Magnepan SMG

dcarlson

Does anyone have experience with these?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3048911646&category=14993

What's up with the wire terminals? Are they for pins?

RuSsMaN

You need to find a local dealer, and hear Maggies in person.

That's an older model, but looks to be in good shape. Bananas will slide right in those terminals.

Cheers,
Russ

dcarlson

Unfortunately, no local dealers here with Maggies.

They sound very different?

gidrah

EXTREMELY different. While I won't say they don't do R&R that good, I will say that they excel in jazz, bluegrass, blues, and most classical. If they are near you go give them a listen. You'll be seeking out the nearest dealer.

One thing I've noticed of older Maggies is that they seem to always be "just back from the manufacturer". That's something to consider even if they are in good shape now.

PS. I'd guess they wind up going for about $1500.

dcarlson

Here's something interesting. It looks like he's reauctioning them from a bad deal. $318

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14993&item=3040362974

I guess I should probably forget about taking a chance with then. I do listen to some lighter folk stuff but mostly Rock a la Pearl Jam and whatever.

TroyD

The SMG's were the previous entry level Maggie, which is now thw MMG. You see them on Audiogon and Ebay and they go, normally, in the 350-400 range.

Me? For 550, the brand spankin' new MMG's come direct to your door.

BDT

dcarlson

Right.

Thanks guys. Just wanted to get some feedback.

STUFFMD

My experience that I have had with the Maggies; that I have not heard voiced here though is their sweet spot.....they very much have a sweet spot and the sound degrades dramatically and quickly out from the sweet spot.
Don't get me wrong, in the sweet spot these are some of the more airy and open sounding speakers I have heard.....Open and airy isn't for everyone.
My 2 Stuff

dcarlson

I read about the sweet spot. It wouldn't be all that bad.

I want to take my Rotel CD and Musical Fidelity integrated out of my HT and have a separate 2 channel system. I need to find some quality cables and some speaks that will do me justice.

My search continues.

Tour2ma

dc,
I think you're already off these, but just in case...

The SMG is not the speaker for your rock tastes as gidrah pointed out. I own Maggie 1.5's and I've not heard a better imaging speaker for acoustic jazz or chamber music, except maybe for the 1.6's. However, even the significantly larger planars in the 1.5's/1.6's don't "rock".

As for the sweet spot, I found it to be fairly generous. Took quite a bit of playing with them to get the imaging right (about a 7' split, 3' out from the back wall and a very slight toe-in), but once done the "spot" was not all that small.

Keep an eye out for a pair of CA's, but you will have to drop some serious wpc $$$ on them to do them justice. Kick in the Sonic Halography effect to find out what a small sweet spot really is...

hotwheelman

There is a guy here local selling a pair for 150, have not called to verify the model #.

TroyD

For 150, if they work, I'd bag them on principle alone.

BDT

dcarlson

If I were to get a set of moderately power hungry speakers that are hopefully biampable. If I were to bi-amp them, would I not be adding enough power to run almost any speaker?

I'm not talking about the Maggies though....

Tour2ma

Well, not to be a smart-****, but it depends on the amount of power per amp as well as whether the speakers accomodate bi-amping.

On the latter, the original CA's only come with one pair of posts, so unless you mod them, no bi-amp.

However, F1's Platinum CA's are rigged to be bi-amped. But twin 100 wpc amps still would fall short of bringing them to their full potential.

George Grand runs his Plat's with two Carver amps bridged to 1000 wpc (and considers that superior to bi-amping). I'm following his lead as is TroyD.

dcarlson

Let's take my MF A3 integrated at 85w into 8ohms. If I were to add the matching A3 power amp at 120w into 8ohms, would that not allow me to run a wide variety of biampable speakers?

Probably ruling out the CA's though, considering I don't have a man cave to run them in at 1000w/ch. Does GG's CA's need to be played loud to get full effect?

Not to comparing the 2 but I've found that my MF seems to take charge of the RT1000i's at a volume level that's a little louder than my listening tastes. Probably the reason the RT1000i's get such a bad rap here because it's only at that level that the subs actually start to hit you in the chest. It's great when I'm listening alone but while entertaining I can't showcase them unless I push them. Is that the case with most high end speakers?

You'll have to forgive my pretty naive questions.

TroyD

I find, with few exceptions, that every speaker has a certain volume that it has to hit to really shine. The exception to that, in my collection, is the B&W 601's I have.

As far as the CA's go, you don't NEED 1000wpc but I would say 200wpc (with a good amount of headroom) is a minimum. Less than that need not apply. That is just MY opinon.

BDT

Tour2ma

First, not naive... if we asked what we know (and some have around here) then we wouldn't get any help (or something like that).

Tend to agree with Troy. I feel most speakers hit a point where the sound is just more pleasing, where the spl reaches a point where the sound just fills out. They don't necessarily have to be thundering at this point. Continuing to increase the volume can increase the experience, if not the fullness, until a higher point is reached where things begin to deteriorate.

Power required to hit the "pleasing point" varies with the speakers' sensitivity.

Here the SRS's turn down fairly nicely, but the Maggies take the cake there. Effortless is the way I'd describe them, but then their bass is not overwhelming at any level so seems logical they'd turn down nicely. Not sure if this explains TD's 601's.

As for the CA's, no, I don't have to rattle the rafters to enjoy them. But it ain't bad when they do, either.