Magnepans...any thoughts on them? (1 Viewer)

[Arvin_C]

Hello everyone.
Saw a pretty favorable review on a
Magnepan H/T setup.
I was wondering if any mambers have any experience or thoughts on Magnepans in general? I have found out that they are quite a bit cheaper than other electrostatics/ribbons out there. I am a big fan of the "Martin Logan" sound, but am not sure how Magnepans compare.
Thanks for any thoughts or info.
Arvin_C

 

[John Royster]

maggies are great. Although they are a different kind of speaker than martin logan. Magnapans are planar-magnetic meaning they still use a electro-magnatism to move their diaphrams. (sp?).

I love the sound of magnapans - open, airy, great tone, silky smooth bass. cons would be their need for power and dependance on speaker placement. Logans are fine speakers as well, but the approach is different.

Planar speakers as a whole can be challenging for amplifiers and source. But once you get it right few will return to a box speaker. good luck!

ps - just re-read your post. If you like the "planar" sound then magnapans must be on your list. I went with Martin Logan just because I love the speed/air.

 

[ling_w]

They sound a bit different. ML, being hybrids, will have bass coming out of a distortion box via a non-uniform drive cone driver. That combination will produce a sound wave direct at you and be able to knock you off your feet. Plus since it crosses over to ESL dipoles, that effect mysteriously disappears as you move up in freq. Magnepans, on the other hand, produces bass via its dipole panel, filling the room with bass more so than punch you in the face. Some people call that no-bass, others call it real-bass. If you desire the black and blue bass, you could get the crappiest sub you could find and cross the maggies over at as high a freq as you can.

 

[Mike Matheson]

Magnepans themselves may be inexpensive, but to really get the most out of them you may need electronics that can wind up pricey--they seem much more component sensitive than most box-type speakers. So be sure to demo the Maggies with what you'll actually be driving them with.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Jack Gilvey]

I feel that Magnepans are the best speakers available commercially. As far as value, I feel that the MMG's are at the top of the heap. I ran my MMG's with a 35wpc NAD 314 integrated.

 

[Chu Gai]

If you're considering speakers along those lines you may want to consider a planar-magnetic pair by Eminent Technology, which goes Magnepan one better, because the
design uses push/pull technology, rather than the single-ended, push-only design that the Minnesota company uses. As in all these types, positioning is typically tricky and beefy power sources are beneficial.

 

[dpippel]

I agree that the MMGs are a fantastic value. For $500 a pair you'd be hard pressed to find a better sounding speaker for 2 channel listening in my opinion. I had them for 2 months coupled with a 200 wpc amp and they sounded wonderful. Placement is a big issue with planars and the MMGs have a VERY small sweet spot. When you're sitting in that spot though they are nirvana. Since my needs were for HT as well and I have a fairly large room, I felt they weren't for me and sent them back. If I were putting together a purely 2 channel system though I wouldn't hesitate to go with Magnepan.

 

[Arvin_C]

Hey, thanks for the info everyone.

Will definately keep the Maggies (MMG model) near the top of my list, but glad to hear about the placement/sweetspot issue. The basement of the townhouse I just bought has a very asymmetric layout...may have to go with a speaker set that is more forgiving placement wise when it comes to my H/T setup.

But...could always use a pair of MMG's in my living room for music!

Arvin

 

[Tom Brennan]

Arvin--I owned Maggies for several years, nice sound, kinda mellow, poor dynamics and bass though. Kind of an audiophile-approved Bose, really kinda similar to old Bose 901s in sound.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

 

[Alex Prosak]

I really like my Maggies but like everyone has said, they're very sensitive to placement and need good electronics behind them. While I really enjoy them, I'm probably going to go back to dynamic speakers, our dog almost killed one of them the other day while chasing the cat. I could've killed the cat.

While their sound is fantastic, I think they are visually intrusive and physically very fragile, which are the main reasons I'm changing. My wife and I recently listened to a pair of Thiel CS 1.6s which we really liked.

 

[ling_w]

Arvin--I owned Maggies for several years, nice sound, kinda mellow, poor dynamics and bass though. Kind of an audiophile-approved Bose, really kinda similar to old Bose 901s in sound.

Puleeeze. Which maggies did you have? Circa early 80's SMG or 1 series?
Don't let HP of TAS what you said, he might have to dump the Magnepan 20.1's, which he thinks is as good as the $120k twice modified Alon.

 

[Bruce Chang]

I don't like the maggies that much. Great vocals and mids, but not dynamic. Very boring to me.

 

[Chu Gai]

which just goes to show that we all like different speakers...next

 

[ling_w]

If you're considering speakers along those lines you may want to consider a planar-magnetic pair by Eminent Technology, which goes Magnepan one better, because the
design uses push/pull technology, rather than the single-ended, push-only design that the Minnesota company uses. As in all these types, positioning is typically tricky and beefy power sources are beneficial.

Eminent Technology are hybrids, which is one reason maggie people stay with magnepans.

The magnepan 20.1's are push pull all the way, plus it and the 3 series has a true ribbon tweeter that is the best there is in the industry.

 

[Chu Gai]

A deeper look would find the LFT 6, from Eminent are full electrostatics (probably up there in price) LFT 8 is a hybrid (1,700 pair) maybe the lft6 price is more favorable than the 3.6 or 20.1 maggies.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Ling---MG-Is. I don't care what HP thinks, I can think for myself, listen for myself too.
www.chicagohornspeakerclub.org

 

[ling_w]

Tom,

maybe the lft6 price is more favorable than the 3.6 or 20.1 maggies.

The ribbon tweeter in the 3.6 more than make up for its lack of push/pull midrange, compared to the LFT-6.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Ling--- This little thread illustrates the uselessness of arguing taste. You like Maggies and I don't. We obviously cue in on different things in sound. I find Maggies to sound "slow", opaque and undynamic. Evidently the speakers have virtues so strong to you that you disregard these faults or perhaps you don't even find fault, perhaps what I consider fault you find a virtue. And you probably would find faults in the speakers I like that I disregard. As no speakers are perfect, indeed nobody can even agree what a perfect speaker should actually do much less make one, we pick those that work for us.

I don't understand what you mean by "head in a box". You have no idea what the horn systems I use and am familiar with sound like, they're all custom rigs. Are you familiar with the difference in imaging, tonality and soundstaging between 130 degree pattern horn-lenses, 90 degree 511Bs and 60 degree Edgar saladbowls? Between radial, tractrix and constant-directivity horns? Between Altec, JBL, Radian and TAD drivers? Ever heard a dipolar horn? You can't generalize about horns Ling.

 

[ling_w]

Tom,
We are not here to talk about tastes, as the original poster asked, he wanted to know how Maggies are compared to Martin Logans. I don't think he is coming from a megaphone background, so I don't know how relevent your information is to him.
Plus, at least I heard of some recent top of the line horns, unlike you, who is commenting on maggies that are at least 20 years old and of the type that contains almost none of the current maggie technology (QR midrange, ribbon tweeter, push-pull panels).
If you could characterize maggies as "Kind of an audiophile-approved Bose, really kinda similar to old Bose 901s in sound." Then I could charactize horns as sounding like the crank up phonographs,