[Rclark]

So for the last year or so, my main listening system was pretty much confined to a bedroom, as I was sharing a place. In that space, I was given some (****ing incredible) standmount speakers, Miller & Kreisel S1B's, I have a thread on them in the vintage circle.

Now my Maggies are the Magnestand with the very expensive crossover parts, Jupiter Beeswax, Mundorf Silver in oil, $300 per crossover, in parts, and my amps are Hypex Ncores. Yet in that small room, the M&K speakers totally blew the Maggies away, which shocked me greatly. I had also run GR Research standmounts, and the Maggies beat them handily, but taking things to another level with a real high end standmount, the Maggies stood no chance.

Now I am in an apartment that is all mine, and I have my Maggies set up once again, and they have lots of room, they are 4 feet from the wall (with diffusers too), and the area is large and spacious. Oh that magic is back. The M&K's sound incredible here too, but once again given room to breathe, the Maggies take the cake, it isn't even close.

Which is funny, because in the small room, the M&K's made mincemeat of the Maggies. But here, with much more room to spare, the Maggies are leagues ahead.

That said, I cannot recommend Maggies to anyone, not even MMG's, if you have a small space to work with. You need that space. A high end cone speaker will beat Maggies in a small space.

[lowtech]

I've used Maggies (1.6QR) in a narrow-ish, long room with terrific results.  In the same room, a set of NHT Xd's sounded like crap.  I've also used planar speakers (Acoustat Model 2) in a very small room with terrific results. 

I think the take away is that there are other factors that come into play and it's problematic to make sweeping statements about the amount of space (room size) a planar speaker needs to sound good.

[Rclark]

Oh, I got terrific results too. That were bested by a cone speaker.

Now, several hours into my first full day with Maggies back, in a large room, man, these were nothing like this in the small room. The subtlety, the image size, the impressive bass, are back.

Sweeping statement stands. Besides, it's well known they need room. I'm just echoing that finding with my own evidence.

[Wind Chaser]

I've used Maggies (1.6QR) in a narrow-ish, long room with terrific results... I've also used planar speakers (Acoustat Model 2) in a very small room with terrific results.

I've had Maggies and Acoustat Model 2's in a long narrow-ish room too. IMO panels do benefit from having lots of room in behind. Every speaker benefits from having room to breath; even those that are supposedly designed to be placed in corners.

PS: I miss having my M&K S1b's.

[Rclark]

I will say this though, my bedroom was just that, a bedroom. I suppose if the small room being used is strictly a listening room, maybe just treatments and a chair as the only furniture, that would improve things greatly for the Maggies.

But even then, what have we done there? Given them more space.

[*Scotty*]

While they may not show their full potential in a smaller room, their lack of box related resonances will remain as will their transparency due to low mass "drivers".
The definition of small room needs to be elucidated, in other words how small is a small room. A 10ft. x 10ft. might be pushing it. I will allow that they are probably too big for most bedrooms and dorm rooms, but who would buy speakers this large and try to squeeze them into a bedroom.
Scotty

 

 

[Rclark]

Listening to some piano now and the realism is intoxicating. When these speakers are given what they need, lots of room, lots of power, they really, really amaze.

[Roger Gustavsson]

While they may not show their full potential in a smaller room, their lack of box related resonances will remain as will their transparency due to low mass "drivers".

Magnepan are certainly not free of resonances and the moving masses are not very low either... The moving mass is actually higher than many conventional speaker drivers! 

[Davey]

Magnepans's inherently don't require any more "breathing space" than any other speaker.  All speakers will benefit (generally) from a larger acoustic space to operate in.  In fact, you could make the case Magnepan's can operate with less "breathing space" than conventional speakers as a result of the dipole radiation pattern and the 4.8db power response advantage therein.  Heck, one of the MUG members has his speakers in what is essentially a closet and says they work great. 

The "breathing space" requirement is just a tired cliche' formed as a result of the recommendation to have some physical distance to the wall behind the speakers.  That recommendation is perfectly applicable to conventional speakers as well.  Conventional speakers transition from spherical to hemispherical radiation in a way that dipole radiators do not, but it's just a different trade-off.

The bass response might become overbearing in a room with small volume, but that could also be said of conventional speakers with equivalent free-field bass response.  In fact, with conventional speakers the result will most likely be worse.

Cheers,

Dave.

[geowak]

I have MMGs. My room is not small, but not huge (Maybe 18 X 24) The MMGs sound great for nearfield listening and I have them about 10 feet apart and 2.5 feet from all walls. With a 30 watt tube amp I think they sound tremendous at low to med volume. I can play them at a volume above conversation between two listeners and they still shine.

[Rclark]

probably too big for most bedrooms and dorm rooms, but who would buy speakers this large and try to squeeze them into a bedroom.

see: audiophile

[SwamisCat]

Amen to space.  Lots of space.  My dedicated listening room is only 14X20 and my 3.7i's only truly come alive at 8 feet out from the front wall. The best position is ten feet out. At this distance, the back wall simply disappears and I get a layered soundstage extending as far back as the recording demands.

I have a second set of old three series in a smaller room (4 feet out from FW, but  claustrophobic).  The comparison is sad.  They simply don't have enough room to blossom.

One other important thing is to not have a high backed chair.  It destroys the illusion of hearing real instruments in real space. It effectively brings the rear wall (for higher frequencies) in right up to your ears.

[jimdgoulding]

I agree if you place a value on dimensionality to include depth of field and think it applies to all speakers, frankly.  Waveforms spilling around cabinets are reflected by walls so they benefit from space, too, ime.

[jk@home]

A high end cone speaker will beat Maggies in a small space.

That's been my (limited) experience also. I think my MMGs did do bass better, but the resolution was loss for what ever reason. Mini Mags would probably be better in that regard.

[Rclark]

That's been my (limited) experience also. I think my MMGs did do bass better, but the resolution was loss for what ever reason. Mini Mags would probably be better in that regard.

My main take-away is that there is no perfect speaker type, anything can get you to nirvana if you have chosen well based on what you have to work with.

As much as I love my Maggies, I probably equally love the M&K's, and am kind of missing them right now. It's not a bad place to be. I'm sure I'll do a real shootout in this larger space once the honeymoon (second wedding) is over.

I count myself blessed to have several good sets of speakers now, and can begin really dabbling now, and adding to the collection. But as it stands, I have enough equipment to get good sound regardless. Nice to not just have one set of good speakers.

[Crimson]

Maggies, like any other dipole (or even bipolar speaker), require space behind them. Much more so than a front-firing speaker. Space to either outer side of each speaker is not as critical, IMO.

[geowak]

It's been stated here before, in various ways, speakers are a matter of taste. I like to listen at low volume, and I have found some speakers sound better than others at low volume. Some people get a speaker with tremendous bass response, but that bass resonates too much for the room the speaker occupies. So the room becomes a very big factor in how well the speaker sounds. For me, the MMGs are perfect for my room and my tastes, and for the money I spent, they are a great bargain.

[FireGuy]

I had actually considered the Maggies before deciding on a pair of Omega Super 5's.   I know how great these can be and would like a pair some day.  The deciding factor in this case was their sensitivity.  My decision was wholly based on their rating of 86 (paper)...with real world, in-room of 83.  I think both brands are rather special but in different ways.

[jk@home]

.

[miatadan]

I found that planer speakers in general perform better with lots of space behind them. This was the case for every planar speaker I have had, Acoustat Spectra 22, Magnepan MG1.6, Martin Logan Spires etc. Most likely next speakers in my system will be the MG 0.7 with 1 or 2 DWM bass panels as my room is narrow ( 10ft wide and 20 ft length )