What made you choose planar speakers?

SteveFord · « **on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:28 am »

What made you guys (and girls) choose planar speakers over the more conventional boxes?
How were you introduced to them?
How did we all develop the same tastes independently?

In my case, I had an audiophile neighbor who had a set of Magnepans back in the 70s - they were probably MG-1s driven by a whole bank of SAE and Phase Linear gear.
He invited me over to hear his stereo one night with whatever album I cared to listen to and I still remember how fast he jumped out of his chair and leaped for the volume control when Buck Dharma cut loose on the guitar solo in "Don't Fear The Reaper"! He could really move when he wanted to!
I was invited to leave when the song ended...
Fast forward a few years and a buddy who worked in a stereo store kept raving about Magnepans but, of course, I wouldn't listen and bought some floorstanding JBLs which I kept blowing the tweeters out of.
My Stax headpones, which I purchased in the early 80s, sounded better than those big JBLs which I was so proud of and the Stax Sigmas are still going strong 30 years later.
When the foam surrounds finally rotted out on the JBLs for the second time I thought back to my old neighbor and my old buddy at the stereo store and went over to the Magnepan site and there was their MMG offer. If you don't like them after 30 days, send them back it said.
That certainly sounds fair enough, I thought, and placed my order.
They nearly went back within 30 seconds as the wife and I looked at each other and went, "Ecchhhhh!!!" but I kept at it and once they broke in, there was just no going back to boxes.
I still have that same pair of speakers and the same headphones. Everything else has changed.
They're keepers.

Jazzman53 · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:27 am »

It all started with a fern:
I walked into a hi-fi store in Chattanooga and a potted plant caught my eye-- only that plant was sitting on a table behind a Martin Logan electrostat and I was seeing it through the speaker's transparent panel. The woofer on the bottom was my only cue that these things were audio speakers and not some exotic airy sculptures-- but they were playing the Dave Mathews Band and sounding really sweet. There was a small crowd gathered around but my attention was hooked so I squirmed my way into the sweet zone between the speakers and that's when their magic truly hit me. Later, when I got home, my old stereo just wasn't the same anymore. Afterwards, I couldn't bear not hearing my goddess, Diana Krall, in the fidelity she deserves so I set myself to righting the situation. Two years later I had my own electrostats. Finally, I had speakers worthy of Diana

flintstone · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:41 am »

Well, I heard Quads years ago (60's, was in the store to listen to some Bozak speakers).........They (Quad) did everything right (except spl's), but they did perk my interest in a BIG way. Then over the years I heard just about every planer, and e-stat built........again, love at first listen (but still not enough spl's for me).

Somewhere around 1990 I heard my first pair of Apogee speakers.........and that was it

I have owned 3 pair of Apogee over the years and still own 2 pair (Stage and Duetta Signature).

Dave

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 03:05 am »

It was vanity. I was quite young. My Kef 101s were so much better, but the maggies were way cool and much bigger. Shortly there after I discovered Acoustats which were much more refined. I kept the maggies for rocking out, but the Acoustats were my main speakers. A number of years later I bought maggies again because I got great deal on a used pair, but I didn't keep them for very long.

ajzepp · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 06:18 am »

I went through a divorce several years ago and had to sell my Paradigm Studio 100s and the rest of my gear. I kept seeing the MMG offer and the reviews on audiogon were ridiculous for a $500 pair of speakers. I happened to still have a few of my Outlaw monoblocks, which I felt would be enough power, so I ordered them.

They arrived at my house, I fired them up, and I was absolutely shocked. I fell in love with them then and there and the rest is history.

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:32 pm »

I had always lusted after Maggies since hearing them back in the 70's or 80's. Finally just pulled the trigger when a malfunctioning amp blew up my beloved Snells. I still have the replacement woofer in a box for the Snells.

trout2 · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 03:11 pm »

In 1978 I bought my first pair of Maggies from Frank Van Alstine. Back in the day, he was a dealer for Magnepan. They were MG-1A's. Why? Because they sounded more like the live event than most other speakers.

rollo · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 03:34 pm »

It was love at first listen. The Maggie 3As with 3.6 ribbons are still going strong. With an Audio Research DR 250 mk2 servo amp pushing 240W of triode bliss a CAT Preamp it was heaven. The Classic 60 was no slouch either. Not until I heard the Pipedreams was there a need for change. The Pipes reside in the mancave now with SET amps. A different sound.
We recently played them at a Rave meetinf outdoors with a Plinius amp. We are still talking about the sound. It was glorius. I'm rethinking my options. Maybe the Maggies will bless the cave again.

charles

josh358 · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 01:33 am »

Quote from: rollo on 7 Oct 2010, 03:34 pm

It was love at first listen. The Maggie 3As with 3.6 ribbons are still going strong. With an Audio Research DR 250 mk2 servo amp pushing 240W of triode bliss a CAT Preamp it was heaven. The Classic 60 was no slouch either. Not until I heard the Pipedreams was there a need for change. The Pipes reside in the mancave now with SET amps. A different sound.
We recently played them at a Rave meetinf outdoors with a Plinius amp. We are still talking about the sound. It was glorius. I'm rethinking my options. Maybe the Maggies will bless the cave again.

How did you end up with 3.6 ribbons on your III-A's?

josh358 · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 01:40 am »

I'd heard the Quads as a kid, but my first real exposure to planars was a friend's pair of KLH-9's. Early electrostatic flaws notwithstanding, they could do things my AR's couldn't. Not long after, I bought a used pair of Tympani 1-D's for $700 -- big money for a kid with his first apartment -- entirely on the basis of reviews in the Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. Best audio purchase I ever made, and I hadn't even heard them!

I still own the 1-D's, but, alas, they won't fit in my current listening room, so I lent them to a friend while I make do with a pair of MMG's (astonishing for the price) and cast about for a suitable replacement.

Elizabeth · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 02:18 am »

I had cheap speakers, then jump up the Infinity RSIIa and I loved them, After twenty years took them apart to sell the parts (worth more than the whole)
Had some cheap Magnepan IIb and they got an intermittent short, put them out by the dumpster (they disappeared in half an hour)
Then I got a good deal on B&W 805S and free stands. I was OK with the B&W but I decided to go for the Magnepan 3.6 when i retired and got a bonus.
So I traded in the B&W got some Bryston to go with the Maggies and am happy.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 09:08 pm »

Huge real 3D soundstage with the Carver Amazing.
Gustavo

>Never go to a psychiatrist, adopt a cat or dog from the street. On the streets they live only two years average.

*Scotty* · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 10:51 pm »

Twenty-six years ago the MG3as were the best sounding loudspeaker I had ever heard that I could remotely dream of affording. In 1986 a small inheritance from the death of my father made it possible to purchase an already broken in demo pair of MG3as for 25% less than full boat retail. I jump on it! I enjoyed them immensely until a move to another state with a smaller living room caused me to sell them. In retrospect I could have gone ahead and used them successfully in the new house,ain't hindsight wunnerful

Scotty

Feanor · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 11:04 am »

That "performers in the room with you" sound is what sold me on Maggies. I believe this is due to the speakers dipole characteristics, i.e. the backwave which, when properly directed, produces this gorgeous phenomenon. I do believe, however, that this presentation is an artifact, and while I love it in my stereo system, I've not at all convinced that it's the right way to go for HT or multi-channel.

Actually, the first time I hear Maggies was when I ordered MMGs direct from Magnepan. When I hooked these up I knew I was on to something.

Today I'm using MG 1.6QR's and loving them. See my 'Systems' link for configuration details.

twitch54 · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 01:44 pm »

For me it was a progression thing, back in the late seventies / early eighties I was enjoying my Dalquist DQ-10's when I listened to a pair of Maggies.......... and thus my 'planar' journey began bringing me to my current Logan set up with my Spire's.

FWI, my MG IIIA's still play on to this day in my sons set-up in Colorado !

josh358 · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 10:25 pm »

Quote from: Feanor on 11 Oct 2010, 11:04 am

That "performers in the room with you" sound is what sold me on Maggies. I believe this is due to the speakers dipole characteristics, i.e. the backwave which, when properly directed, produces this gorgeous phenomenon. I do believe, however, that this presentation is an artifact, and while I love it in my stereo system, I've not at all convinced that it's the right way to go for HT or multi-channel.

Actually, the first time I hear Maggies was when I ordered MMGs direct from Magnepan. When I hooked these up I knew I was on to something.

Today I'm using MG 1.6QR's and loving them. See my 'Systems' link for configuration details.

According to what I've been reading in Toole et al, both speaker wall and side wall reflections from about 10-40 (IIRC) msecs produce a pleasing sense of space and some instrumental spreading. Since monopoles are omnidirectional -- at lower frequencies, anyway -- and typically have more vertical dispersion than line sources, they dump more reflected energy into the room through much of the frequency range, which is why I think dipoles actually interact less with untreated rooms than monopoles. Reflections from the front wall tend to increase the sense of depth and from the side of the sense of width beyond the speakers, as one might imagine. The interesting thing is that without at least some reflections, the ear can't localize the sound front/back. This is apparently why beamy electrostats sometimes produce an "in the head" effect. Two channel stereo seems to need some help from the room.

In my experience, anyway, it's important to suppress reflections <10 msec, which muddle the presentation without contributing anything to the sense of space. It's also apparently important that the off-axis sound from a loudspeaker have uniform frequency and phase response, an area in which dipole line sources are good to excellent.

SteveFord · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 10:37 pm »

On certain recordings, the width of the soundstage is astonishing.
I forget which CD it was on but on this one track the rhythm guitar player was a good 6' from the right speaker which would put him outside of the house!
Not only are the performers in the room with you but sometimes they're out in the front yard.

Don_S · « **Reply #17 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 11:13 pm »

DQ-10s were a slippery slope--kind of a starter drug. Mine were stolen so I went to all the local audio stores with my insurance money in one pocket and upgrade money in the other. There were several very good shops within reasonable driving distance back in the "good old days". I took my time in each store and revisited some but after DQ-10s, no box could hold my interest.

Apogees kicked the snot out of anything I heard in a box. In the end it was an easy choice.

Quote from: twitch54 on 11 Oct 2010, 01:44 pm

For me it was a progression thing, back in the late seventies / early eighties I was enjoying my Dalquist DQ-10's when I listened to a pair of Maggies.......... and thus my 'planar' journey began bringing me to my current Logan set up with my Spire's.

FWI, my MG IIIA's still play on to this day in my sons set-up in Colorado !

Photon46 · « **Reply #18 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 11:45 pm »

I imagine it was at least twenty years ago when I was shopping to replace my Electrovoice speakers and I thought I wanted some new B&W speakers because some audio magazine reviewer had been raving about them. I auditioned the B&W's but was profoundly disappointed. The salesman asked what I didn't like about them and then led me to a room with a pair of Magnepan SMGa speakers. He told me to sit down and listen and he'd come back later. I was sold within ten minutes. I held on to those until the 1'6qr's were released and the 1'6's were in use for at least six years. The Maggie's lack of high frequency glare, open and enveloping soundstage, and their forgiving, non-fatiguing nature held my loyalty for many years. I've since moved on to better sounding dynamic speakers and have no real desire to return to dealing with Maggie's idiosyncratic quirks (mainly their inability generate satisfying textural bloom with any amp I've ever heard connected to a Maggie plus their somewhat lacking low level of detail retrieval at lower volume levels.) That said, I'd still really like to hear the 1.7's powered by any number of amplifiers that I have no possibility of auditioning where I live. I still feel like I never heard them to their best advantage, but my patience and budget both ran low searching for the really magical combination I never found.

ajzepp · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 Oct 2010, 11:51 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 11 Oct 2010, 10:37 pm

On certain recordings, the width of the soundstage is astonishing.
I forget which CD it was on but on this one track the rhythm guitar player was a good 6' from the right speaker which would put him outside of the house!
Not only are the performers in the room with you but sometimes they're out in the front yard.

The most amazing sound stage/effects I have are with my Flaming Lips "At War with the Mystics" CD....particularly track 2, "free radicals". It's pretty trippy....3-D sounds coming from all over the place.