[Housteau]

I have always wanted to like these speakers and in many ways I do.  It could be that over the years I have just not been able to hear them set up properly.  I don't know.  What has bothered me is the image presented on smaller works of instruments and vocalists sometimes presented larger than life.  I also found that the width of the soundstage was limited to the outer edge of the speakers.  I wanted to ask the Magnepan owners if this has been your experience as well, or is it just with some models?

I have always had dipoles myself and so I am very used to how they can present a very realistic soundstage.  My room is 21.5 ft. wide with my speakers 5.5 ft out into the room and 8.5 ft apart.  My soundstage is most often corner to corner and sometimes extending down the side walls towards my listening position.  I have not heard this from the Magnepans I have had the chance to listen to.

[SteveFord]

Looking at the guy coming through the wall room I'd say listen to 20.7s.
I have NOT heard the 30.7 but that might be the way to go for you.
I made sure not to hear them as I can't afford them and what has once been heard can not be unheard.

Larger than life?  I dunno, some of these performers were kind of portly.
I have occasionally heard sounds on the recordings that they managed to extend to a place where they couldn't possibly be coming from.
How did they manage to make it sound like the guy is standing over there when there's a wall in the way, that kind of thing.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

If the soundstage with the Maggies is not huge and wide then it is the electronics or room.  I have the 1.6's and MMG's and I have friends that have the 3.7's and the 1.7's and the sound stage is wide, deep and tall.   I run a Luxman DA-06 DAC, Pass X250 amp and BAT VK-51se tube preamp.  My room is 17x17 with 9.5' ceilings. My speakers are 39" from the wall and  they are 6' to 6.5' apart  The sound stage extends beyond the walls or seems to. 

You will not like Maggies if you can't get over the larger than life sound which is like sitting close to instruments.  It is part of their charm.  I find that on some traditional speakers the instruments can sound too small.  I feel that Maggies give a more lifelike presentation.

[Saturn94]

Maybe it’s because I’m using the smaller LRS Maggies, but image size seems appropriate and not overly exaggerated.  Depending on the recording, soundstage width often extends beyond the speakers.  The soundstage can sound smaller/intimate, or absolutely huge depending on the recording.

The room and speaker position are critical with Maggies to get the best from them.  Many years ago I auditioned the 1.7 at a couple shops and wasn’t all that impressed.  In 2019, with all the great feedback with the new LRS, I figured I’d give Maggies a try again.  This time I could audition them at home and return them if they didn’t work out.  Fortunately, they performed MUCH better in my room/setup than the 1.7s did at the audio dealers many years before.  I guess the dealers didn’t have them set up very well and/or didn’t use appropriate equipment (amp too weak maybe?).  Needless to say I didn’t return the LRS. 

[Saturn94]

…..  I feel that Maggies give a more lifelike presentation.

 

[kmmd]

I agree with Larry about Maggie’s.  I started with MG10’s then 1.6’s and now 3.6’s.  I still have all of them in my system.  The emotion and how they envelop and immerse you into the performance is part of their appeal.

Your electronics, everything from source, DAC, preamp and amps, will factor in.  The other fact with Maggie’s is that they love high current, high powered amps.  It saddens me when I see individuals drive a pair of 3’s or 20’s with an amp that supplies 500 watt or less at 4 ohm.  You may as well put 50 octane gas into that Porsche, but hey if you’re happy with just going from point A to B, then so be it.  Trust me, it’s not about listening to music loudly with that much amplification.  I typically listen between 70-80dB, and my Pass Labs X250.8 meter doesn’t move past turn on at 1/4 on the front meter.  This translates to the 9 o’clock position on my VAC preamp.  However I am biamping my 3.6’s and have 3 subs for two channel listening.

[Craig B]

I lived happily with MG-1s from 1978-1998, and now with .7s since 2019. In my experience, problems with unrealistic image "size" are often related to listening levels and room environment. My room is not large (14'x17'x8'-10"), and I haven't had any issues with larger-than-life images on any kind of music, at any SPL I care to listen at. The SPLs get to be too much for me well before any noticeable change in image size. But in my brother's system, with 20.7s in a considerably larger room, classical music always sounds properly sized, but others (jazz, pop, rock) can easily outsize reality if listening too loudly. It's always extremely clean and with natural timbres and solid imaging - it's just that the images seem too big. On the other side of that coin, I've never had a problem with small images that couldn't be resolved by turning up the volume an appropriate amount.

As far as soundstage extending wider than the speakers, I find that to be highly dependent on two things - the recording, and whether I'm looking at the system while listening. This leads me to believe that poor recordings can crush a soundstage (no big surprise there), and that much of that kind of image breadth, when present, is psychoacoustic (barring any kind of unusual speaker aiming setup). This is just based on my experiences, so I'm not refuting others' views or experiences here. I'm just saying that in every system I've heard, mine or others, when I perceive a sound coming from a point outboard of the speakers, that perception has happened when I wasn't looking at the system, like if I'm looking at the album cover, or paging through a magazine. When it happens, it seems palpably real, at least enough to grab my attention, but when I look up and hear it again, it's always easily identified as coming from one speaker or the other.

[Housteau]

Thank you for all the responses so far.  Just about any speaker played too loudly can skew the image size to larger than life, usually in width, just as room acoustics and, or a less than optimum listener to speaker interface can prevent the full width and depth of the soundstage from developing.  The responses here seem to follow that same logic placing the Maggie's in league with most other kinds of speakers.  That is good to read as it hasn't been my experience.  I have always found them more vulnerable than most others in these regards.  One speaker I owned in the past was the Martin Logan CLS.  While what was happening between the speakers was wonderful, the soundstage stopped at the edge of that speaker.  A lot of owners used to place them further apart than normal to create the illusion that it didn't.

I am not looking for anything new and feel very fortunate to have what I have now, in both room and system.  Still, I like to create short lists of various components to consider in the event that for what ever reason I needed to start over.   

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I agree with all that has been said.  Maggies need current and power to bring out the depth, musicality and dynamics of the music.  However, I have tried various DAC's with my 1.6's and they play a huge part in sound stage.  I wrote a review of  the Exogal Comet DAC.  It was the most holographic and 3-D sounding DAC that I have heard.  The sound seemed to come from 360 degrees.  I can tell you that all the sub $1K DAC's that I have tried sounded closed in.  Some amps and preamps have sounded the same with closed in sound stage.

Maggies will show the weakness of you gear with the first few notes.

They also need proper placement.  Even moving them 1/2" can make a huge difference.  Masking tape is a huge help in trying to find proper positioning with them.

[SteveFord]

  Maggies will show the weakness of you gear with the first few notes.

Isn't the truth. If the freezing wind sounds on Apostrophe are off you'll know whatever it is will never sound right.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

  Maggies will show the weakness of you gear with the first few notes.

Isn't the truth. If the freezing wind sounds on Apostrophe are off you'll know whatever it is will never sound right.

Huh?  Did you mean "Isn't that the truth"?  Or are you disagreeing.?

[SteveFord]

Oh, I'm sorry, I meant to type "isn't that the truth".
The older I get the sloppier my typing is becoming (along with everything else).

[dB Cooper]

Cut yourself some slack Steve.... after all, it was a hundred degrees below zero

[SteveFord]

All that trudgin' across the tundra (mile after mile) froze up my spectacles!

Zappa '88: The Last US Show is out on vinyl.  My copy showed today, woo hoo!

[TitaniumTroy]

I believe that the True Ribbon Tweeter models, image the best via it's better off axis dispersion. Though the LRS might be an exception to that general rule, why that is, I have no idea. Currently my Mini Mags sound awesome to me and they have True Ribbon Tweets also, along with two DWM's.

[Jazzbert]

I too have the "instruments too big" issue but I attribute it to being less than 8 ft from my 1.6QRs. Its a poor room for maggies yet they still deliver natural voices and instruments like no other.

The DWMs really intrigue me. Can you tell me more?

[dwmaggie]

Magnepan DWMs.  I call them Dedicated Woofer Modules, 40 to 200 hz, That's All Folks.  I purchased 2 over a 3 year period, money was tight.  They were purchased to help out my MMGs, worked great.  Now they augment my 1.7i s.  They do a great job of adding life to low end.  They will not move your pants leg like a JBL Century or other large woofers.  Are they worth it, YES, for me.  Tried two positions for them, next to the 1.7i and 2 feet inside of the 1.7i s.  Seem to work best spaced 2 foot in from the mains.  I also use a subwoofer swarm below 40hz with an electronic xover.  I wired the DWMs each in series then in parallel with the 1.7i, presenting a 6 ohm load to the amplifier.

I am contemplating a pair of 10 inch woofs in a small cabinet for 40 to 300hz to get some of that JBL Century sound.  I am not sure whether to go sealed box or another configuration.

[Jazzbert]

Magnepan DWMs.  I call them Dedicated Woofer Modules, 40 to 200 hz, That's All Folks.  I purchased 2 over a 3 year period, money was tight.  They were purchased to help out my MMGs, worked great.  Now they augment my 1.7i s.  They do a great job of adding life to low end.  They will not move your pants leg like a JBL Century or other large woofers.  Are they worth it, YES, for me.  Tried two positions for them, next to the 1.7i and 2 feet inside of the 1.7i s.  Seem to work best spaced 2 foot in from the mains.  I also use a subwoofer swarm below 40hz with an electronic xover.  I wired the DWMs each in series then in parallel with the 1.7i, presenting a 6 ohm load to the amplifier.

I am contemplating a pair of 10 inch woofs in a small cabinet for 40 to 300hz to get some of that JBL Century sound.  I am not sure whether to go sealed box or another configuration.

Sounds like a very complete setup. I really like the flat panel bass from my Maggies. I may look into these.  Thanks!