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Anyone send back Magnepan MMG's?

I'm currently trying out some MMG's under their 60-day money-back trial period. I'm two weeks into it and I've already made up my mind that they're going back. The presentation is interesting, but the soundstaging is no better (perhaps even worse) than my trusty Audio Physic Tempo's. There is a problem in cohesion from midrange to bass, and this manifests itself quite frequently when I play 80's rock and pop (Pat Benatar especially). And they get congested with complex orchestral music. Granted, with simple chamber music or guitar solos, they sound pretty good. But they just can't handle the gamut of music that I play like my Audio Physic speakers.

There are those who may claim that perhaps my amp isn't up to the task of powering the Maggies. I have an Innersound ESL 300 which is designed for planars and electrostats, being able to double down twice to 2 ohms, and still stable at 1/3 ohm impedance. It should be more than enough to drive the Maggies.

And some will claim that the MMG's don't adequately represent the abilities of Magnepan's higher-end offerings. I've heard a 3.6 previously, driven by Classe electronics, and while it sounded OK, I wasn't thrilled with it. Which surprises me, because I tend to gravitate toward electrostatics, and I thought I'd gravitate towards planars as well.

And I will admit, my old Audio Physic Tempo's originally retailed for $4000, which is substantially more than the MMG's $550. But still, even at their entry level, the Magnepan's should be hinting at something that those box speakers can't quite do. But I'm not hearing it. I came into this with a very open mind, and I'm somewhat surprised that the speakers are likely getting shipped back to Magnepan.

Has anyone else come to this conclusion?

Michael
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Showing 1 response by cytocycle

cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
I loved my MMG's which I bought used and I owned SMGa's before and it took me about 3 months to loosen them up.... before they opened up or they sound congested... get a break in CD or some Techo and and crank it when you leave the house with the cd player on repeat... They have to loosen up. Magnepan's only care about 4ohms.. they don't drop below and they don't vary.. but as with all magnepan's more power is better no matter how much.. You should have plenty.. I didn't didn't care for Classe electronics powering my IIIA's, I tried a CA400 and it was definitely too bright.. the ribbon tweeter is extra sensitive to bad SS..... might sound find on other speakers but not magnepans.

I owned SMGa's and then traded them into the dealer and bought IIIa's and years later I tried out two pairs of 1.6's in my hometheater setup.

Also the key to making magnepans sound great is 3-5 feet behind them, if you can't pull them out into the room then you will never realize the magic.... For larger orchestra you will need 1.6 or at least a subwoofer (tight low 40-60hz steep crossover) with the MMG's. this is where you are comparing fuller range $4000k speakers to $600 speakers..

But unless you get like 2-3 weeks of continuous playing at really loud levels you will never understand that magnepan magic...... I prefer buying Magnepan's used for this reason..

Keep playing the hell out of them..... you have time for the 60 day return policy..
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