Bridging the Gap: SDA to Magnepan

falconcry72

SCompRacer wrote: »

I'm a big fan of GIK. Some folks like RealTraps. A couple of my friends went with ATS. Here is a thread by Blake. He treated his room after a visit here. I pulled treatments out of the room while he was listening so he could hear the difference they made.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86154&highlight=room+treatment


http://www.gikacoustics.com/

http://www.atsacoustics.com/

http://www.realtraps.com/

GIK gave me their recommendations based on pictures and dimensions of my room. They also offer a broad array of Guilford of Maine fabrics that allow the treatments to match any decor. Dear wife picked the fabric out cause I am partially color blind. I experimented with different acoustic panel placement for my dipole speakers and did some burst frequency tests to confirm results. (In my experience, long duration frequency sweeps tend to load up the room and skew the readings).

I wouldn't rush to replace your 1.6's yet. I have a South wall setup similar to yours that has both speakers boxed in symmetrical to corners. Behind my listening position is open to the main level with the nearest wall 25 feet away. My South wall setup requires more acoustic treatment for bass loading than my West wall setup which has the right speaker open to the main level.


EDIT: Wanted to add a link to Ricardo's room. IIRC the width is similar to your room.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showcase/view.php?userid=64116

Thanks for the links, SCompRacer!

The GIK 242's and ATS 2x4 panels look identical, but the ATS's are a little cheaper. The only difference I can find is that the GIK's use an environmentally friendly filling.

If you've dealt with both brand's panels, could you compare their build/finish quality and absortion material quality?

Thanks,

Ben

falconcry72

stuwee wrote: »

SL3's can be had for $1,000 or less, great speaker, ....

There are a pair of Aerius i's and a pair a sl3's pretty local to me.

The SL3 is priced about 300 more than the Aerius.

Worth it?

polkfarmboy

Avoid the aerius if you can for the fact that by the time you sink the money into bringing them back to life its gotten really expensive .Same with the sl3 only the restoration might be worht it if you get them cheap enough and only replace the panels

The new models have the panel closer to the woofer so they work a little bit better in a smaller room whilst sitting down . Another thing to consider is that the new models have the xstat panel witch means they give twice the amount of output as the older models ,bigger panel better sound

Maggies for the money cant be beat and I would choose some 1.6's over my source anyday of the week . However if you could find a set of ML vantage for around $2300 then you would have a fine set of speakers because of the 200 watt amps that feed the cones leaving all your amplification towards the panel . The vista right now is going for $2600 new and although they have the same panel and woofer the vista cant touch the vantages dynamic bass no matter how many thousands you throw into the amps for them . I would say put a few extra dollars towards the vantage as they seem to be the no1 choice for music and HT in a smaller room .Only other stat I can think of after this for a reasonable price is the maggie 3.6

SCompRacer

falconcry72 wrote: »

Thanks for the links, SCompRacer!

If you've dealt with both brand's panels, could you compare their build/finish quality and absortion material quality?

Thanks,

Ben

You are most welcome Ben. I've never had the ATS treatments in my room but was there when Blake treated his room for the first time. They looked great and tamed his room problems so I can't say one is better than the other. At that time (and it still may be), GIK had more fabric options which was just as important to me (I mean my wife:biggrin:) as the absorbtion qualities.

All I can add is I've messed with audio on and off for 40 plus years, and wish I had paid more attention to the room sooner than later.

Rich

dkg999

I'm not sure where I'll go from my Magnepan 1.6's, however it won't be back to SDA's. It's not that my 1.6's are the perfect speaker, but they align very well with the the aspects of sound reproduction that I like. Moving up to 3.6's would just take everything to a whole new level, however I'm not willing to upgrade the source gear to the level needed for 3.6's, at least at this time.

Room treatments are the most over-looked upgrade, IMHO. Unitl I heard for myself the differences via the examples Rich has noted, I wouldn't of paid that much attention either. ATS recently had a sale on their acoustic panel material so I ordered several boxes as the start of a DIY acoustic treatment project. Menards carries rock wool insulation which can also be used. Many DIY acoustic panel articles on the internet. I need to go fabric shopping and then start building.

xsmi

cstmar01 wrote: »

I really enjoyed the Thiels I have but didn't have the bass as others. I liked them and they are very coherent compared to other things. I would think the 2.3s would be even better but haven't had a chance to hear them (would like to at some point).

If you like the Thiel sound, get your ears on an old pair of 3.6's there was a reason it took them 12 yrs to replace them. They are SUPERB!:biggrin: