The Official Magnepan Owners Thread - Page 2

I listen to mostly rock, and volume has never been a problem for me. MC-1's in front MMG-w's in back, MMG-c's center and rear channel. Velodyne and JBL subs. all driven by a lowly Onkyo 805. Plenty loud, trust me.

I am used to unlimited dynamics with little distortion, check out my sig. I owned MMG's before and loved their sound but did not have alot of dynamics. My amp now can provide 600 watts into them and was wondering if that would make a difference.

They will have better dynamics if fed sufficient power but nothing like the larger Maggies. Try to audition 1.6QR's if you can. The difference is like night and day.

How much money ya got?
Kinda like the "how fast do you want your car to go" question.
However,
Loud isn't the point with a magneplanar, just like fast isn't the point with a Rolls Royce.
Rolls used to list the horsepower as..."Sufficient"

The reason I went with the MMg's is because of location, the MMg's were delivered to my door. Basically What I am looking for(I already have but still curious) is for reference level playback with no compression and low distortion. Can the Maggies play 105 db's peak with a 80 hz crossover into my 8 sealed 18's. I have the midbass to very low bass covered.

I'm curious why you want 105 db?
The only thing I can say is Magneplanars are like windows to the sound. The bigger the window the more light/sound. but less like the laser of a driver, more like the brightness of a sunny day. Still PLENTY of light/sound.
The bigger the Maggie the bigger the window.

My listening room is 12'x11'6". I have a pair of MMG's driven by a bada-dc222 amp. The other night I was listening to some Peter Gabriel at a volume I found very enjoyable and comfortable. Some of the bass caused a slight vibration in my chest. I happened to be A-B'ing a CD with my Squeezebox. Turns out I was listening at about 72-75DB.

Do Maggies go loud enough? It depends on what you consider loud, but for me, they are plenty loud.

105 db's is dolby and THX reference levels and my room can play reference levels without being crazy. I have a dead room, no echos, rattles, nothing. Like I said I have owned the maggies before(mmg's) and they are the best speaker at that price, Hands down not even close. I was wondering if I can get more dynamics without compression(I know once they reach a certain loudness they will just compress). My room is a dedicated theater first, then gaming and sports watching. The maggies will be the opposite of what I have now, professional JBL cinema speakers which work awesome in my room.

I am not worried about the kick as the subs will provide that for me. I want to try Maggies again but afraid that the soundstage might shrink and the lose dynamics from what I have now. My cinema speakers measure 51 inches tall and and 30 inches wide and were made for a 75 seat cinema. They have much more resolution than many if not all would expect in a room like this. I would use 3 identical panels for the front stage no matter which ones. The Maggies always fascinated me and I liked the MMg's better than M&K S-250's which were much more expensive. I have a much better amp now that can drive almost any speaker. I do listen from 12 feet away. The crown calculator says that the Maggies would need 2500 watts to reach reference levels from one speaker from that distance which is insane and not doable for me(Can speakers even handle that?). Now factor in 7 speakers to reach reference levels and I think it is doable but can the Maggies do this? Also when I owned the Maggies I was in a different room.

Before moving last month, my maggies were set up in the family room that was open to the kitchen. I would sit about 13 feet away. When no one else is home I would turn it up as loud as I can stand and the maggies performed flawlessly for me. The loud volume did not sacrifice any clarity or shrank the soundstage. The weak link on the system is my 15 year old sub that would rattle at the large explosions. I do not have any spl measurements but the sound level is as close to being in the theater as I can get it. I now have my HT set up in a separate but smaller room and I do not have to turn it up as loud to get to these levels. I am using a 7 channel outlaw amp (the 7075) rated at 75wpc and I think it gives adequate power.

I should order the mmg's just to try them again with the new setup. If I like them then I could use them as surrounds(maybe I need the mmg-w) or just send them back. I do tend to listen to my movies at either reference levels or 5 db's below reference levels. Do you guys think they would work 24 inches away from the front wall behind my screen? My whole front wall is treated so I won't get any reflections from it.

MK Theater;
My living/listening/movie room is 14' x 20'.
I don't think the MMG's or MMG w's (even though I have no experience with W's, just from looking at size) will get you were you want to be. The window is too small.
The overall stage and imagery presented by the 1.6's well surpasses the MMG's. Look for a used pair of 1.6's near you. They are selling for around $1000 in most places. If they don't work as well as you like, you can sell them and you'll get your money back quickly and easily. Shipping these guys can get pricey, so look locally. Also, that way you can hear them before you buy. You'll also need an SUV or station wagon, they are about 5'6" in their boxes. You can PM me if you have any interest in doing this, I've done it twice this year. I ran my 1.6's with a Rotel 1080, I believe rated at 200 wpc, until I got my Rogue monoblocks, then I switched to them. They were plenty loud, but not the best sound. The Rotel sounded louder overall, but the midrange and bass is stronger with the tubes. I run my MMG's with a 105 WPC BK ampifier.
However, I'm not sure 24" behind the panels is enough for good sound. 36" seems to be the minimum. I was surprised at the bass I got out of my MMG's in the basement once I moved them down there. I use the same amp I was using when they were upstairs, they are now about 6 feet from the wall, wow! big bass (for these little maggies)
I noticed a similar improvement when I moved the 1.6's further from the wall upstairs ( I could only muster 5 feet) Now, oddly, the 3.6's don't seem to care, as long as they are 3 feet from the rear wall. Could just be I hit the limit of the speaker size to the room. I also noticed te imaging of the 1.6's was better placed parrallel to the rear wall. The 3.6's want a slight angle, focused on the sweet spot listening position.

The one thing most people say about the maggies, take as good or bad, you don't hear the speaker, you hear the room. henceforth the imaging.
But isn't that similar to what musicians say about performing live?

MKTheater: I highly doubt you'll find that Maggies are the speaker you're looking for. They can definitely play loud, particularly if you give them lots of current and stabilize the panel (such as with Mye stands), but it sounds like you'd be better served with a dynamic/box speaker instead (?)

I am more curious than anything. I remember loving the sound of the mmg's better than the M&K's which were awesome themselves. I might try the mmg's just to hear them in my room and if good enough I know the 1.6's would be even better. I do have only 24 inches from the wall but the bass out of them are not my concern. My 8 subs will handle that. I want them for resolution in the treble and midrange, big sound, and hopefully good enough dynamics. I know they won't have the dynamics of my current speakers but I would like to compare anyway. You never know. I can return the mmg's if they just don't cut it. I remember them being very good before and probably did not give them a fair shot in HT. They dominated in music easily.

I've been trying to deny it for the last 12 years or so but what Summa says is a fact. If you want to watch something like U-571 at reference, Maggies just won't do it and I'm not talking about the low freq. They are really loud but in a room approx. 14x23, not reference loud without blowing a fuse or 2 or 3 during the movie.
I do not say this lightly as I started my love affair with Maggies in the 70's but didn't replace my old horn speakers and get my first pair until the 80's.
Now, after 23 yrs. with Maggies, 8 months ago I felt compelled to return to a box speaker to get the volume that I just couldn't squeeze out of Maggies, try as I might. The 20 series may do it but those I havn't tried in HT.

EDIT: I should have said that most recently, the Maggies I've done the HT thing with were 3.5R's and 3.6R's, for quite some time.

There's nothing wrong with realizing your audio goals have evolved to where a speaker you love may not offer the best solution for you anymore...that's the beauty of this hobby is that we can all tailor our purchases to match our individual tastes. Actually, I think one area most people don't spend enough time in is determining what exactly their system goals are. It's not something you can determine right away, but as you put time into this hobby you begin to understand what it is that really brings you joy in a system. Speaker X or amplifier Y could be the hottest products on the market, but just because others find them to be amazing products doesn't mean you will.

I will almost always tell someone that if what really gets them going is massive SPLs, and their idea of HT is loud, rumbling action flicks, then Maggies probably aren't going to be their best fit. For someone like me who enjoys watching those same films, but also loves the intimacy, subtlety and nuance of detail and realism, then Maggies are the perfect speaker. I love the big presentation, and when paired with subwoofer I can get all the dynamics I want. My little MMGs back a few years ago could take a film like "The Day After Tomorrow" and play the scene where the ice cracks in half and I could feel as if I'm about to fall into the crevace. But if I wanted my HT to just kick my ass each time I sat down in it, I'd definitely go with a more dynamic speaker.

There are a TON of great speakers out there...I say enjoy 'em!

Big Brother52---Wow!
I've just started my experience with the 3.6's in home theater (as well as everything else), and I'm very impressed. But I don't doubt you, at one point in time, I didn't think TV could get better than 1080i either. Now 3-D TV is on the way. Pretty soon we'll be in the holo-deck.... then locked into the matrix!
Technology marches on.

Thanks for your honest opinion guys. Rather than saying if it can play loud enough(I am sure most people would be satistied with 7 mmg's) how about the big sound stage. The one thing I like about my current speaker is when the a musical score hits(like in the Dark night prologue during the trailer sequence) that sound is very big and fills the room with instruments) Will maggies do the same? Can you guys tell me what that sounds like with your Maggies?

By looking at the picture of your setup I would say, and I am not being judgemental, that you are a sound pressure freak. I, like you, like a lot of pressure in the room when I am watching action flicks. The maggies will definately not give you the same pressure.

Even with 3.6Rs, which I use in my music listening room, you will not even come close to what you have today. I would guess that the quality of the reproduction would improve dramatically but I don't think you would be happy at all. It would be a very dramatic change from what you have today.

If however, you wish to have a totally different musicality type of experience then I would heartily recommend maggies. But like others have said, get the bigger ones. Even if they are used. I was turned off when I originally purchased the 1.6s. BUt I would never trade the 3.6Rs for any other music listening speaker.

Joe

PS I run my maggies with high-end Van Alstine equipment.

MKTheater-
I just figured out about the link at the bottom of the signature and just now looked at your setup.... HOLY MOLY!
What jmorris644 siad!

My room can put out the spl but I run it no higher than dobly reference levels and because that is easy for my gear it is effortless in doing so. I know the Maggies will be different. The best thing I like about my setup is the giant sound it creates. These speakers are also more detailed than you think. I was told that I would lose resolution from the previous speakers but I actually increased in resolution. Also, remember I could crossover the subs at 100 hz if need be to give that midbass slam. I am more curious about the midrange and treble and soundstage. When my center channel is playing it sounds as big as the screen and not the speaker. I remember the Maggies sounding big compared to the box speakers but it was a while ago. I do not have a local maggie dealer near me. Again thanks. I do want spl but only enough for impact(my subs will give me that no matter what speaker). I am more interested in high fidelity and sounstage. I know the maggies give high fidelity. I can probably go on and on so I think I will just try some and let you guys know. I have 8 sealed subs which are amazing and produce very musical and accurate bass. I want to try to match that. I might have already but I am the type to try things just so I know for sure.

MKtheater: If you do decide to order some MMGs to play around with, I'll definitely be interested in how that goes, lol. I'll stand by my opinion that I don't think they'll be for you, but it'll be interesting for sure!

That being said, keep in mind that no matter what your views are on speaker break-in, Maggies DO need time to do just that. My MMGs sounded bright and a bit harsh when I first fired them up, and it took a good 100 hrs or so in order for them to calm down and really come into their own. And I actually think your suggestion of crossing them over a bit higher than usual might help you hit some higher SPLs than you would otherwise. Like you said, you won't know until you try!

In the meantime, I'm hopefully picking up my 3.6s this week, so I'll be sure to post my initial impressions for anyone who might be interested

No problem Summa. Remember that I did already love the mmg's before and why I said it was not fair is because I had 3 identical M&K speakers across from front stage before and 3 mmg's did not fit. At that time I did not have an acoustically transparent screen . I did try a CC1 but thought the mmg's were much better. I tried the mmg's behind the screen but it did get too muffled but that was supposed to happen(I had 8 mmg's). Now they would fit(3.6's would be the largest due to my ceiling). The reason for all this is that I due watch most movies 5 db's below reference levels because reference is really loud.

I also do believe speakers need to break in. My current speakers had no midrange until they broke in.

I am placing an order for 2 pairs of mmg's. I just want to see what happens. The one advantage the mmg's would have is that they are smaller so I can run all my subs up front with a higher crossover(100 hz) so all the impact will come from the front. The mmg's just need to provide enough big sound and resolution for the midrange and treble( I will have 600 watts rms available for them)I will test it with the Dark night as that has all the different sounds I am looking for. My goal is to knock off my current system but not spend a fortune(or more than my current mains). Also if these sound that good I most likely would look to put the biggest panels I could fit. I have 78 inch ceilings so the 3.6's look to be the largest. I hope these do well.

I'm not sure how far speaker tech. will march from here but I'm sure you'll have a few really good years with those 3.6s to look forward to.
I have my 3.5s since 95-96' and I don't find them very much different then my 3.6s with a subwoofer, in a HT enviornment, especially since they became rears.
I've lived with these things a pretty long time, as you now know, they're wonderful.
Losing the sound of those ribbons has been very dificult for me, you really take them for granted after awhile. Although I gotta say, for box speakers, the Aeriel Mdl.9's front and rear, ain't too shabby. My last boxes didn't sound quite so good.

Now if I could only get off my butt and move these big planers outta my damn HT room and place a pair in a more appropriate spot, I'd be a happy camper. Even happier if I ever sold a pair or two, but again, requires me to get off my butt!

MK: If you've got that much current, you cross them over that high, and you listen at -5dB, this actually may work. I know my MMGs played plenty loud when I had them...Flight of the Phoenix kicked my you know what when I watched it a few years ago!

I wish I could come over and hear how this set-up will end up sounding! lol

The first thing I am doing is changing my processor and going back to 5.1 as it sounds better in my room. The sound is much fuller with 5.1 and flat with 7.1. That means I am selling 2 surrounds and a 2 channel amp. The amp is awesome but I won't need it. Then I will place an order after that.