Magnepan 20.7 - Ten Feet or More Into a Room?


Polling Magnepan users with larger rooms; assuming that the overall room length allows it (and a dedicated listening room), do you think 20.7's can go as far as 10 to 12 feet off the front wall and still work well? At that distance from the front wall can they still fill the space behind the speaker and produce a convincing sound field?
stickman451

Showing 2 responses by stickman451

My current room is 17.5w x 26L x 9h. I have the 20.7's angled in a bit with
the tweeter ribbons to the outside (yes, this gives a very slightly less
focused center image but it helps spread the sound field even further left
amd right; I like the 'big' soundfield). The inside edges of the 20's are 7'
from the front wall, the outside edges are 7'-9".

I am getting ready to build a new house and I have the opportunity to
design an even larger dedicated listening room. Initially it was going to be
19w x 29L x 11h. Further design changes and roof issues may allow me to
expand the room width by 2 additional feet, so width would be 21'.

So, at 3ft longer and 2.5ft wider I am thinking that I will be tempted to pull
the 20.7's another foot or three into the room. Since it is a purpose
designed, dedicated room I can put my listening chair anywhere (as long as
it works accoustically for good sound).
Last year I added two REL 328 subs and they have really moved my rig to the next level. Bass from the 20's is very good but I was always missing that last little bit of energy from the mid-bass down. The mid-bass and down was tuneful, articulate, and 'tight', but it did not have what I like to call, 'grunt'. Drum wacks and bass guitar lines were there but they lacked that last level of realism.

Adding the REL's changed all that. Now when a heavy drum whack ocurrs you can feel the energy/impact hit you in the chest! Steady bass lines have that throbbing beat and energy that you hear in a good live show.

The REL's have also dramatically improved 'space' in most of the music I play. They make the soundfield BIG and all that space has become more dense with sound and detail.

Before adding the REL's I would often times switch over to my Khorns when playing a lot of rock music; now I no longer get the urge to do that.