[SteveFord]

Here you go:

In the past, we were participating at CES and the Newport show. With a small staff, that was too demanding and resulted in neglect in too many other areas. We will only be showing at the LA Show in June.

Our dealer in Chicago has 4 stores and has most all of our models on display from MMGs to 20.7s. A crowded demo in a hotel room is not the equal to a private audition with your music, sitting in the sweet spot and listening at your leisure.

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It looks like they still have that 1.7 home demo going.
I've had mine for a few years now in the upstairs system and with the addition of a big SVS tube sub there's no upgrade itch to scratch.

http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_16

[SwamisCat]

Thanks for the answer. Every marketing department needs to make make decisions in a world of limited resources and I respect their decision. I got an invite to their three way demo at a local store, but was out of town that day and sadly missed it.

I may even try to make it out to the California show this year.

[SwamisCat]

By the way Steve, I share your enthusiasm for the 1.7. I heard them at a friend's house in a very small room and the soundstage was fantastic. Seemless.

I have 3.7i's with two subs in a large room, and a secondary pair of old 3a's set up Limage-style in a separate medium sized room with no subs.

[ketcham]

Having owned many Maggies since 1988, I have moved on to Ambience Reference Series out of Australia.  You can order direct from the factory (much better pricing) and pay air shipping.  Sometimes they come up used at a deep discount.  Crazy efficient and the most versatile speaker providing excellent sound in challenging rooms.  If you have a tube system, consider them.  (I have no affiliation).



REFERENCE SERIES

Both our Reference models incorporate the Ambience ribbon driver, which has proven to be extremely reliable and robust.
​
These ribbon hybrid loudspeakers boast an extremely high efficiency specification of 96dB, which use extremely powerful neodymium “rare earth” magnets.
The magnets form the main integral part of the engine that creates the sound.
They produce five times the acoustical output energy as our standard series with the same rated amplifier input power.​
​
To match the high efficiency levels of the ribbon driver, we’ve had to employ double woofer arrangement in the bass section to create the low frequency output.
Marrying these two varying technologies together, a complex 18dB/Octave crossover has been specially designed utilizing “Hovland” capacitors from the U.S. These capacitors are renowned for being the finest available in the world.​
​
The crossover point is performed at a frequency less sensitive to the human ear; thus cannot be distinguished.​
​
Internal cabling is also sourced from the U.S company “Analysis Plus”; this company is rapidly gaining reputation for being one of the finest cable manufacturers within the industry.​
​
The resulting combination is a speaker system that has incredible DYNAMICS, REALISM and coupled with CLARITY that only Ribbon or Electrostatic loudspeakers can produce.​
​
The soundstage is huge, and being of di-polar type design, create a three dimensional sound field.
Because of their gradual ramp downward tendency at the upper most frequencies, listening is very smooth and relaxing, even when operated at high volume levels!​
​
​

GRAND REFERENCE

Sensitivity. 96dB @ 1metre, 2.83volts input
Power handling 150 watts RMS (long term)
Crimped metal ribbon type
Twin 180mm SEAS woofers, custom made
specifically for Ambience loudspeakers
Custom Sub Bass Driver
Rear ported bass reflex design
Nominal impedance 4 ohms
Crossover 3rd order @ 420Hz
Minimum amplifier power 10 watts RMS/channel
Ideal Amplifier power 30-70 watts RMS/channel
1840mm tall x 480mm wide x 360 deep
Weight : 68 kg / each

REFERENCE 1600

Sensitivity : 96dB @ 1metre, 2.83volts input
Power handling : 150 watts RMS (long term)
Crimped metal ribbon type
Twin 180mm SEAS woofers, custom made
specifically for Ambience loudspeakers
Rear ported bass reflex design
Nominal impedance : 4 ohms
Crossover 3rd order @ 420Hz
Minimum amplifier power 10 watts RMS/channel
Ideal Amplifier power 30-70 watts RMS/channel.
1605mm tall x 228mm wide x 432 deep
Weight : 32.5 kg / each
GRAND REFERENCE 1800
STANDARD 1800
STANDARD SERIES ​

All our models incorporate the Ambience ribbon driver, which has proven to be extremely reliable and robust.
​
The Bass driver has been specifically developed by SEAS of Norway to match the Ambience Ribbon driver, with a useful lower frequency response well below 30Hz.
​
A complex third order crossover is fitted to all models.
The crossover point is performed at a frequency less sensitive to the human ear; thus cannot be distinguished.
​
The resulting combination is a speaker system that has incredible REALISM, coupled with CLARITY that only Ribbon or Electrostatic speakers can produce.
​​
The soundstage is extremely large, and being of di-polar type design, they also have great depth.
Because of their gradual ramp downward tendency at the upper most frequencies, listening is very smooth and relaxing, even when operated at high volume levels!
​
The 1800 model creates a huge “soundstage” and performs at their best in larger rooms.
Special edition versions are available based on existing models.​


Their high efficiency makes them suitable for amplifiers with very low output power ratings of 10 watts, to a maximum continuous power output rating of 150 watt RMS /channel. With large amplifiers, extreme sound pressure levels are achievable.​
​
The Reference 1600 model have upward firing bass drivers, which gives them excellent ability to perform under any situation, irrespective of room influences and positioning. A loudspeaker that is very versatile.​
​​
Warmth, Encompassing, Surrounding. Hence the name - AMBIENCE!​

[SteveFord]

Is there a question for the Magnepan factory in there?
Maybe do a write up with some pictures and what not in a separate thread.

[speshal]

I'm one of the minority who think the whole "maggies have to be out in the middle of the room" is BS. It's a "nice to have" not "must have". Same with "Maggie's need hundreds of watts of power". Again - nice to have not must.

If you do have them close to a rear wall use some absorption behind to address excessive back slap of sound messing up sound coming from front. Same holds true for other dipole planars. I've purposefully used sloppy language to describe this.

I've been a bit disappointed with mmg-w and CC's. They just don't extend down enough in the low frequency even for surround duty and much less for CC duty. Yes - you get the wrap around dipole affect which is nice. But because the  LF is so lacking the receiver / pre pro sets the crossover point too high (like 200hz) and then your sub starts trying to play it back (bad). You end up having to manually set the crossover point on the surround lower to compensate or else you get this muffled dialogue coming out of the sub.

So I would echo SF that for side surrounds use MMGs full size on diy hinges. This what I do though it takes some work and they are big. For rear surrounds I have compromised with MMG-Ws. Still a lot of material that's not native 7.1. Its more for fill in effect so I dont sweat it as much.

The Maggie CCs have been the biggest disappointment. Adding the DMW is kludgy. And adding the cost of that ANd CC5 gets expensive. If you have the space I'd recommend the MMG on its side. I tired that once (before using it for side surround) and it was the best by far. Even if you only use one it's still only $600 a pair. You could probably resell the other to someone else who wants to do the same.

Continuing with my CC rant - Maggie's are so revealing that I'm finding often on programs the CC sound is so badly recorded that I think my CC is broken. Distorted / honky / etc. Sometimes even within the same blu ray movie - good / bad / good. What I've come to realize is that it's not the speaker but the recording. The MMG is in some ways "warmer" than the QR based CC5 so it's actually more forgiving. I would look at placing absorption behind it though as it's not practical often to place a CC too far out.

I rarely comment on forums, but reliable, quality information is hard to find.  Kudos to this guy for hitting the mark 100% with my personal experiences.  On both the placement issue and center channel,  I totally agree.

[SwamisCat]

I have a legitimate question for Wendell...

Is it advisable to build a tri-center system using NOT identical speakers, but instead a set of 3.7i's on the outside and a IIIa as the center speaker?

IOW, would the speakers be able to blend, providing the tri-center magic,  or would they likely clash?

I would have asked him this at one of his local tri center demo's, but was out of town the day he came to Chicago.

Any insight on the pros and cons of such an approach would be appreciated along with his most recent insights (if any) on the electronics necessary to pull this off.

[SteveFord]

Wendell asked you to please call him, he's not 100% sure what you're after so I think he will need some clarification and will be able to help you out that way. 

[SwamisCat]

Ok thanks. 

[buyersremorse]

I also have been intrigued by the tri-center approach and spoke with Wendell on how to set it up. He emphasized that it is critical to use a Bryston processor to make the "magic" happen, so I bought one (a 1.7 upgraded to 2.0) to play with. I learned a lot and had a great deal of fun playing around with Tri-center, but the physical layout ended up not working so well for me. I was thinking that there may be a group of forum members who want to see what the fuss is about, but don't want to commit to a somewhat expensive processor, so I thought about setting up a "chain" for forum members to trial the processor by "buying" it, then passing it on to the next buyer (no profit-taking allowed), presumably till it makes it to a forum member for whom Tri-center is a home run. What do you all think?

[josh358]

Sounds like a great idea, alas, I have no way of doing three-channel in my current setup because I have a projection screen in a small room. Which does bother me because having heard Wendell's demonstrations of both Tri-Center and conventional three channel with the Bryston processor, it's hard to go back to the phantom image of stereo. If I didn't have the screen or had a larger room and could put an acoustically transparent screen in front for movies, I'd go three channel in a second.

Maybe someday, with a short throw projector . . .

[SteveFord]

That would be a very expensive proposition for me as I'd need another VTL amp and another 3.7 plus the Bryston piece.
I have thought about it, though.

[Archguy]

  A crowded demo in a hotel room is not the equal to a private audition with your music, sitting in the sweet spot and listening at your leisure.

Truer words were never spoken.  Meanwhile I have a question: which models can still be sent back to the factory for refurbishment?  I can't afford new ones and am leery of the complexity of Maggies when it comes to repair and maintenance. But the prospect of having the experts attend to them is enticing indeed. Thx

PS: I'm an architect and I'd like to design better stands/feet for the 1.7

[josh358]

Truer words were never spoken.  Meanwhile I have a question: which models can still be sent back to the factory for refurbishment?  I can't afford new ones and am leery of the complexity of Maggies when it comes to repair and maintenance. But the prospect of having the experts attend to them is enticing indeed. Thx

PS: I'm an architect and I'd like to design better stands/feet for the 1.7

As far as I know, they can still repair every model, or almost every one. They have custom jigs and stretching tables, a dedicated paint booth, all the old specs. The repair operation is like a little factory within the factory.

[josh358]

That would be a very expensive proposition for me as I'd need another VTL amp and another 3.7 plus the Bryston piece.
I have thought about it, though.

And how would you get a single 3.7?

[SteveFord]

Find somebody else doing the same thing and split a pair, same with the amp.

[buyersremorse]

One thing I learned was that the Tri-center approach seems to work best for me with three of the same speakers.  I haven't been as happy when a Magnepan center channel is part of the mix.  I wonder if Magnepan would consider starting to sell individual speakers (or sets of 3)?
Steve, at one point I believe you had a 3.7 on its side as a center channel.  When I tried it (albeit without appropriate stands), I had some issues with dispersion, and it didn't sound as good as with the center speaker upright.

[josh358]

Find somebody else doing the same thing and split a pair, same with the amp.

You want to saw the amp in half?

I wonder how feasible it is to do that (find someone doing the same thing, that is).

[bdp24]

You want to saw the amp in half?

I wonder how feasible it is to do that (find someone doing the same thing, that is).

Dual mono amps, ya big silly.

[josh358]

Dual mono amps, ya big silly.

Heh, yes, I got that.