Magneplanars for Bedroom Home Theatre?


Does anyone have any experience with the new baby Magneplanars or their home theatre speakers?

From their website, they have one small pair they sell factory direct and the newer line of center channel speakers and wall mountable panels for the surrounds.

I am an old Maggie fan, but have never had anything less than MG-IIIs for many years.

I think I have decided on the new Panasonic AEU7000 projector, a 119" diagonal screen at the foot of my bed and will use the system for HDTV, the occasional DVD, and some X-Box games using the HD adaptor.

I ike the idea of more Magneplanars, not to mention the slightly more discreet appearance of the thin wall mountable panels so I am hoping they sound good and can be driven with less than wildly expensive amps?

Does anyone have them? Like them?

Any suggestions for amps or home theatre receivers that wont break the bank?

Thanks and best wishes.
cwlondon
Douglas

Thank you. Excellent info in your reply, although I was a bit disappointed with just "very pleased" in the end.

After all that, I was expecting you to be "thrilled, blown away, two thumbs up, destroys comparably priced box speakers" or something. I guess as an old Maggie fan I am biased.

In any case, I will probably proceed, but thinking of an even more bare bones installation: virtual center channel and 5.1 (or maybe even just 5) instead of 7.1. Actually I guess that means only 4.1 or 4?!

For a few minutes of TV or XBox before I fall asleep I still hope it will be pretty sweet.
Did my own HT with all Magnpean; 1.6QR mains and MGMW surrounds and MGMC center. Very economical way (under $1,000 for 7.1 surround speakers!) to do it.
If you're spoiled for a tad bit bigger sound, you'd probably want the larger surrounds and center. But I have had no complaints.
Listening to SACD one can tell, especially on vocals as they come across on the surrounds that they are smaller and less rich than the 1.6's. This is to be expected. However, if you're not using SACD or DVD-Audio, then I doubt you'll ever even notice such an effect.

Regarding amplification, I'm using an all Outlaw Audio amplifier set; 755 5 channel amp at 200wpc, and two Outlaw monoblocs also 200wpc. I'm actually passively biamping the main speakers, which uses four of the five channels of the 755. So, I also use a Threshold T-50 (50 wpc class A) for the rear surrounds. Both the 50wpc and the 200wpc work fine, but the higher wattage really makes Maggies come alive.

Hanging Maggie surrounds may take a bit of engineering. They are quite heavy, so you'll possibly have to mount them to a stud, thereby crippling freedom of location of speaker. Or, you'll have to use some pretty hefty anchors going through drywall.The bonus is that you can invert them! They will sound identical hung upright or upside down! If you're running wiring through the wall, this can be advantageous in that you can have the wires coming from the speaker up higher or down lower, depending on their orientation. On my HT, I placed the mid surrounds upright, and the rear surrounds upside down and had the leads from the wall right where the connection to the speaker was. You will have to get a couple extra brackets from Magnepan to invert them, however. I called and was sent them for free.

Aside from these considerations, they are wonderful for HT! I'm very pleased with them.
I'm using the Outlaw 755 5 channel amp at 200wpc; works great with all the maggies.
there are a few threads here abouts, especially when they were first released. The consensus is that they are all what they should be. I am unaware of anybody who opted to return them after the 30-day free trial.