[ajzepp]

Makes sense, if I remember the figure correctly dipoles radiate 2.8 dB less into the room than omnis because of their figure 8 pattern.

Oh nice, thanks for that...helps to be able to back up what my ears are hearing 

[Davey]

No, not 2.8db.  It's even better than that.  A dipole's total power response is actually 4.8db less than a typical speaker for an equivalent on-axis response.

Also, line sources (in the near-field) drop in SPL is around 3db per doubling of distance, vice 6db per doubling with a conventional speaker.
However, the LRS is a fairly short/small speaker and you're into the far-field pretty quickly.
In these aspects, the LRS is no different than the MMG.

Dave.

[josh358]

Ordered my pair today 3-5 week lead time the gentleman who took my order said they were working overtime to get caught up!

Excellent! Let us know when you get them.

[AvsFan]

Excellent! The sound I heard was pretty unbelievable. Don't know what the lead time is, they've gotten so many orders that the web site says to leave an email and they'll get back to you when they can. But Volunteer on the Planar Forum has a pair and has been burning them in:

https://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=mug&m=236083

And the sound you heard was without a subwoofer right?

[AvsFan]

I feel this. If one has a room that is right for a set of LRSs and supplement with a good subwoofer(s) you're all set to get lost in music for the rest of your life. How can that be a bad way to go? We all know you can do way better than that but it comes with a price. Then again, what doesn't?

So what is considered the "right" room for a set of LRS's? And I already planned on using two subs for the system, so I have that covered.

[AvsFan]

So lets get some impressions and some reviews going! HAHA. 
It seems the only person that has really heard these was Josh. I will have my pair in my house hopefully by the end of this week. They are sitting at my local hi-fi shop waiting for me to pick them up. Just waiting on a refund from ZU Audio to go pick them up. 
But man am I EXCITED! This is new territory for me as I have been a box speaker guy my entire life. So I am looking to fellow Maggie owners for advice and getting these to sound as good as possible.

[josh358]

So what is considered the "right" room for a set of LRS's? And I already planned on using two subs for the system, so I have that covered.

Planars are pretty tolerant of room acoustics, as long as you can set them up properly -- out from the front wall (3' minimum, 5' better, even more heaven). They're less finicky about room acoustics than boxes and more finicky about placement -- you'll find you want to experiment to find the position where everything clicks. Many prefer their Maggies closer together than the standard stereo +/-30 degrees but I've always found that I prefer the standard 30 degree arrangement. Typically you'll toe them in per the instructions in the manual, same for tweeters in (more precise image) and tweeters out (broader listening area).

Otherwise, Wendell Diller at Magnepan told me that in big rooms, the bass disappears because the panel is too small to couple, so to use them in a big room, you'd need a sub. But they do like to be away from the wall so maybe a medium rooms is best. You don't need to deaden the acoustic for best results as you do for best results with a box. If you have a dedicated room, the preferred treatment is usually diffusion, on the wall behind the speakers at the first reflection point (where you see the rear in a mirror from your listening seat) and I like it in the corners behind the speakers, preferably over bass traps (as with any speaker). But these aren't strictly necessary, they're refinements.

One tip -- begin *with* the 1 ohm tweeter attenuator. A lot of people don't know this, but that's the flat or normal position on a Maggie. It's like the center position on a tweeter control dial. Then, if the sound is too dead in your room (carpets, drapes, etc.), you can replace it with the jumper, or conversely if the sound is too live you can put in the two ohm resistor. A 1 ohm resistor doesn't mean your room is wrong, it means it's ideal!

And again, for planars, I think the ideal is an average room that would be comfortable to talk in, rather than a room that's overstuffed or bare.

[josh358]

So lets get some impressions and some reviews going! HAHA. 
It seems the only person that has really heard these was Josh. I will have my pair in my house hopefully by the end of this week. They are sitting at my local hi-fi shop waiting for me to pick them up. Just waiting on a refund from ZU Audio to go pick them up. 
But man am I EXCITED! This is new territory for me as I have been a box speaker guy my entire life. So I am looking to fellow Maggie owners for advice and getting these to sound as good as possible.

Someone on the Planar Asylum got his and he's ecstatic with the sound! I forget what thread his post is in.

By the way, remember that they need burn in so that the diaphragm limbers up. When you first hear them they''ll sound kind of constricted and as you play them that will go away and the bass extension will increase (higher compliance = a lower resonant point for the woofer). If you can leave them playing while you aren't listening it will speed up the process. Eric at Magnepan says that it happens faster with the current Maggies than with the old wire ones.

[AvsFan]

Sweet. I am pretty excited.
I didn't really understand what you were talking about with the 1ohm attenuator though. Is that a setting right on the speaker itself?

[AvsFan]

So my next question is amplification. There are two companies that I am looking at.
The first one is PS Audio. Which they are pretty well known for building high quality gear. It's the Stellar S300. Which outputs 300 watts per channel at 4 ohms. 
The other one is a company called Class D Audio. Which Eric at Magnepan loves and the owner of Class D Audio uses a pair of 3.7's in his own demo room with spectacular results. At least from what he tells me. His amp is rated at 600 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I have always been told that the Maggie's love power and that the LRS's especially come a live with a lot of power. Should I try the amp from Class D AUDIO that is double the power and half the price of the PS Audio amp? Or go for quality over quantity with the PS Audio amp? And quality of both amps is just speculation, the Class D Audio amp could be just as good as the PS Audio. I don't know.

[josh358]

Sweet. I am pretty excited.
I didn't really understand what you were talking about with the 1ohm attenuator though. Is that a setting right on the speaker itself?

It comes with 1 and 2 ohm resistors and a jumper, and there are terminals you attach one of them to. So basically a tweeter level control. The reason they use the external resistors rather than a potentiometer is that the pot wouldn't fit in the thin panel.

[josh358]

So my next question is amplification. There are two companies that I am looking at.
The first one is PS Audio. Which they are pretty well known for building high quality gear. It's the Stellar S300. Which outputs 300 watts per channel at 4 ohms. 
The other one is a company called Class D Audio. Which Eric at Magnepan loves and the owner of Class D Audio uses a pair of 3.7's in his own demo room with spectacular results. At least from what he tells me. His amp is rated at 600 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I have always been told that the Maggie's love power and that the LRS's especially come a live with a lot of power. Should I try the amp from Class D AUDIO that is double the power and half the price of the PS Audio amp? Or go for quality over quantity with the PS Audio amp? And quality of both amps is just speculation, the Class D Audio amp could be just as good as the PS Audio. I don't know.

I don't know which is better myself. That said, while I agree that the Maggies love power, there's no need to take it to excess, unless you listen at seriously deafening levels, the Stellar should be enough. Magnepan was showing them with a 300 wpc amp at Axpona and they were playing pretty loud -- by which I don't meaning deafening/fuse blowing, but loud (the LRS won't do deafening, by which I mean nightclub levels). So if it were me I'd go for quality.

[Wind Chaser]

So how do they sound at moderate and modest SPLs?

[AvsFan]

So how do they sound at moderate and modest SPLs?

I am not going to be cranking these speakers to ear bleed levels but I still want some dynamics and some loud music at times. They can handle some Nine Inch Nails here and there right? 

[josh358]

No, not 2.8db.  It's even better than that.  A dipole's total power response is actually 4.8db less than a typical speaker for an equivalent on-axis response.

Also, line sources (in the near-field) drop in SPL is around 3db per doubling of distance, vice 6db per doubling with a conventional speaker.
However, the LRS is a fairly short/small speaker and you're into the far-field pretty quickly.
In these aspects, the LRS is no different than the MMG.

Dave.

My bad -- at least I remembered the .8 right!

[mick wolfe]

So my next question is amplification. There are two companies that I am looking at.
The first one is PS Audio. Which they are pretty well known for building high quality gear. It's the Stellar S300. Which outputs 300 watts per channel at 4 ohms. 
The other one is a company called Class D Audio. Which Eric at Magnepan loves and the owner of Class D Audio uses a pair of 3.7's in his own demo room with spectacular results. At least from what he tells me. His amp is rated at 600 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I have always been told that the Maggie's love power and that the LRS's especially come a live with a lot of power. Should I try the amp from Class D AUDIO that is double the power and half the price of the PS Audio amp? Or go for quality over quantity with the PS Audio amp? And quality of both amps is just speculation, the Class D Audio amp could be just as good as the PS Audio. I don't know.

I'm listening to a Classdaudio SDS 470C (upgraded power supply) right now in fact. Use it in my HT/casual system with a Schitt Saga /Loki and a pair of Spatial M2 Turbo's. Hard to beat at a shade over $800 with the upgraded power supply. I would think the SDS 470C a perfect match for the LRS. Should have more than enough headroom even with a fairly inefficient speaker....  and a nice sense of ease to boot. Regardless, easy to find out as I believe an audition period is offered.

[steve k]

So my next question is amplification. There are two companies that I am looking at.
The first one is PS Audio. Which they are pretty well known for building high quality gear. It's the Stellar S300. Which outputs 300 watts per channel at 4 ohms. 
The other one is a company called Class D Audio. Which Eric at Magnepan loves and the owner of Class D Audio uses a pair of 3.7's in his own demo room with spectacular results. At least from what he tells me. His amp is rated at 600 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I have always been told that the Maggie's love power and that the LRS's especially come a live with a lot of power. Should I try the amp from Class D AUDIO that is double the power and half the price of the PS Audio amp? Or go for quality over quantity with the PS Audio amp? And quality of both amps is just speculation, the Class D Audio amp could be just as good as the PS Audio. I don't know.

I have no experience with the PS Audio but I've been using a Class D Audio SDS 470C and SDS 258 biamping my IIIA's for about 10 years now. I gave up an all tube system for this setup and haven't looked back. They have plenty of headroom and deliver a clean, detailed sound with a touch of  warmth. Noise floor is dead quiet.

Steve K

FWIW, Tom, the owner of Class D Audio drives Maggie 3.6's with his amps.

[ajzepp]

Class D Audio has been around for 10 years? Wow, I thought they were new.

[AvsFan]

I'm listening to a Classdaudio SDS 470C (upgraded power supply) right now in fact. Use it in my HT/casual system with a Schitt Saga /Loki and a pair of Spatial M2 Turbo's. Hard to beat at a shade over $800 with the upgraded power supply. I would think the SDS 470C a perfect match for the LRS. Should have more than enough headroom even with a fairly inefficient speaker....  and a nice sense of ease to boot. Regardless, easy to find out as I believe an audition period is offered.

That's the EXACT amp I am looking at buying. It really is in between that and the PS Audio Stellar s300. The Class D Audio one is less expensive and double the power. At 600 watts per channel at 4ohms, should be no problem for the Maggies. I had a Saga and really liked it but I was getting some odd noise from the unit I had. Is the upgraded power supply for the SDS 470C worth it?

[AvsFan]

I have no experience with the PS Audio but I've been using a Class D Audio SDS 470C and SDS 258 biamping my IIIA's for about 10 years now. I gave up an all tube system for this setup and haven't looked back. They have plenty of headroom and deliver a clean, detailed sound with a touch of  warmth. Noise floor is dead quiet.

Steve K

FWIW, Tom, the owner of Class D Audio drives Maggie 3.6's with his amps.

Yeah, I am REAL close to pulling the trigger on this amp. I have had some conversations with Tom. Great guy. Yeah, he told me about the 3.6's.