Magnepan LRS Speaker Review

[vkvedam]

Hehe, I was in search of the panther after going through the entire review report

 

[Haint]

Amirm, ignoring the tonality, can you give more detailed impressions of the the dipole sound field and what you thought of it in comparison to traditional speakers? The only comments I've ever read on it were either from invested owners, or shills/salesmen trying to push panels.

 

[Vini darko]

Hehe, I was in search of the panther after going through the entire review report

We need a confused panther for stuff like this.

 

[mac]

We need a confused panther for stuff like this.

A bust of Confucius might be more fitting.

 

[pavuol]

We need a confused panther for stuff like this.

I haven't found the one you request but how about this one?

 

[StefaanE]

What about this one?

 

[Ilkless]

Seems begging to be wall-mounted. I don't get why people don't wall-mount panels more. No SBIR, 2pi radiation environment. Downside is that there is no dipole cancellation to maintain directivity down to, and below, Shroeder of course.

 

[LTig]

Seems begging to be wall-mounted. I don't get why people don't wall-mount panels more. No SBIR, 2pi radiation environment. Downside is that there is no dipole cancellation to maintain directivity down to, and below, Shroeder of course.

This is impossible since they radiate half of the acoustic energy on the backside.

 

[Ilkless]

This is impossible since they radiate half of the acoustic energy on the backside.

So how does Magnepan design their on-wall stuff? Sealed rear end?

 

[q3cpma]

Thanks a lot for the detailed review. As someone who never heard panels, I guess I understand why their only serious use is in tweeter units. But now I wonder how a 3-way model with an integrated subwoofer using a DSP crossover might solve some issues it has (isn't it what Magnepan is trying to develop?).

Seems begging to be wall-mounted. I don't get why people don't wall-mount panels more. No SBIR, 2pi radiation environment. Downside is that there is no dipole cancellation to maintain directivity down to, and below, Shroeder of course.

Wall mounting isn't flush mounting. Though I guess the Magnepans are so thin there's not much difference.

 

[Vuki]

Spinorama is obviously wrong measurement technique for this type of loudspeaker.

 

[MZKM]

Crossover to a traditional bookshelf/tower below 300Hz, then cross that speaker over to subs at 80Hz.

Rythmik sells a mid-bass module, not cheap though and is rated for 250Hz:
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FM8.html

 

[jazzendapus]

Spinorama is obviously wrong measurement technique for this type of loudspeaker.

Might as well claim that human being is the wrong type of biological organism to be listening to those speakers.

 

[edechamps]

I have added the Magnepan LRS to Loudspeaker Explorer where it can be compared to other speakers.

Consistency within the listening window is… well… non-existent. This speaker deserves his reputation for having an insanely tight sweet spot:

 

[milosz]

A $650 speaker shouldn’t need a $6500 amplifier to sound great.

These don't. Any amp with a fair amount of power that can handle the low impedance will work fine. For example, you can buy a used Parasound HCA1000a for $500 and it will drive these speakers beautifully.

These speakers can do quite a reasonable job reproducing symphonic music in a manner that generally sounds more realistic than any other sub-$1000 speaker I've heard. Also decent for acoustic jazz. Probably not a good speaker for pop, disco, hip-hop, metal, action movies....

Yes, you do have to fiddle with placement.

They are dipoles. Just like open-baffle speakers they drive the room differently at the low end than boxes. I don't think Amirm's measurement method is completely valid for dipoles or open baffle designs. I'd like to see his speaker measurement technique applied to the very well regarded LX521. It was designed by Siegfried Linkwitz. You know, of the Linkwitz-Riley crossover.... not exactly a hack when it comes to audio design, I daresay. I'd bet flaws in this Klippel measurement design would show up there, too.

 

[q3cpma]

These don't. Any amp with a fair amount of power that can handle the low impedance will work fine. For example, you can buy a used Parasound HCA1000a for $500 and it will drive these speakers beautifully.

You add $500 to the price and you reach the price of active models like the 8030C, though. I'm personally more interested in the bigger models, even if the vertical beaming won't change with those.

They are dipoles. Just like open-baffle speakers they drive the room differently at the low end than boxes.

Sorry, couldn't resist: what low end?

I don't think Amirm's measurement method is completely valid for dipoles or open baffle designs. I'd like to see his speaker measurement technique applied to the very well regarded LX521. It was designed by Siegfried Linkwitz. You know, of the Linkwitz-Riley crossover.... not exactly a hack when it comes to audio design, I daresay. I'd bet flaws in this Klippel measurement design would show up there, too.

Might be, but I think there's a bit of wishful thinking here.

 

[Vuki]

Might as well claim that human being is the wrong type of biological organism to be listening to those speakers.

Spinorama and in-room response mismatch is to large.

 

[edechamps]

Vertical Offset
Preference Rating
SCORE: 1.0

@MZKM Loudspeaker Explorer computes a score of -0.3, not 1.0, using the data set @amirm attached to the review (which I presume is the vertically offset one, judging from the name). This is surprising as your calculation is usually identical to mine. I computed NBD_ON=0.728806, NBD_PIR=0.433469, SM_PIR=0.191031, LFX=2.383275. Can you provide your breakdown?

 

[MZKM]

These don't. Any amp with a fair amount of power that can handle the low impedance will work fine. For example, you can buy a used Parasound HCA1000a for $500 and it will drive these speakers beautifully.

These speakers can do quite a reasonable job reproducing symphonic music in a manner that generally sounds more realistic than any other sub-$1000 speaker I've heard. Also decent for acoustic jazz. Probably not a good speaker for pop, disco, hip-hop, metal, action movies....

Yes, you do have to fiddle with placement.

They are dipoles. Just like open-baffle speakers they drive the room differently at the low end than boxes. I don't think Amirm's measurement method is completely valid for dipoles or open baffle designs. I'd like to see his speaker measurement technique applied to the very well regarded LX521. It was designed by Siegfried Linkwitz. You know, of the Linkwitz-Riley crossover.... not exactly a hack when it comes to audio design, I daresay. I'd bet flaws in this Klippel measurement design would show up there, too.

Yeah, I wasn‘t talking about these specifically, but in general, like people who say you need a $3000 amp to make the LS50 shine.

 

[MZKM]

@MZKM Loudspeaker Explorer computes a score of -0.3, not 1.0, using the data set @amirm attached to the review (which I presume is the vertically offset one, judging from the name). This is surprising as your calculation is usually identical to mine. I computed NBD_ON=0.728806, NBD_PIR=0.433469, SM_PIR=0.191031, LFX=2.383275. Can you provide your breakdown?

Similar:
NBD_ON: ~0.73
NBD_PIR: ~0.43
SM_PIR: ~0.19
LFX: 2.1

The LFX is what is causing the large difference.

AVG SPL 300-1000: 82.3dB
-6dB: 76.3dB
Hz matching 76.3dB: 124.5Hz

Whoops, you are correct. Mine was limited in the upper frequency range to account for high Q dips, but this one really is -6dB @ 241.7Hz, due to the narrow dispersion in the bass. Will fix.