Any Magnepan Owners?

Lsi9

Ive been reading some great stuff about these speakers online, can anyone attest to that?

ohskigod

I dont own em, but have heard them on 2 occations. like what I heard both times. Maggies have some die hard fans, and for good reasons. you need the big maggies to get good bass responce, the smaller ones might need a little help with a musical sub

dkg999

I have the Magnepan 1.6QR's as my current 2 ch. speakers. I am not at this point running a sub. I'm in an apt. for the time being and the 1.6's have plenty of fast clean bass with the way I have them set up. I plan to use a Martin Logan Grotto sub when I get them in a bigger room. The 3.6's are amazing if you have the right room and gear to drive them. The 1.6's are not as picky on set up and equipment. The only downside is that once you start listening to the Maggies, it really raises the bar on what box speakers you can enjoy. I still like my Polk Monitor 10's for loud rock music. Magnepan dealers are few and far between, however if you get a chance sit and listen to them for a while.

Shizelbs

Ask Mark (doro)

Joey_V

Oooh... Magnepans.... so similar to my MLs except for the hybrid part.

Lsi9

The ML Mosaics look nice, but Ive heard that magnepan has better sound, yet obviously not as attractive as the MLs

TroyD

ML's and Maggies sound different....two entirely different designs. Yes, the Maggies do sound fantastic but they aren't for everyone.

BDT

pjdami

If you are used to the "warmish" LSi sound then the Magnepans offer a different sound. I find the MMGs to be quite more revealing and forward in sound. Details which sound more in the background with the LSi will come forward and be more apparent with the MMGs. Very large images. Midrange is the speaker's forte in my opinion. A good musical sub will be needed to fill in the bottom end.

Cool thing about the entry level MMGs is you can mail order them for $550 direct from Magnepan. You have an option to the upgrade them to the next model up for the cost difference at a Magnepan dealer or there are several mods that you can do to the MMGs to improve their sound (upgrade caps, inductors, and binding posts).

audiobliss

pjdami wrote:

Cool thing about the entry level MMGs is you can mail order them for $550 direct from Magnepan. You have an option to the upgrade them to the next model up for the cost difference at a Magnepan dealer or there are several mods that you can do to the MMGs to improve their sound (upgrade caps, inductors, and binding posts).

How long do you have to take the upgrade to the next model route?

Early B.

I've heard the 1.6's on several occasions and prefer typical box speakers. Very small sweet spot, too large, and you definitely need the right room for them.

shack

I visited Mark (doro) last year and listened to his Maggies quite a bit. With his setup there was really no "sweet spot" issue. In fact we sat at a 90° angle from them at times and they still sounded very nice. His room is narrow and long and the maggies were at one end and we sat on couches along the side wall just talking while the tunes were going. At one point I even commented how good the music sounded given where we were sitting. It could be the accoustics of his particualr room but the sweet spot was not limited there.

jdhdiggs

I have both the 3.3R's and LSi's in house and there really is not comparison. But then you're comparing a $1,400 street price to $450 street price speakers. On SS amplification, I do not need a sub, nor switch speakers to "rock out".

Maggies (to me) sound MUCH better than the ML ESL designs and the tweeter is excellent ( R versions, QR versions are different).

The mmg's made me give up my SDA1-B's if that means anything to you, and I prefer my 3.3R's to the SDA SRS-2's as well. I have not heard any maggie speaker above Mark's 3.5R's nor any polk speaker (outside of Polk mHQ which wasn't great for detailed demo) above the SRS 2's so I won't draw comparison's in the higher lines.

Flea amps and receivers need no apply.

As for sweet spots, there really isn't one in my fiddling. To me, these speakers are much easier to setup well than my LSi's. If there really is a sweet spot, I can't wait to find it! My room setup is almost square with the maggies setup along the long wall 1.5 feet from each corner. No issues at all.

shack

Lsi9 wrote:

The ML Mosaics look nice, but Ive heard that magnepan has better sound, yet obviously not as attractive as the MLs

I like the bigger MLs, but the Mosaics leave a lot to be desired. Too small and a little thin sounding for my tastes. Even a sub did not help. Even the next step up in the ML line (the Clarity) was far superior to the Mosaic IMO. I could easily live with any of the MLs from the Clairty up.

dorokusai

I'm a huge Magnepan fan. It's not an mass market speaker and it's bass response is limited even in the upper line; however, the trade off far outweighs the negative. It's warm, inviting, with a lush midrange and the true ribbon offers alot of high end shimmer, but not too much as to be sharp and forward. It's the most accurate speaker I've heard with regards to acoustics, vocals and instrument arrangements. Another speaker that also does alot of things well is the Carver Amazing.

I read about placement issues all the time, and I'm sorry, those folks think too much. I've owned 3 pairs and never had trouble setting them up....and I have a far from perfect room. I find the sweet spot to be just like any other speaker, listener dependent, but not small and the soundstage is large and airy. It's not an SDA soundstage, but bigger than normal due to the inherent design. I prefer the open, airy soundstage over the SDA.

As mentioned previously, Martin Logan and Magnepan are two different animals. I've demo'd some ML Aeon's in-house, and liked them, but didn't find them as warm and intimate as the Magnepan. The detail is a wash, bass response a no brainer....what stood out for me was the top end, as it was thinner and rolled off sharply. The ML's were definetly forward compared to the Magnepan, of which I consider laid back.

The Magnepan is a neat speaker, certainly worth your time...but then again, so are a bunch of others. So little time, so many speakers.

2+2

Magnepans are one speakers that I would love to try since I listen to mostly acoustic music....however, they are so wide compared to the modern towers.....Anyone hang these on the wall? In such a placement, how do they do?

Joey_V

Regarding the ML Mosaics - I think they sound very good. They are clear and transiently quick/dynamic. I think they suffer from extension, but it is easily alleviated with a good solid subwoofer like a Velodyne DD12/15. The Mosaics are transparent to me... very airy without the sibilance and more realistic sounding than most of the speakers I tested in its price class. I remember getting mine from Tweeter for around $1200 and there has been none at that price (or the $2K retail) that I've heard sound better.

As for sounding thin, with my Rotels, they sounded just as full as the LSi15/9, so it may be a matter of amplification (40hz and below notwithstanding).

As I said before, if I ever had to downgrade from my Summits, I would have no problem going to the Mosaics or the Clarity, provided they arent powered by a receiver.

Lsi9

Yes guys this all sounds good and If I could pass the WAF, I would audition these or find a way to hear them. Two things concern me though...its great what you guys say about the maggies and MLs but how are they for HT?
and secondly do you prefer these speakers to the Lsi9s by much?
I have a old rotel at 110 watt@ channel, would this dinosaur be able to drive them sufficiently where I'm not sure if they can truly drive my lsi9s to its potential
Size also is a factor, Maggies and Mls are so darn large for an apt. I think, how do you guys deal with this?

hoosier21

I have had many Maggies in here at the house, VERY GOOD speakers. In fact with some help in the bass dept., they have been the best I have heard.

pjdami

audiobliss wrote:

How long do you have to take the upgrade to the next model route?

From Magnepan's website regarding the $550 MMGs:

To answer these questions and many more, the Magnepan 60 day satisfaction guarantee is a chance for you to experience ... first hand... what this new technology can do for your audio/video system ... in your home ... at your leisure.

If you want to climb to an even higher level of performance, you can move up to a better model at a Magneplanar dealer in your area for up to a year. Depending on the model you purchase, you can receive up to full credit from Magnepan for your MMGs.

Only available factory direct. Not on display at Magneplanar dealerships.

Joey_V

Lsi9 wrote:

and secondly do you prefer these speakers to the Lsi9s by much?
I have a old rotel at 110 watt@ channel, would this dinosaur be able to drive them sufficiently where I'm not sure if they can truly drive my lsi9s to its potential
Size also is a factor, Maggies and Mls are so darn large for an apt. I think, how do you guys deal with this?

You're asking the right guy.. I went to Mosaics from the Lsi9 and I found the jump to be well worth it - my brother thought it was a staggering difference.

Cant say for sure regarding the Magnepans... someone else chime in.

Midnite Mick

I did an a/b comparison in store between the ML's and Maggies. I compared the clarity to a Maggie (unfortunately, don't know which one). Maybe, by list price others will know but the clarity were approx. 3500Cdn, and the Maggies were 1700 Cdn. The ML's were vastly better as one would expect at double the price. The ML's were far more open and dynamic. They also had that floating in the air sound more so than the Maggies. The ML definately were better on the bottom end as well. Having said all that it would have been nice to compare a Magnepan that was of the same price category but it was the only pair that the store had at the time. For whatever its worth!

Mike

Joey_V

I'd love to hear a pair of top of the line Maggies and see how they compare to the ML Summits.... right now, I'm rocking to P Diddy "I'll be missing you"... ohhh yeah....

Midnite Mick

I would love to hear a pair of summits....or maybe not as I may end up in deeper debt.

Mike

Joey_V

Midnite Mick wrote:

I would love to hear a pair of summits....or maybe not as I may end up in deeper debt.

Mike

Sometimes, you just gotta spoil yourself!

Come over, I'll let you audition my system!

Midnite Mick

If you were really proud of your system you would pack everything up and audition it at my place (Winnipeg/Canada). Don't worry it is starting to warm up!:D