[SteveFord]

There seems to be such a disparity between magazine reviews and a lot of the audiophile reviews on the chat rooms when it comes to planar speakers.  The 1.7 is a prime example - reviews have gone from raves to they're a retrograde step.
I think that a lot of it has to do with the dealer's set up.  They're so sensitive to room placement, room treatment, break-in and ancilliary gear.
For those of us who have gone out to the dealerships, what have you found that they're doing right and what improvements could you suggest that they implement?
I'll start:
I went to The Listening Room in Baltimore to hear some 1.7s and he had great gear driving them but the room was just way too overdamped for my tastes which really put the kabosh on the highs.  The wider soundstage over the 1.6 was readily apparant.
What I liked I heard enough to order a pair but I won't be able to say for sure until they show up and are plugged in here at home.



 

[baumer]

B&M stores by me are pretty non-existent but there is one little store that I drove by about a month ago and decided to stop in. The owner basically cherry picks what he wants so he has one or two pieces from a number of manufacturers.

He had some 1.7's powered by a Bryston B100-SST. They were set up in the corner of his store with a half-wall, approx. 4 ft. high, to the side of the right speaker. The speakers were roughly 2'-3' from the wall behind.

FYI, I have never heard planar speakers before this day. I've had Salk Songtowers for about three years and wasn't even considering new speakers anytime soon. I had him put on some Bill Evans and was amazed at the sound coming out of the 1.7's. The biggest difference for me was how the music filled up the room. Not just the immediate area, but his whole shop. I haven't stopped thinking about those since and will be able to do an in-home demo soon.

I guess I was amazed that after reading on the 'net about how picky planars can be in terms of placement and electronics how this simple set-up just sounded so good.

I can't wait for your impressions of the 1.7's when you get them Steve.

Doug

[jackman]

I haven't heard the new 1.7's but have listened to several nice Maggies through the years (a local chain is a dealer) and I really enjoy the way they sound.  The image is massive and they do things very few speakers do.

The large Maggies are amazing but I was particularly impressed with the little MMG. For the money, these are a true bargain.  I don't know how well these speakers do with Rock music or at high spl's but Jazz vocals and piano can sound spooky good on them, IMO.

Someday I hope to have several systems and one of them will include large Magnepan speakers.  I'd also like a large horn or waveguide speaker system.

[krikor]

B&M stores by me are pretty non-existent but there is one little store that I drove by about a month ago and decided to stop in.

I see you are in MI. Would that happen to be Harry's place on Woodward? Great guy and a great place to stop for a listen. Been a long time since I've been there, but I've burned several afternoons just hanging out, listening to music and talking to whoever happened to come by. More like a clubhouse than a store.  And Harry knows his Magnepans... been selling them since they were first introduced.

Back on topic - Maggies have never failed to impress me with their sound in virtually any setup. They simply sound good just plunked down in a room without a lot of hoopla. But they are not going to sound their best or show how they can outperform often more costly conventional speakers without some attention.

The problem is listening to a pair just plunked down in a room and comparing that to other speakers (at the same or a different location) that have been properly setup. In the end, I think you have to hear what they are capable of in your own home and they only way to do that is with a loaner from a B&M (my preference), buying with a return policy (and eating any restocking or shipping fees) or taking a risk on new/used equipment knowing you will have to sell them if it doesn't work out (been there all too often but that's just part of the fun).

[baumer]

krikor,

Actually I'm in Grand Rapids. Home of the other Maggie dealer in Mi.!

I was just back there today to see how my better half responded to the 1.7's. Amazingly she didn't have a problem with the look at all and was amazed at how they filled the entire room with music. Oh, and they sounded good too! While she does enjoy music, she does a fantastic job at humoring me and my crazy hobbies. 

I will be able to do a home demo also. I'll be very interested how they work with my space and my equipment.

[cityjim]

 Here are my observations. I was in the US Army years ago. Obviously got to travel all over the States and world. I would have my own quest to visit every high end shop I could at the next base I would be at. Most of the time and this was taken from many shops but mainly I left unimpressed. The only memorable time I can share was a used set of SMG A's at a shop in Oklahoma. They were sitting about a foot from the back wall next to the cash register of all places. Not even on display like in the other rooms. Just sitting there with nothing connected to them. At that time years ago my first setup and was a Denon receiver. I asked if we could play them with my receiver and compare to possibly another amp. Actually they had another amp there I just remembered about. Anyway those SMG A's made Sting come alive in the lobby of that shop. You could no BS close your eyes and hear and feel Sting RIGHT THERE. Needless to say I was damn impressed by those used speakers for life. They wanted a whole $300 for the pair and were perfect. I should of bought them but was tight on cash. Blame it on college.

 Like mentioned I've been to several really high end shops in NY and LA to name a few. Georgia, San Francisco and so on. Europe was rather lame from what I saw. I actually live in Dubai now. Not much to brag about over here either. Anyway out of all those dealer rooms I knew the equipment could be better setup or they could of used a different amp to make the speakers sing.  Most of the time everyone would use brand X preamp and brand Y amps. And the resulting sound was poor. Nothing like using matched components from the same manufacturer. To me you get the best synergy doing this. I've tried brand X and Y gear only to replace them both. Now I use Audio Mirror components totally. Nothing like proper impedances to the next piece to keep the soul of the music intact.

 And as we know the room is what makes the speakers sound good or not. Crap speakers in a good room will come alive. Or like my case 20.1R's in a too small room, for now that is sound poor. I know they can do a lot better with more breathing room. I've heard a pair of older 20's in Kuwait that were awesome. Reason I bought the 20.1R's. That dealer had a very large room that made the speakers sing. The entire room was the sweet spot. Impressed to say the least. Nice topic SteveFord.

cityjim

[josh358]

Cityjim, I share your frustration, my current listening room is too small for the models I'd like. While there's no true substitute for a large room, you might be able to affect a significant improvement with a bit of room treatment, e.g., diffusion at the first reflection point behind the speaker and the points to the side. And some bass traps if you're getting the usual small room bass lumpiness. Also, if you're getting too much bass and the speakers are sounding tubby because the speakers are so big the backwave is being blocked, I wouldn't shy away from bass EQ.