Magnepan LRS Speaker Review

[BDWoody]

Time spent with cats is never wasted.

A Freud man I see!

 

[fabrizzio71]

Great thanks sharing curves and mdat-file and feel free for my comment about system tuning ignore whatever i say ..

In below your L/R channel curves are FDW filtered 1/6 width in cycle overlaid to some theoretical targets and PIR suggested for CEA/CTA2034 in Amir's LRS analyze, suggest try look at slopes and/or timing where LRS and sub meet each other in they could look have interference each other at 57Hz and suggest this because your seperate LRS measurements pages back didnt suggest a room mode there but maybe a tiny little one around 40Hz area, also sub looks much too hot below 40Hz and if the too hot sub is to mask that LRS looks roll off as CEA/CTA2034 PIR suggest then suggest try some EQ high shelf in 100-300Hz area and dial the top of LRS down 3-6dB and see how that will sound..

View attachment 87271

Thanks for the suggestions! I will do some testing of the sub by itself and see what it does in the 40-250 hz range. No crossover I tried would get rid of the huge dips in the bass region, but I will experiment with phase again. Below 40hz, the sub spike looks extreme, but I do not find the bass overpowering at all when listening.

 

[BYRTT]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will do some testing of the sub by itself and see what it does in the 40-250 hz range. No crossover I tried would get rid of the huge dips in the bass region, but I will experiment with phase again. Below 40hz, the sub spike looks extreme, but I do not find the bass overpowering at all when listening.

If it happen you have EQ available then via CAD software and Amir's spindata i can come with whatever corrected roll off slope for LRS if you happen know what slopes your sub support that theorectical should sum smooth for situation, just tell me a slope and frequency number that is within reason of native LRS roll off and you get back some PEQ settings to add to LRS where imagine some Linkwitz Riley 4th order will work in those slopes sum flat if acoustic timing and center to center distance is not too far, for example below magenta target curve overlaid to LRS on xis is of Linkwitz Riley slope 4th order @60Hz..

 

[fabrizzio71]

If it happen you have EQ available then via CAD software and Amir's spindata i can come with whatever corrected roll off slope for LRS if you happen know what slopes your sub support that theorectical should sum smooth for situation, just tell me a slope and frequency number that is within reason of native LRS roll off and you get back some PEQ settings to add to LRS where imagine some Linkwitz Riley 4th order will work in those slopes sum flat if acoustic timing and center to center distance is not too far, for example below magenta target curve overlaid to LRS on xis is of Linkwitz Riley slope 4th order @60Hz..
View attachment 87288

Thanks,I’ll look into this, the slope for my sub crossover is 12db/octave. I think I could apply EQ and/or PEQ with JRiver as well as convolution filters, but I don’t have any system wide dsp solution like dirac.

 

[BYRTT]

Thanks,I’ll look into this, the slope for my sub crossover is 12db/octave. I think I could apply EQ and/or PEQ with JRiver as well as convolution filters, but I don’t have any system wide dsp solution like dirac.

Oh nice you have Jriver then we have limitless PEQs available, i use Jriver myself as player and also have stand alone Jriver computer to steer a active crossover speaker system and a dedicated notebook to correct for head phones, convolution filters are great but it add some more or less delay. Okay sub is low passed 2nd order, not shure that integrate natural smooth to LRS that general roll off 4th order with a non smooth knee that could use some EQ to form a known slope, if your soundcard is multi channel we could transfer sub to 4th order Linkwitz Riley @60 or @80Hz and EQ LRS to same slope and they should then integrate smooth if sub is situated close to LRS panel. About systemwide for Jriver if you pick "Options/General/Features" and tick on "WDM driver" you get a new virtual system soundcard that if you set as the default playback device and Jriver is open then the correction in DSP is proccessed for whatever system sounds.

 

[CDMC]

Since we are still going around about this and how Maggies perform in room and what larger Maggies do, I figured I would post a couple of response plots of my 3.5s that I took before selling them. The room is 20x21 with a pony wall splitting part of the room. Ceiling slopes between 10=18 feet and there are large openings to other rooms. Speakers were a bit under 3 feet from the front wall with GIK absorption/diffusion panels treating the primary front wall reflection from the back of the speakers. Side walls were 5+ feet and the listening position about 9 feet from the speakers. Tweeters on the inside with them properly toed in to have the tweeters located further from the listeners ears than the panels as per Magnepan. The measurements were taken from the listening position, with the mike moved 6" left and right from the primary position to get the 3 measurement average. Finally, the speakers had a 2 ohm resistor to lower the ribbon tweeter level (1.7khz crossover from the midrange to ribbon), so without it, the frequency response above 1.7khz would likely be a couple of db higher. The woofer panel in the 3.5R is 620 sq inches.

The 3.5 have good, solid bass response in room, but I always preferred them with subwoofers (as I did the 2.7s which were virtually the same speaker with a QR tweeter instead of ribbon) and high passed at 80hz. I never ran distortion sweeps on them, but can tell you that even with 600 watts per speaker, they run out output at about 100 db peaks at the listening position getting audible distortion and compression if pushed harder.

 

[Wes]

Why the drop at ~~200 Hz ?

 

[BYRTT]

Most probably secret sauce of his room enviroment ..

 

[CDMC]

Why the drop at ~~200 Hz ?

Probably floor bounce. Also there with my F208, but Salk Song 3 didn’t have, but their woofer is close to the floor.

 

[Justin Ayers]

Late to the thread but I'm not surprised by the measurements at all. I had a brand new pair of maggie 1.7i's still within the return window when I quickly set up a pair of LSR305s next to them. After about a minute of the 305s playing, I had enough to know the 1.7i's were going back. I don't think I've ever felt a purchasing panic moment like that before. I've owned 3 different versions of the MMGs over the years (still have Super MMGs with 2 bass panels boxed up) along with some Newform research R630s so I was a fan of panels/ribbons for quite some time.

TLDR, panel speakers are a lie. Definitely a strong speaker for "little girl with a guitar" music though.

Have you tested any of the larger panel speakers?

MartinLogan sells one for just under $100,000, for instance.

My favorite, however, is the Soviet Statik-2M, once made in St. Petersburg. I haven't heard it but I have no doubt that it's the speaker for me, based on the color alone (which, to be sure, was an even nicer seafoam because I keep my monitor white point very low).

Perhaps the better way of putting it is: One cannot scrimp much on panel size with panel speakers?

(1.7is don't have the ribbon tweeter, also. The MMGs also do not.)

The computer shop in Moscow also tested the Statik-2M speakers and came to the conclusion that they are very demanding in terms of the room acoustics, and that a surface area even about 30 square-meters would be insufficient to unleash their potential. They managed to get the maximum sound quality in the room about 50 square meters. In smaller rooms, and poor acoustics, the sound stage blurred, the localization of images suffered, and the impression of the depth of the sound almost disappeared, was their verdict. They also stress that because the speakers radiate sound equally to both directions, they must be installed very carefully further away from the rear walls and corners. It is also desirable to unload the room as much as possible from furniture and other reflective decorative elements. Moreover, they say, it is advisable to listen to these speakers from a sufficient distance, preferably at least 4-5 meters.

There is also the Orion from Analysis Audio (Athens Greece). It retails for just under the ML I mentioned but a used one is currently available for 40K.

 

[12B4A]

Have you tested any of the larger panel speakers?

No. I'd expect more bass but it'd be reasonable to expect little to no change in the treble and midrange.

MartinLogan sells one for just under $100,000, for instance.

The context here is a pair of $650 speakers and 2K for the 1.7i (no 20.1 or 30.1). The silent inference is that one can do far better in this price range than maggies. If people have a preference for what they do, great. Just don't kid yourself though on objective SQ comparisons.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

No. I'd expect more bass but it'd be reasonable to expect little to no change in the treble and midrange.



The context here is a pair of $650 speakers and 2K for the 1.7i (no 20.1 or 30.1). The silent inference is that one can do far better in this price range than maggies. If people have a preference for what they do, great. Just don't kid yourself though on objective SQ comparisons.

You've made two posts in this thread....both of them hilarious. You're on a roll mate.
I think maybe the irony of kidding yourself is lost on you.

Dave.

 

[12B4A]

You've made two posts in this thread....both of them hilarious. You're on a roll mate.
I think maybe the irony of kidding yourself is lost on you.

Dave.

Bring up a counterpoint, otherwise you're just ad hominem.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Bring up a counterpoint, otherwise you're just ad hominem.

The ad hominem started with you, not me. Did you lose sight of that?????
Maybe this might refresh your memory:
"TLDR, panel speakers are a lie. Definitely a strong speaker for "little girl with a guitar" music though."

Dave.

 

[Juhazi]

Why the drop at ~~200 Hz ?

Front wall reflection! With a dipole it happens higher than monopoles, this freq matches with 3' from front wall

http://musicanddesign.speakerdesign.net/Boundary_reflections.html

http://www.mh-audio.nl/acoustics/CancellationFreq.html
http://arqen.com/acoustics-101/speaker-placement-boundary-interference/

 

[amirm]

Let's dial down the emotions and personal comments please. That's not how we behave here.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Let's dial down the emotions and personal comments please. That's not how we behave here.

Since the vast majority of folks commenting on audio forums are anonymous, I get a kick out of admonition's regarding (no) "personal" comments.
And the fact that they are anonymous is used to make commentary more "personal" than it would be otherwise.
People hiding behind anonymous monikers is something that needs to be changed. ASR might be a good place to start.

Anyways, highlighting the hypocrisy of commentary that's become all too common on ASR should be just fine, in my opinion.

Dave.

 

[Ron Texas]

Most probably secret sauce of his room enviroment ..

In my room the peak is at 188hz. Usually there is a dip between 100hz and 200hz due to quarter wave cancellation.

 

[q3cpma]

The ad hominem started with you, not me. Did you lose sight of that?????
Maybe this might refresh your memory:
"TLDR, panel speakers are a lie. Definitely a strong speaker for "little girl with a guitar" music though."

Dave.

Do you even know what an ad hominem is? Where is the personal attack or even link with any person in this sentence?

 

[cathodeb]

Since the vast majority of folks commenting on audio forums are anonymous, I get a kick out of admonition's regarding (no) "personal" comments.
And the fact that they are anonymous is used to make commentary more "personal" than it would be otherwise.
People hiding behind anonymous monikers is something that needs to be changed. ASR might be a good place to start.

Anyways, highlighting the hypocrisy of commentary that's become all too common on ASR should be just fine, in my opinion.

Dave.

There's always that one guy who has to say something snarky - almost always ad hominem attacks. You just have to let it go Dreite and stay on point, you'll waste a lot of time otherwise.