Magnepan 3.6 as Center channel (pics)

I just wanted to publicly thank Grant VanderMye for taking on this project. Needless to say, I am ecstatic with the results!

I had tried a phantom center with my L/R 3.6's, but the constraints of my theater layout prevented the positioning that is so necessary with Maggies to optimize the soundstage. I switched to a Maggie CC3 for a center, but the sound character of the CC3's quasi-ribbon design was so different from the true ribbon tweeter in the 3.6's that it was a huge distraction, particularly with the heavy vocal content of the center channel in most soundtracks.

I experimented with a 3.6 as a center, having my wife hold it balanced on its side while I listened. It sounded great, but I couldn't convince my wife to do that for two hours every time I watch a movie, so I appealed to Grant to design a stand. Grant put his creative genius to work and came up with a terrific solution. The four small stands give solid support to the 3.6, allow for precise tilt adjustment, and match the look of the Mye stands on my L/R 3.6's.

Highly recommended.

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You can't see it in this pic, but the L/C/R amp is positioned directly behind the center, in between the center two supports.




The speaker is pulled out from it's normal position to show detail of the stands.

Let me try to answer your questions:


It's called the CCR, and has been "a few months" from release for the last year. I hear they are having problems perfecting the curved ribbon. I also heard it was slated to sell for $2500, not including an optional base panel/cabinet thing.



Only Grant can answer that. grant at myesound dot com.




I was using 3.6's for surrounds and MMGs for rears, but thought the 3.6's for surrounds were overkill and a little too big for the space available. Bought a pair of 1.6's on AudiogoN for surrounds which freed up the 3.6's, one of which became my center. Haven't decided whether to try to sell the other 3.6 (maybe if this catches on) or keep it. I have a ten year old 15" Velodyne which is next on my upgradeitis list.



I will.



Very perceptive question. My front row is kind of close to the screen (11' for a 60" x 141" screen) but the two center seats are fine. There is quite a tweeter dropoff with the two outer front seats due to the high off-axis angle, but anyone who knows enough to tell the difference would never sit in those seats anyway due to the high off-axis angle to the screen, regardless of the audio. If your seating is at a more normal distance I don't think you would have a problem. This is why Magnepan is trying to make a curved ribbon (see above).

I dealt with Grant by email. I had purchased 3.6 (vertical) stands from him previously, and even if I had not, Grant is pretty well known.

The advantage of Mye stands is that the braces that run from the speaker to the base serve to prevent the speakers from moving in the opposite direction to the panel (ref Newton's 3rd law) at the lower frequencies.

Should you post your pics on the Asylum, be aware that those who hang out there are primarlily focused (some extremely so) on sound quality over aesthetics, so you might use caution before dis'ing Mye stands as over-engineered...