Magnepan owners : past / present


What speakers have you bought after owning maggies that you liked as well as maggies ?
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Showing 4 responses by lrsky

Plato,
You've chosen your moniker wisely...come to think of it what less could we expect from a 'Plato'...you're a smart guy.
The Maggies are a find for anyone, and for those who say they're hard to drive, just read his comments. They are an almost purely resistive (as opposed to reactive)4 ohm load, very predictable. Let's be real here, its not as if that Pioneer was a bastion of current delivery, yet it handles the Maggies very well.
Great post Plato...maybe more people will go to school on your comments and give these little speakers their due, as this is but one more brick knocked down from the 'they're hard to drive' bull, that permeates all blogs.

P.S. Years ago when I met Jim Winey, (Mr. Magnepan) he told me, "If you let anyone out of your store without playing these little guys (SMGa) you're foolish." He was absolutely right!

Larry
Charles,
I haven't kept up in recent months, (maybe years) with ALL of the Maggies.
But I am pretty sure that virtually all the Maggies state a 4 ohm load (easily checked on their site).
This has to do with the 'nature of the beast'.
I believe, and this is pure speculation, that the, 'they're hard to drive' comes from several aspects of their performance. They are very low distortion loudspeakers, and as they go up in volume, don't have the normal, (out of gap) distortions that traditional loudspeakers offer up.
(IE, as we move the coil further from the magnet, the emf is less and less, therefore the 'control' exercised over the driver is lessened)allowing for exponential distortion levels. The human ear while aware of distortion is possibly distracted by the volume, and not as aware of it.
For example, the typical loudspeaker woofer, even at modest excursions can deliver as much as 10% distortion very, very quickly. THAT is a lot. The Maggies, are lower in distortion AND lack the overall 'kick' or 'punch' to most ears, that traditional loudspeakers have. This lack of kick causes the listener, craving that punch, to turn up the volume, possibly louder than is called for. When the amplifier clips, the listener is immediately under the assumption that it has to do with 'inefficiency' rather than the reality of the situation.
As a dipole speaker, the Maggie is loading sound into the room in a completely different manner than 'traditionals.'
In phase to the front, out of phase behind the speaker...but energy into the room nonetheless, so one could argue that the traditional, 2.83V 1W1M measuring techniques are inadequate to really assess. I've always thought this measurement, while the standard, is static, and not indicative of what a speaker actually does with a 'dynamic' or 'music' signal--and only a laboratory tool.
Sorry, off topic.
Suffice it to say, the Maggies are special and worthy of ANYONE'S audition if size is not a deal breaker. With their overall attractive presentation, it isn't for me, but then I'm not a decorator, or a wife fighting for room space.
If you have any further questions, you can write me off site at [email protected], or through a'gon.
BTW, your system, I'm pretty sure, based on a cursory look, is VERY sweet sounding.
Good luck, Charles.
Larry
I'm not sure that I'd be comfortable stating, "This is because they very noticeably subtract low-level information; particularly dynamic shifts and harmonic decay."
I would call the 'low level (information) resolution on the Magnepans first rate--not unlike some of the electrostatics. Again, to my ear they lack the perceived 'impact' of a long throw driver, punching the air with the force of a few mm's of distance.
My observations of the Magnepans up to and including the 20.1's has been that low level res is greater and more nuanced than on many dynamics. The totality of difference in presentation of a dipole can confuse the listener, even a 'Critique'.

Larry
Most of the comments here are 'variations on a theme' of the 'love it hate it' with Maggies.
I PERSONALLY don't find them hard to drive, hence my agreement with the 'I'm using an old Pioneer receiver' comments which I agreed with, pointing out that it's hardly a high current piece.
The overall perception, to my way of thinking, is that Maggies are 'lacking' for those who do not like their presentation--I don't find them so. I find them incredibly transparent, with that continually remindful 'boxless' presentation that in some ways, HAS NO EQUAL in anything but a dipole such as they are.
The Sound Lab, to me, other than the MBL, (a really expensive, more sophisocated omni) is the best of the lot.
At $20K for the pair when I bought them...they were about the most realistic speaker I'd heard, in many, too many to mention characteristics that all speakers should strive to capture.
It's hard to quantify, but for what they do right, which is 'plenty' for my taste, not many compare to Maggies.
I only mention Sound Labs to note that they are a better, and yes more expensive version of a type of sound...not the same technology--a common misconception.
Good listening.

Larry