Fully modded Magnepan MMG's - everything done - $950.00 incl. PayPal

TheChairGuy · « **on:** 19 Apr 2007, 05:52 pm »

These would have to be considered one of the better speaker choices under $1000.00 out there. Bold statement, true, but backed up by thousands of planar-heads out there.
http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/magnepan/floorstanding-speakers/MPL_1340_1594CRX.ASPX

The MMG is a fair value at $550.00 direct from Magnepan...but built to a price point. Stands help a bunch. I first made some Home Depot home-brew ones and then asked Grant van der Mye to make me the fist top and bottom supports for an MMG (costing approximately $350.00 after shipping). They are sand or shot filled top and bottom sections. He did so and these exact speakers are pictured on his site:
http://www.myesound.com/Magnepanstands.html

I realized that was only half the battle...that the crossovers and speaker cable junction was built with that same cheap price point in mind. So, I had Jeff Glawacki of Sonic Craft cook up some outboard crossover with all the best parts he had including Alpha-Core inductors (at a cost of just under $500.00). Image of the invoice with all the mods done is here (wiring is unusually good 12ga. Furutech, btw)

So, what do you hear when you listen? Pure bliss...but the catch is that they need room to breathe

My 12 x 15' room, with windows, doors and only a short wall available to me simply stifles these. I set them up in my much larger living room for a hoot - and they sounded like heaven itself. But, my wife confines my illness

to my listening room...so they either work here or they don't work at all.

The Maggies have phase-coherent first order crossovers, and have the same type of drivers so integration issues are slim-to-none. I did not find a subwoofer was needed in my listening room....you may or may not.

There are no nits or pricks in the fabric that I can see. I think Magnepan calls this color 'walnut' over black fabric. They require a single stereo or 2 mono amps only...they are configured non-biampable.

So, there you go - they are now available. Local pickup or delivery within reasonable distance in Bay area is good. Not so because these are unusually heavy, it's because these will come in 4 boxes: one for the outboard crossover, one (original) for the Maggie panels, and two for the stands (one box and one crate as I remember it - Grant van der Mye is all about overkill).

However, I can certainly ship anywhere without issue via DHL (cheapest and I've found, at least, safest)

Original everything here...including manual. Questions? - ask away.

shep · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Apr 2007, 06:56 pm »

Want WANT WANT (can't can't can't!) Modified Maggies like this never come along! They sound nothing like out-of-the-box versions. I know cause I had a pair years ago. Don't even think twice! yes they need room to breath. I would forgo my Dutch TL's for these, I would trade my grandmother if she were around! Please somebody take these out of my sight and make yourself a very happy audiophile to boot.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Apr 2007, 07:11 pm »

Yeah, they do need room to breathe....certainly larger than I have to give it. That's the only significant downside to ownership of even these 'baby' Maggies...they need space. You don't need an auditorium, but you need to give them unrestricted 3' all around to show off their magic.

There nothing more to be done on these - they are quite complete and the laminations won't come unglued (Maggies need to be mended every 20 years as the 'ribbons' pry apart) for another 20 years or so.

They also don't need crazy wattage...50 watts is good; 100 is better. Tho not very sensitive/efficient, they pose a very benign load and are stable at 4 ohms so just about any half-decent amp will drive them. I often think my best pairing for them was a 100 watt JVC RX-F10 and a tube pre-amp. The tubes lent the warmth and richness missing from the hybrid-digital amplification, and the amp added low end control that long panels speakers crave. I thought that was a most appealing tandem - and dang cheap, too

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 Apr 2007, 05:01 pm »

Local pickup or delivery within reasonable distance in Bay area is good. Not so because these are unusually heavy, it's because these will come in 4 boxes: one for the outboard crossover, one (original) for the Maggie panels, and two for the stands (one box and one crate as I remember it - Grant van der Mye is all about overkill).

Thought the above was worth stating twice

shep · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 Apr 2007, 06:54 pm »

I can't believe nobody has jumped on this. You guys simply don't know what you're missing. I have coffin speakers too and believe me they would be out the door if I could have these. Chair Guy please ban me from this circle until these are sold!

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #5 on:** 20 Apr 2007, 08:01 pm »

shep - that's the downright oddest reason for banning yet (and there has been a few odd ones of people asking before I tell ya')

Couldn't you do something less radical like avoiding the topic posts now that you know they are for sale

shep · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Apr 2007, 06:43 am »

You never saw me

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Apr 2007, 10:08 pm »

A couple interested parties, but nothing firm here (I actually have sold my last couple items on AC, so I know this area is being used now

), so off to Audiogon it has gone:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrplan&1182636359&view&1177452434

ZooDog · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Apr 2007, 02:35 pm »

I'd like to say that I picked up a set of used (and also modded) MMGs over the weekend for yuks and I am very impressed with them. If you listen to a lot of acoustic music and value mid-range purity, these are an unmatched value, IMO. You will not find a box speaker for $1,000 that will touch these. Someone should give these guys a happy home.

JoshK · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Apr 2007, 03:01 pm »

There are also some really good ideas about using a W-frame dipole woofer/sub to add some weight to the bottom (Maggies can't/don't move much air) end a bit. The dipole aspect of woofers makes them subjectively fast enough to keep up (no stored energy). Its an easy/cheap/fantastic way to get into a super star performer.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 May 2007, 06:00 am »

There are 9131 AudioCircle members (and countless more tuning in as guests).

All are welcome to ask questions about the modded Maggies - I've had a few scratches but no bites.

Acudoc · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 May 2007, 06:36 pm »

Sent you a PM

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Sep 2007, 10:24 pm »

SOLD to AC member and fellow Bay area resident, 'Rashiki' today

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 02:07 pm »

In Rashiki's hands now...hope he'll add his thoughts to this thread once he has them set-up. His set-up, and running dual subs, is more likely gonna' get these to sound about as good as they can get - which may well be exceptional.

Again, I didn't think the stock Maggies at $550.00 offered significant value (I could think of may box speakers I'd rather have for the money), but the cumulative additions of stands, re-wiring and first-class crossovers turns this ugly duckling into a thing of beauty

Bill Baker · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 04:51 pm »

Congrats on the sale TCG as well as Rashiki for getting such a nice speaker. I remember a few years back when I was getting calls on a weekly basis for amplifiers to mat ewith these speakers. Even out of the box, everyone seemed to loved these speakers. Especially at only $500 which is what they sold for when first introduced.

For amplifiers, it seemed a good 50 watt tube amp or 100 watt solid state was the popular choice. I heard them once on a 50 watt tube amp and in a 14' x 18' room. Not bad at all. They would have been a nice speaker in my 17' x 30' room

By the Shep, you can come back now

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #15 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 04:59 pm »

Yes Shep, come back!

Bill - My 50 watt Dukane tube mono's lit them up just fine...as did 150watt+ (hi current) Odyssey Khartago mono's before it.

The Dukane's are unusual for tubes as they use television sweep tubes, reportedly developing very high current for tubes. So, perhaps that's why 50 of those watts were enough.

My 12 x 15' room was not enough....14 x 18' likely would have....17 x 30' likely better still.

Rashiki has 8-9' listening space between them and the couch in a good sized room (seems bigger than 12 x 15 to be sure) with wide open access / openings to other rooms for additional room to breathe

He's also got (small) dual subs taking up the deficient bass the MMG's have...should be fine indeed.

He'll chime in when he dials them in juuuuust right......

Rashiki · « **Reply #16 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 05:07 pm »

I've hooked up the Maggies, but haven't taken the time to dial them in yet. So far, they sound fantastic.

I'm running them with a pair of AV123 x-subs. My amp is an Emotiva RPA-1 (solid state, rated to 350 watts into 4 ohms). While I wait on my Mapletree preamp to be built, I'm running the output of my MDHT Paradisea DAC directly into the amp and using the volume control on my SqueezeBox3. The SB3 is stock, but I'm using a Bolder modified Elpac linear power supply. Currently, I'm using the line-level crossover on the x-subs to feed the Maggies, but I'll play around with options once I have the preamp. I also have a pair of AV123 Rocket Extended Response Tweeters to throw in if I feel the need.

My room is 15'x15' with a ceiling sloped from 8' at the speakers to 12' at the other end. The back of the room has three exits, so it feels even larger. The floors are tile and there are no "formal" acoustic treatments, but there is fabric on the ceiling and large heavy drapes in strategic locations. The room used to be our home theater and the drapes were added primarily for decoration (the theme is "Italian Opera"), but also to help with reflections. We'll probably be adding more drapes and possibly some professional acoustic treatments if I can find some way to fit them in with the theme.

I have the Maggies about six feet apart, two feet from the back walls and three feet from the side walls. They're toed in towards my seating, which is around six feet away. My first impression was that the sound was skewed to the right, but after flipping through a few songs it seems to depend on the music. A lot of the music I listened to last night seemed to image slightly right of center, but some was dead center. I'll have to go back and listen with headphones to see if it's the recording or not.

I'll post again once I've had a chance to play with placement and subwoofer integration, but so far my initial impression is that these Maggies are a great match for my setup.

-Rob

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #17 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 05:14 pm »

You'll likely find a lot of issues with various recording now....the uber-modded Maggies are like a pane of glass - reflecting back everything in the recording (or at least in 80% of the frequency range - deficient only in lows and hi-treble).

Of course, your subs have the bass duties handled well now

Hey, your 'suit of arms' in the corner might even begin dancing on his own now

Enjoy, John

-Richard- · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 Sep 2007, 04:29 am »

Hi Rashiki ~

If you ordered the Magic 5B SE Triplex Line Preamplifier from Lloyd may I suggest you get the
full "upgrade" that Lloyd offers... if that is the preamp you want then mention my version to Lloyd
and he will tell you what I had done to mine... a bit expensive compared to the standard version...
but what I am hearing now is superb... beyond any expectation I had. It does not get better than this.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

Rashiki · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 09:54 pm »

Quote from: -Richard- on 24 Sep 2007, 04:29 am

If you ordered the Magic 5B SE Triplex Line Preamplifier from Lloyd may I suggest you get the
full "upgrade" that Lloyd offers...

Thanks for the advice, Richard, but I've ordered the Ultra 4A SE. I asked Lloyd if there were any options for the 4A but he didn't offer any other than to add a third line input.

-Rob