Talk about bright speakers; my maggie 1.6QR's gotta go

candyliquor35m
candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
edited March 2008 in 2 Channel Audio
I knew all along that they were bright but they sound great with vinyl and classical so I kept them. I added a tube pre and tube cdp and that helped a little. I put on Yes, Extended Versions cd yesterday which is kind of a bright cd to begin with and that may have convinced me.

I'll keep them until I can find some 1C's or SRS 2's to replace them which probably won't be anytime soon.

I might consider trading them even up for 1c's or srs 2's even tho the 1.6's are worth twice as much.

It is what it is :)
Post edited by candyliquor35m on
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited March 2008
    If you think the SL2000 is ok and the maggies are bright you need your hearing checked AND your head examined.
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited March 2008
    If they are bright, why not solder some capacitors to them? I've heard they make wonders.
    _________________________________________________
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    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
    SOPA
    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited March 2008
    Coil hater!
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  • Sami
    Sami Posts: 4,634
    edited March 2008
    candyliquor35m wrote: »
    I might consider trading them even up for 1c's or srs 2's even tho the 1.6's are worth twice as much.
    When do we do this? :)
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited March 2008
    or put the resistors that came with them in the tweeter connections! I also wonder if you have your Maggies totally broken in? The Magnepan tweeters take several hundred hours to fully break in. I have had mine for close to two years and I would consider them just getting broken in.

    Are you running any silver IC's or speaker cables? Those aren't a good match for Magnepans with their emphasis of the high-end.

    My 1.6's are detailed on the high-end, but have ultru-smooth highs that aren't fatiguing at all. I've heard a lot of speakers I would consider "brighter" than the 1.6's, including any speaker with the SL2000 in it!
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    Sami wrote: »
    When do we do this? :)


    Are yours stock and/or have the sl2000's?
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  • Sami
    Sami Posts: 4,634
    edited March 2008
    Stock.
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    Sami wrote: »
    Stock.

    I've been hoping to find some 1c's or srs 2's locally but maybe a halfway point swap is do-able. I'll do some more listening and see if I have the resistors to play with. I'm running single strand solid core 10 ga romex to them. Bi-amped with 2 carver tfm-45s, cj pv-7 pre with tf, ah! 4000 tube cdp with tf so I'm running the warmest equipment that I can afford :)

    I listen to mostly jazz, classical and vinyl which all sound pretty good on them.

    They are several years old so they should be broken in as I bought them used.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited March 2008
    I agree, the tweeters on my monitors seem to be a little bright as well...
    Jake
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited March 2008
    The Carver amps are your problem IMHO. I've never heard a Carver powered Magnepan that sounded good. A recent listening session with Carver amps reinforced to me why they don't sound good with Magnepan's.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • Poee7R
    Poee7R Posts: 904
    edited March 2008
    zingo wrote: »
    I agree, the tweeters on my monitors seem to be a little bright as well...

    Haha, thats great.


    Dave
    Once again we meet at last.
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    dkg999 wrote: »
    The Carver amps are your problem IMHO. I've never heard a Carver powered Magnepan that sounded good. A recent listening session with Carver amps reinforced to me why they don't sound good with Magnepan's.

    That is probably the case since you have more experience and have done more testing than I have. In that case, the maggies have to go :)

    The carvers ain't goin nowhere ;)
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited March 2008
    candy, could you list your entire system including interconnects (where they are located in the setup if you have different brands,models), speaker cables, and brief description of your room.
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited March 2008
    Kill the carvers. Get more musical amps.
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited March 2008
    SolidSqual wrote: »
    Kill the carvers. Get more musical amps.

    Totally agree! The Carvers are way too analytical for the Magnepans. If you like the sound of the Carvers, then you should get different speakers to mate with them.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    Room is 14.5' wide x 17' long with cathedral ceiling

    Speakers are 5' apart from inner edge of each other. About 20" away from back wall and a good 24" from both side walls.

    Bi-amped: tfm-45 & tfm-42
    Pre: cj pv-7 with all tf
    cdp: ah! 4000 with tf e88cc
    all aq king cobra ic's
    solid core single strand 10 ga romex speaker wire
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited March 2008
    I see another part of the problem! You need more room for them to breathe behind the speaker! At least 24" to 30" (30" prefered). Magnepan's don't like to be closed in with stuff around them.

    I am agreeing with you that the Magnepans might not be the best speaker choice for your room. I would put them on Agon, as they'll sell for $1100 to $1300 easily and you can get a nice pair of SDA's if that's what floats your boat!
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited March 2008
    Oh, now I see the problem. Turn the chair around so you are facing the speakers. :)
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    dkg999 wrote: »
    I see another part of the problem! You need more room for them to breathe behind the speaker! At least 24" to 30" (30" prefered). Magnepan's don't like to be closed in with stuff around them.

    I am agreeing with you that the Magnepans might not be the best speaker choice for your room. I would put them on Agon, as they'll sell for $1100 to $1300 easily and you can get a nice pair of SDA's if that's what floats your boat!

    That or I might give Sami the deal of the year. I'm not sure I want to keep these maggies if I can't throw a little Yes at them once in while :)
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2008
    candyliquor35m wrote: »
    Room is 14.5' wide x 17' long with cathedral ceiling

    Speakers are 5' apart from inner edge of each other. About 20" away from back wall and a good 24" from both side walls.

    Bi-amped: tfm-45 & tfm-42
    Pre: cj pv-7 with all tf
    cdp: ah! 4000 with tf e88cc
    all aq king cobra ic's
    solid core single strand 10 ga romex speaker wire

    That's not the worst Magnepan setup I've seen but its close. You should sell them......you're not ready for that level of audio.

    I'm questioning why you have taken a fancy to "modifying" crossovers, yet you have zero idea on how to properly setup a loudspeaker. Most of us have imperfect listening areas but that placement is just silly. You can read the owners manual and figure that out.

    Sell the Magnepan.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    madmax wrote: »
    Oh, now I see the problem. Turn the chair around so you are facing the speakers. :)
    madmax

    I should have seen that coming :)

    Actually these have a soundstage that rivals the sdas which fills my small house up with music so I don't usually sit in front of them. I usually on the puter or watching tv (closed caption) while the music is playing.
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited March 2008
    For what its worth I've noticed large speakers in a small room suck for backround music. If you play them while moving around something a lot smaller could work out better.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited March 2008
    Man, that photo makes my ears hurt. How could you do that to such nice speakers?
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    SolidSqual wrote: »
    Man, that photo makes my ears hurt. How could you do that to such nice speakers?

    That's what happens when I live in a 1074 sq ft house. My friends make fun of it because everything is so cramped but I do what I want until I have a WAF to deal with.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2008
    You should stick to monkey coffins.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited March 2008
    candyliquor35m wrote: »
    That's what happens when I live in a 1074 sq ft house. My friends make fun of it because everything is so cramped but I do what I want until I have a WAF to deal with.

    Screw the WAF factor. You've likely never heard good sound with a mess like that.
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    I've been quite happy with them until I threw in the Yes cd the other day. I do get used to the warm sound of the polks with tubes and carvers so that spoils me and it's quite a shock sometimes when I turn on the maggies.
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited March 2008
    JHC....Dorokusai nailed it.

    If you can't read a manual, you have NO business opening up a speaker.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited March 2008
    Hello I didn't get a manual with them. The seller says he mailed it but I never got it.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2008
    candyliquor35m wrote: »
    Hello I didn't get a manual with them. The seller says he mailed it but I never got it.

    Again....you're a loudspeaker "rebel" and yet you can't find this?....it took 4.5 seconds.....with zero attenuation.

    http://www.magnepan.com/product_manuals
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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