers are to be located.  The other wall where these speakers project toward is 10' high with  the ceil sloping upward to the 2nd story above where the these speakers are to be located.  Also, there are 3 hallways and/or openings leading to other rooms (no doors).  This is why I was intrigued by your setup my left front will have an opening to another room behind it while the right front will have a wall that leads to a hallway behind it.

Ultimately, I would like to have a 5.1 system but I will probably only be able to initially sell a 2.0 system financially and visually to my wife.   The room probably needs floors standers, 3 DWM's (2 for the L/R, 1 for the Center), and a subwoofer.  However, with speedy small children and a future canine chasing the small speedy children, a cabinet/wall mounted speaker system has a strong appeal.

Based on what I have read and heard the only way to be sure that I will be satisfied with the sound is to start listening to the speakers at different positions in the space.  The Super MMG (w/1 DWM) is less expensive than a pair of MC1's and a DWM and I could experiment with floor standing positions.  However, I am most probably limited to cabinet/wall mounted speakers with the use of DWM's to fill in the mid bass.  The glowing impressions of the Super MMG are very appealing only if you think they can be potentially achieved in a cabinet/wall mounting position.  Otherwise, I am probably best to start my home theater experiment with a MC1 and DWM combination.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations and insights.

[SteveFord]

Is there some way you could cordon off an area for 1.7s to keep the family away from them?
Nothing fancy, maybe a moat filled with crocodiles or electric fence of something...
You could slide them back up against a wall when they're not in use.

If not, I'd try the Super MMGs up on hinges, they're better speakers than the MC1s.
You might want to add a CC3 or CC5 up top to tie everything together.

[AVphile Wan2B]

The kids liked the idea about the crocodiles by the wife did not seem to agree.  I will take your advice about the Super MMG.  Currently, the MMG’s will probably end up being mounted to the outside of the two book shelves (84” x 33” x 11”) that are on either side of the 60” plasma TV.  The TV currently resides on a bench in between the two book shelves but is planned to be mounted to the wall.  Ideally, my wife would like the DWM(s) to be located behind the bench, parallel, and within a few inches of the wall where the TV is mounted.  This would allow the DWM(s) to be hidden by a fabric draped behind the bench that matches the color of the wall.

I realize in your experiments with a DWM you seemed to like a much more prominent position for the DWM.  Also, this is only a temporary arrangement.  The bookshelves and bench are planned to be replaced by an entertainment center which could have cabinets incorporated into its design for the DWM(s).  Can the DWM(s) be placed this close to a parallel wall and have any hope of providing a good sound?

If this Super MMG 2.0 home theater experiment is successful (translation my wife likes it), there is room for the addition of a dual center (Super MMG (w/1 DWM) or MC1 and DWM) or even a Tri-Center to hopefully broaden the sweet spot to the whole home theater seating area (couch and a couple of chairs).  Currently, the potential mounted location of the MMG speakers would form a 12 ft. equilateral triangle with center of the couch seating position.  Hopefully, this wide (and could be made wider) L & R speaker location will provide a couch wide sweet spot in the 2.0 home theater configuration.

Thank you for your insights and recommendations.

[SteveFord]

A couple of inches, I dunno about that one.
Perhaps someone with more experience can chime in?

My wife likes it and the addition of a center channel  up top really tied it all together.
Magnepan makes the center channels curved for sound dispersion but an interesting experiment might be one or two MMGs up top (sideways) to serve as a center channel.

Have the Supers on the sides of the cabinet, DMW on the bottom and two older MMGs sideways up top.
Add a small sub and you won't be saying the soundstage is too small, that's for sure.