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No love for Magnepan???

Blumlein 88

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I enjoy mine. :D A pair of MGIII with modified crossovers, biamped, and augmented with a custom 18" subwoofer driven by a dedicated outboard amp.

SgvMo4Z.jpg

Is the plant on the sub strategically placed? Reel to reel keeping it real.

On this cool damp night, your picture looks like a warm inviting place to settle in and dissolve into some nice music.
 

gattaca

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Interesting thread! A perfect summary from earlier quote: "They're a great option for people who want planar sound but don't have the room, or a cooperative spouse. I think they're severely underutilized. "

WRT " #62 Anyone with any thoughts on Magnepan's wall-mount speakers, such as the MMGW, MC1 or MMC 2?"

I had a set of EV 35i (they were made just briefly when EV was playing in the consumer market) until I auditioned a set of Maggies at local dealer. My wife ended up giving me a set of less $ (and smaller) ones to replace the EVs. Since then I've had Maggies for nearly 30+ years - everything from used to new. I've seen the wire/glue issues mentioned on the older models too but kept trading up. I've never been able to upgrade to the larger panels simply because my HT setup is in the main great-room of the home so my SAF of having more "big black monoliths" in the room is non-negotiable.

Today the setup uses the 4 x MC1 wall-mounted for surrounds + 2 x MG10.1/QR for center. The surrounds are set to 30-45 degree toe-angle which I change occasionally just playing around. The centers flank each side of the wall mounted TV, are elevated to screen height on cabinets and are also set with a slight toe angle. They are not wall mounted are are at least 12"+ from the rear wall. Like others have said, these "smaller" maggies need assistance in the < 80 Hz area so mine are supplemented with a pair of older HSU passive subs with a crossover around 80 Hz.

IMHO, the MC1 panels are amazing above 80 Hz and they can fill the space with some amazing HT / films. The MC2 (motorized) units are "better" panels than the MC1 but they came out after I purchased mine. Plus the thought of running more wires to operate the motors is a a bit of a challenge and likely maintenance.

As for AMPs, yeap, maggies eat power for breakfast. I agree per earlier comments, using less than ~ 200WPC on maggies would be a struggle to reach reference levels. Maggies are more resistive low ohm loads vs. reactive loads in "non-panel" designs and they not considered "efficient" speakers because of the very large panel designs. There are a limited number of higher quality amps that can deal with 2-4 ohms at those power levels. Today I've deployed Sunfire's 7 x 400WPC channel to drive all the maggies. The center channel is split and separately amplified to each panel.

Results? Sounds amazing to me (and nearly everyone who's heard them), especially in the sweet spot. It's not bad even outta the MLP b/c the sound reflecting off the walls behind the panels really fills the space. Funny thing is a guy and I were talking at work and I had to get him to consider that the whole panel is radiating sound vs a tweeter or midrange standard driver. That helped with his "light-bulb" understanding of why I chose these speakers over "standard" drivers. BTW, the space is part of a very open floor plan approaching 9K+ ft3. Trust me, they will play to reference levels without effort when you have powerful AMPs backing them. The key is getting the low end driven by good subs. Let the panels do what they do best and you will be heading down the dark-side of "monoliths..." :) Peace.
 
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MattHooper

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I have enjoyed listening to Maggies before. My buddy had a pair, and I've auditioned a few in the past.

I started out with Quad ESL 63s, enamoured of that particular sense of boxless/transparency of the electrostatic. I grew impatient,though,with what to me was a lack of guts, a weightless presentation that I heard in all electrostatics. So I moved on to box/dynamic speakers. To my ear, for whatever reason, the Maggies were half way between an electrostatic and box speaker, in that they gave that dipole/planar box-free "transparent" sound, but seemed to do it with a bit more force and solidity and "meat on the bones." I still ultimately preferred box speakers. But a recent listen to Maggies at an audio show reminded me of their charms.
 

DonH56

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I had Maggies for many years, starting with a pair of used MG-I's in 1979 after hearing them for a few years before then. They had some issues but I managed to keep them going until I upgraded to MG-IIIa's in 1988 after a lot of auditioning and debate (final contenders were B&W 801's and Magnepan 20.7's -- the ESL's I liked but for various reasons dropped off the list at the end). I still have them but in storage now (they were up and down some over the years depending on living space and such). Around 2007 or so I added a CC3 and four MC1's to create a 7.1 system (with Rythmik subs) in my new media room when we finished our basement (about ten years late). That lasted until around 2017 when I decided to try conventional speakers again and purchased some Revels. Pros and cons but I am happy with the Revels.

I used to work for a store that sold and serviced Maggies (from around 1979 to 1984) so I had a lot of experience, good and bad, in my youth. With them and a whole lot of other speakers (and other stuff, natch).
 

josh358

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That must have been quite a 7.1 system! Though Jim Winey told me he has seven 20.1's (and who knows, he may have upgraded since then). :)
 

ehabheikal

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I had a pair of SMG, then upgraded to 1.7 when it was newly released, and enjoyed both very much. When we downsized from a house to an apartment, I just didn't have the room for them.
Dear Sir, i have smg with bass panels one for each, i was thinking of upgrading, is it worth it?
 

Apesbrain

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Dear Sir, i have smg with bass panels one for each, i was thinking of upgrading, is it worth it?
As much as I liked the SMG, for the me the 1.7 was a big upgrade. It's physically twice the size and, in a moderately large room (20' x 16'), the presentation reflected that. I ran them both always with an REL subwoofer, so I can't offer any thoughts on what difference the addition of the Magnepan bass panels might make. Your setup should already sound pretty good!
 

Wes

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I have a love-hate relationship with my Magnepan 3.7i's - I love the sound but hate the size.

also would love the sound more if there was more bass; I'll be interested to see what they do next, and hope the 'new' system Wendell has talked about is distributed speakers with amps & DSP...
 

josh358

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I have a love-hate relationship with my Magnepan 3.7i's - I love the sound but hate the size.

also would love the sound more if there was more bass; I'll be interested to see what they do next, and hope the 'new' system Wendell has talked about is distributed speakers with amps & DSP...
If they do make it (they've only showed a lab prototype so far) the plan is to include both DSP and an amp for the woofer.
 
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lennard

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I've been looking at a similar group of speakers: Magnepan, Ohm, Spatial, and Eminent Technology.

Amongst several unknowns and challenges is the "direct sales model", used by all but Magnepan, which makes auditions difficult here in Dallas.

I just made my choice of speakers based upon available room placement.

Three of the contenders require 3 feet of rear clearance from the wall: Magnepan 1.7i, Eminent Technology LPT 8b, and Spatial M3. That is doable only on the short wall of my 14' x 24' living room.

HOWEVER, that position creates a cascade of issues: furniture placement, re-installing a tiled-in HDTV, removal of a beautiful bookcase to gain space, and odd room orientation once accomplished.

Choosing the long-wall position and a narrow Ohm speaker, which must be used close to the wall, has multiple benefits.

Positioning the Ohms on the long wall flanking my fireplace allows the use of the stereo gear in support of HDTV videos. The HDTV itself will not have to be removed from its tiled-in nest in the fireplace, and the resulting room will focus on the fireplace and HDTV as I think it should.
It might seem strange that I've given so much consideration to things other than speakers' sound. As I cannot easily audition 3 of the 4 contenders, and that a good used pair of Ohms has come available, makes it very reasonable to me.
 

josh358

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I've been looking at a similar group of speakers: Magnepan, Ohm, Spatial, and Eminent Technology.

Amongst several unknowns and challenges is the "direct sales model", used by all but Magnepan, which makes auditions difficult here in Dallas.

I just made my choice of speakers based upon available room placement.

Three of the contenders require 3 feet of rear clearance from the wall: Magnepan 1.7i, Eminent Technology LPT 8b, and Spatial M3. That is doable only on the short wall of my 14' x 24' living room.

HOWEVER, that position creates a cascade of issues: furniture placement, re-installing a tiled-in HDTV, removal of a beautiful bookcase to gain space, and odd room orientation once accomplished.

Choosing the long-wall position and a narrow Ohm speaker, which must be used close to the wall, has multiple benefits.

Positioning the Ohms on the long wall flanking my fireplace allows the use of the stereo gear in support of HDTV videos. The HDTV itself will not have to be removed from its tiled-in nest in the fireplace, and the resulting room will focus on the fireplace and HDTV as I think it should.
It might seem strange that I've given so much consideration to things other than speakers' sound. As I cannot easily audition 3 of the 4 contenders, and that a good used pair of Ohms has come available, makes it very reasonable to me.
There's nothing wrong with choosing a speaker on the basis of practicality -- after all, you have to be able to fit the damn thing . . .
 

iLoveCats

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I really like the magnepans, haven't had an experience like that with any other speaker. I'd redesign the room. I can't support any TV's mounted above fireplaces anyway.
 

raindance

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I really like the magnepans, haven't had an experience like that with any other speaker. I'd redesign the room. I can't support any TV's mounted above fireplaces anyway.
No! You're right, TV above the fireplace is the silliest fad and has probably made a lot of money for chiropractors. Although now there's a decently clever mount that lets the TV pull out and down for use; I would assume the TV would prefer the fire to not be in use though :)
 

watchnerd

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No! You're right, TV above the fireplace is the silliest fad and has probably made a lot of money for chiropractors. Although now there's a decently clever mount that lets the TV pull out and down for use; I would assume the TV would prefer the fire to not be in use though :)

Chiropractors?

I hung my TV myself. It's not heavy.

My TV is on my fireplace.

I use the fireplace.

It doesn't melt the tv.
 

DonH56

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My TV weighs around 50 pounds but at 65" diagonal is big enough to be very awkward for one person to handle.

The issues with TVs and fireplaces in general are higher operating heat (which shortens life) and fumes/particulates from the fireplace (less a problem with gas -- ours is wood). The latter are somewhat less a problem these days without the high voltage anode to generate a nice static field to attract particles from the air.
 

watchnerd

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I'm not talking about weight! It's far too high!

Far too high for what?

I have a remote. I don't have to do some weird back action to interact with the TV (although mine isn't high, anyway).

If you're talking about neck angle when seated......bad angling / mounting can happen on a regular wall, too.

That's not really a "fireplace thing".

My fireplace has no mantle. So I can mount the TV anyplace on the chimney / hearth I want.
 
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