Magnepan's new LRS?

RIchard: those are interesting and thought provoking points. Thanks for posting them!Keith

Thanks for the comments and the links! Very much appreciated!!
--Keith

Thanks to all for your comments and insights!

Based on what I've read, I've ordered a pair directly from Magnepan. I expect to receive them in about 3 weeks.

I spoke at length with Eric at the company about the adequacy of my very old (ancient, actually) Classe Audio DR-9 (David Reich's last design for the company). It's a high-current amp (400 stereo watts into 2 ohms, 200 into 4 and 100 into 8) and he thought it would do a better-than-adequate job. Agree? At least in the near-term future, I hope it will do justice to these speakers.


I'm using some equally ancient Audioquest cables (so old I've forgotten the model). Suggestions regarding appropriate replacement cables for this setup will be gratefully received!

Thanks mofimadness! Much appreciated perspective!!

bdp24: That's who I contacted and I got the same report.  I was offered  the "upgrade" to the 0.7 as an alternative. So, I ordered them directly from Magnepan. I hope they will arrive within the next 3 weeks.

I placed my order directly with Eric at Magnepan after getting the "brush off" and an attempted "up sell" from the nearby authorized dealer.

While I feel a general obligation to patronize locally owned businesses, I'll only do so if they offer better-than-good service, considerate and informed sales staff and somewhat reasonable pricing (acknowledging that they have lease fees, employee obligations and so on to account for). Failing those standards, and as gammonit_2000 wrote, "Why bother?"

marcs: I can't answer the amplifier question but I'm wondering if you were given an estimated delivery date (range) by Magnepan when you placed the order?

Here is an update for those of you who have placed LRS orders and are awaiting delivery. Eric of Magnepan told me today, the company has (unsurprisingly) been inundated with orders. Mine - placed on April 18 - will probably ship in a couple of weeks.

In short, it seems that there's about 6-8 weeks from mid-April orders to shipping. I suppose that's likely to decrease, now that the company has an insight into demand and can manufacture accordingly.
Keith

I've had the LRS for a few months now. As is well known, these speakers require very careful positioning and so obtaining the best possible sound they can provide may prove to be impossible in some rooms (regardless of "treatments"). That statement of the obvious aside, my extended listening impressions are:
1) Stereo imaging is exceptionally good,
2) Midrange and treble reproduction are first rate (based on hearing recordings I'm quite familiar with on other equipment in other settings and in "real life", too),
3) Bass response (in my room, sans any sort of "treatments") is limited. I'm sure that without the constraints imposed by the dimensions of my own space, bass would be better...because other listeners say so,
4) Addition of dedicated stands will likely be a big help and they most certainly will be more stable/secure than those the factory provided. Magnepan's stand for the LRS leave the speakers very precariously balanced, at least on an industrial carpeted floor. I've ordered Magna Risers (for several reasons not germane to this topic) and I'm awaiting delivery.
5) With my system in my room, I'm very pleased with the LRS though sub-woofers would present a better musical picture. However, a reasonable pair would more than double the price of the original speaker. Still, the combination is economically competitive with other contenders.

I tried to read and understand the Audio Science Review analysis and the technical details of the original posting and most of the subsequent 28 pages were entirely opaque to me, but I've no background in engineering or acoustics. Allowing for that, the consensus there was that the LRS is seriously flawed. That conclusion (based apparently on the measurements) contradicts all other reviews I've read.
Anyway, I do agree that the LRS are seriously bass deficient, at least as far as I've been able to determine in my listening room. I think this problem has been aggravated by placing them on off-the-floor stands (as some of the comments on that forum suggest will be the case) and maybe tomorrow I'll remove the stands and re-install the manufacturer supplied ones and re-assess.

As for "virtually unlistenable", I don't agree with that conclusion. Allowing for the bass issue (without sub-woofers), I'm generally content with the LRS.
I'm interested in reading Audiogon comments from technically sophisticated reviewers on that Audio Science thread.

Keith

jjss49: No, the review in ASR didn't alter my opinion. As I wrote, the technical analysis was beyond comprehension so I read the OP's conclusion and scanned the remaining 28 pages of posts for enlightenment...that insight never arrived. The purpose of my post here was to get Audiogon readers' perspectives on the ASR dissenting review. The one point I did take away from the entire thread was that putting the LRS back on the floor might help improve bass.

Eric: I've been moving them around a bit every week. I'm pretty satisfied with the imaging, but the bass is anemic (at best). Fortunately for me, I mostly listen to music that doesn't feature a prominent bass line but I've been routinely reading the Audiogon classified ads for used sub-woofers for sale locally.
snapsc: Until someone posted here, I'd not heard of ASR but that forum does seem to rely very heavily on measurements vs. listening.
thanks for the replies!Keith