[pelliott321]

great info josh258
thanks
I will try the mirror thing this weekend

[geowak]

Thanks again to all you maggie owners and (lovers of maggies) for sharing the experience you've had with them.

Rather than take the splurge on the bigger speakers and having to update my Amplifier too, how well do you think my McCormack DNA-125 would drive a set of 1.7's?

The 1.7's are also getting alot of compliments on the design of using the quasi-ribbon in all of it's drivers resulting in a very uniform and pleasing tonal wall of sound. But can my McCormack (with it's lower wattage) really make the 1.7's sing.

Anyone out there driving maggie speakers with a similar power rated amplifier?

[oboaudio]

While I agree more space behind is ideal, I disagree with '5 ft min' , for even at 3-4 feet if the back wall is properly treated ...all is well ! But it is true 5-6 ft would be nice !

As with most dipoles that I have experienced, the closer to the wall more absorption and as one gets further away ...diffusion.

I place my Martin Logan Summits (woofers not used) 6' from the front wall and the Magneplanar Tympani IV bass
panels 10', which are next to the Summits.  I also place 16" ASC tube traps behind these speakers to diffuse the high frequencies and damp the midrange and bass.  The speakers are placed on the long wall of my room (29' long x 19' wide x 11' high cathedral ceiling) which provides wonderful imaging, very large sound-stage, and bass that is powerful with great impact.  With the large distances that this arrangement provides, comb effects are minimized and one gets superb ambience and a very smooth presentation. Maintaining ambience without introducing early reflections also gives one the feeling of being in the hall where the recording was made.  Another important quality that I want is retaining kinetic energy (not losing the power of transients (many put to much damping for high frequencies and not enough bass trapping behind the speakers)

.  I have hard wood flooring behind all these speakers that maintains this quality without introducing early reflections.  A large distance, bass trapping and diffusion of high frequencies behind one's speakers produces a very realistic and pleasing sound-stage. 

[SteveFord]

Geowak,
That amp is rated at 200W into 4 Ohms so I think you'll be just fine.
If you should find yourself running out of steam (probably not) it will give you the excuse you need to buy more stuff. 
More stuff is always good, especially if you can find a plausible excuse as to why you just have to do it.

[geowak]

Well I have been saving my pennies and will be ready to listen to the Magnepan 1.7. I have decided that the 3.7 would be too big for my room. I also am looking at getting some used Bryston Monos for more current or going with a bigger or modded McCormack amp.

Here is a recap of the advice everyone pitched in

1 Give the speakers some room. Space all around.
2 Listen to them IN your room before you purchase
3 Right size speakers for the room size
4 Use a quality high current amp. More current is best.
5 WAF might be good, might not
6 Some kinds of music, might not sound ideal. Rock, Rap, etc.
7 Can make good quality recordings sound great, bad quality recordings horrible
8 Can magnify the effect of the weaker link in your system
9 Can make a person leave the box speaker forever
10 Minimum 250 watts as a rule?
11 More stuff is always good. (Gotta check with the wife on this one, she might have a different answer)
12 Might need to add a sub, if the music requires it.
13 Maggies are well liked speakers
14 You can "shack up" with a pair of Maggies for a short while with minimal commitment
15 SteveFord loves magnepan speakers
16 The speakers are BIG
17 They are a great audio bargain

That rounds out some great advice given here.

One more thing, has anyone gotten decent sound out of Maggies with a lower watt tube amp?

[TONEPUB]

Low power tube amplifiers will not drive magnepans to any kind of satisfying volume level. 

I'm guessing when you finally hear the 1.7's, you will either really enjoy them or you will not find them to be your cup of tea. If you listen to music with wide dynamic swings either rock or classical, make sure to audition that, as that is the weak point of these speakers.

Any kind of vocal or chamber music and you will be in heaven, but large orchestral or Led Zeppelin is a different story.

[ajzepp]

Geowak: I'll add one more thing to your list...

Maggies are made in the good ol' USA!!! 

BTW, Steve McCormack is very accessible and approachable (well, on the telephone anyway). He's not in charge of McCormack anymore (the company was purchased by conrad johnson), but he is still active in audio and might be someone you'd benefit from by talking to.

He helped me when I was deciding to pick up one of his former products, a multi-channel preamp called an MAP-1. I bought one a few years ago and still love it. It's built like a tank and I plan to keep it in my system for as long as they continue to make BD players with multi-channel analog outs

PS. Something else for your list....no matter what you believe about the theory of break-in, Maggies DO need a break in period in order to sound their best.

[ajzepp]

Low power tube amplifiers will not drive magnepans to any kind of satisfying volume level. 

I'm guessing when you finally hear the 1.7's, you will either really enjoy them or you will not find them to be your cup of tea. If you listen to music with wide dynamic swings either rock or classical, make sure to audition that, as that is the weak point of these speakers.

Any kind of vocal or chamber music and you will be in heaven, but large orchestral or Led Zeppelin is a different story.

I love Zeppelin on my 3.6s...the recording quality of Zeppelin II in particular is fantastic! Jimmy Pages likes to play live in my living room baby! 

[StereoNut]

My 2¢

You'll need power, power and MORE power for Maggies to have any hopes of getting even a hint of dynamics from them.  Really sweet mids, though!  Chamber music and quiet jazz present themselves  quite well.  Vocals are usually excellent.

SN

P.S. - I am not a Maggie owner, but have heard a few friends systems that have them.

[SteveFord]

While you'd never confuse them with a 100W Marshall stack, with enough tube power behind you the 1.7s can be kind of lively.  I'm using 300W monoblocks which is overkill but too much seems to be just about right.
As for a low powered tube amp, I have no experience in that area so can't be of any help.  I heard a 90W/channel Rogue amp at the dealer's with less than stellar results but I think the speakers might have been right out of the box, too.

[ajzepp]

My 2¢

You'll need power, power and MORE power for Maggies to have any hopes of getting even a hint of dynamics from them.  Really sweet mids, though!  Chamber music and quiet jazz present themselves  quite well.  Vocals are usually excellent.

SN

P.S. - I am not a Maggie owner, but have heard a few friends systems that have them.

That was true of Maggies of the past, but it's just not the case anymore. The gap has closed significantly between Maggies and box speakers in terms of dynamics. If you properly set up the larger Maggies, you can have plenty of very satisfying dynamics. I've proved this point many times to people who have heard my system, but that's because I took the time to give my 3.6s what they needed to be at their best.

I posted in another forum that I had some Ayreon playing the other day and it was dynamic as hell. Plenty loud, lots of headroom, very satisfying. Two of the best rap/hip-hop demos I have are 50 cent "In Da Club" and Eminem's "Without Me". Lots of thump, vocals clear as day, etc. It all comes down to the recording quality, IMO. Well recorded music sounds fantastic, regardless of the genre. Poorly recorded music sounds like arse.

[TONEPUB]

That was true of Maggies of the past, but it's just not the case anymore. The gap has closed significantly between Maggies and box speakers in terms of dynamics. If you properly set up the larger Maggies, you can have plenty of very satisfying dynamics. I've proved this point many times to people who have heard my system, but that's because I took the time to give my 3.6s what they needed to be at their best.

I posted in another forum that I had some Ayreon playing the other day and it was dynamic as hell. Plenty loud, lots of headroom, very satisfying. Two of the best rap/hip-hop demos I have are 50 cent "In Da Club" and Eminem's "Without Me". Lots of thump, vocals clear as day, etc. It all comes down to the recording quality, IMO. Well recorded music sounds fantastic, regardless of the genre. Poorly recorded music sounds like arse.

Sorry, I've owned or reviewed every Magnepan made and they are great speakers.  I'm currently powering mine with a pair of McIntosh MC1.2kw's (1200 wpc) and while they sound great when kept within their realm, any $3000 pair of cone speakers shows them the tail pipe when it comes to dynamics.  I've done the panel thing for thirty years now with Magnepans, Acoustats, Quads, Apogees and MartinLogans.  While the new ML's don't have quite the seamless upper bass response that the Magnepans have (one of their greatest strengths), they are able to play quite a bit louder.

No matter what speakers you have, it's always a tradeoff, but big dynamics and Magnepans, nope.

[ajzepp]

Sorry, I've owned or reviewed every Magnepan made and they are great speakers.  I'm currently powering mine with a pair of McIntosh MC1.2kw's (1200 wpc) and while they sound great when kept within their realm, any $3000 pair of cone speakers shows them the tail pipe when it comes to dynamics.  I've done the panel thing for thirty years now with Magnepans, Acoustats, Quads, Apogees and MartinLogans.  While the new ML's don't have quite the seamless upper bass response that the Magnepans have (one of their greatest strengths), they are able to play quite a bit louder.

No matter what speakers you have, it's always a tradeoff, but big dynamics and Magnepans, nope.

If you're defining "dynamics" as an absolute level of volume, then I totally agree with you. If someone is after max SPLs, then Maggies are not the speakers for them most likely.

When I think of dynamics, I am speaking of the relationship from one note to the next, not the overall volume level or how loud a pair of speakers can play.I see it more in terms of transients...transitioning from soft to strong and back and forth everywhere in between. Maggies do that very well, and as I said, I have yet to have anyone listen to my 3.6s and feel otherwise.

[SteveFord]

I think a good example of dynamics would be found at the tail end of A Day In The Life off of Sgt. Pepper, no?

That orchestra sounds really impressive on big planars when you crank the volume WAY up!  They did a great job on remastering The Beatles CDs a year or two ago.

[cityjim]

 Bang for the buck is one reason. Not many speakers deliver that and deliver world class sound while doing it. The baby 3.6 maggies were rated class A in Stereophile. Not to mention the 20.1R's 

cityjim

[Photon46]

Bang for the buck is one reason. Not many speakers deliver that and deliver world class sound while doing it. The baby 3.6 maggies were rated class A in Stereophile. Not to mention the 20.1R's 

cityjim

In my experience, the great value that the speakers themselves represent is offset by the need to partner them with expensive world class amplification if you're going to ever have a chance of hearing what they are capable of. Sure, you'll always read about someone pairing them with a powerful but reasonably priced amp and the owner will be proudly talking about how great it all sounds. (I know, I was that listener at one time ) However, once you've heard a system that does the subtle things really well, micro-dynamics, ambiance, spatial layering, you realize what Magenpan speakers lack with less than great amps. Just like Jeff says, it's always a tradeof.  We have to know what we value most in our music reproduction and try to find that within our budget. 

[oboaudio]

If you're defining "dynamics" as an absolute level of volume, then I totally agree with you. If someone is after max SPLs, then Maggies are not the speakers for them most likely.

When I think of dynamics, I am speaking of the relationship from one note to the next, not the overall volume level or how loud a pair of speakers can play.I see it more in terms of transients...transitioning from soft to strong and back and forth everywhere in between. Maggies do that very well, and as I said, I have yet to have anyone listen to my 3.6s and feel otherwise.

(Dynamic range) from the lowest perceivable sound to the highest level achievable from the loudspeaker with low distortion.  I have
owned 5 Klipschorn loudspeakers and for dynamic range they outshine Magneplanars and most other loudspeakers.   If one is
going for total loudness this is true, but the Tympani IV mid-bass combined with the Martin Logan Summits is awesome with dynamic
range and just more realistic and exciting.

 

[rollo]

 There are some good reasons and use suggestions posted however the no brainer buying factors are as follows.
    1. Having a retangular shoe boxed sized room of medium size taking advantage of the one third setup rule.
    2. They produce life like size scale & images with the smallcues that fool you into the real thing.
    3. The ribbon tweeters are probably one of the most lifelike and neutral on the market.
    4. If you already own a high powered SS amp.
    5. The price vs performance is off the charts with excellent resale value.

  The only speaker that took me away from my Maggie 3As are our current Pipedreams. I'm waiting for the new Maggie 20. something to come out. Then the Nervosa will begin all over again, oh my.


charles
SMA