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What are some of the downsides of owning a Magneplanar .7 or 1.7i ?

Thinking of moving up speaker wise, and so am considering  the fabled Magneplanar speakers, that is, either the  the .7, or supposedly new 1.7i.   (BTW, I am not sure the Maggie .7 is necessarily an upgrade, and has less bass than my current box speakers...see below)

Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other downsides of this design.  For the last 30 years, I have owned several traditional box design speakers. 

I currently have a pair of Golden Ear Technology model 7's....which I like and generally sound good However, I  would like to confirm what a planar design brings to the table in sound quality. I have read many times about the box-less sound  provided by this design, and its wide sound staging and low distortion. 

I think I have enough power with BAT VK-200 amp (100RMS) to drive the .7, but not sure that is enough to drive the MG1.7i. to higher volumes The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE. 

The listening room area 12 X15ft, but opens into kitchen/dining area divided by a medium size couch. The rest of the space is approximately 12X18ft behind the sofa with a stupid counter island ( so I cannot move the sofa back any further.. The ceiling is 8 to 9 ft feet high ( not a cathedral ceiling, praise the Lord) . It is a bit of haul to the dealer I bought the Golden Ear T's from who also carries Magneplanar line.  All advice welcomed.    Thanks, SJ   

sunnyjim

Showing 8 responses by randy-11

randy-11
1,913 posts
 
they need current delivery at 4 ohms but are easy to drive as they are not a complex load

they are hard to ship if you ever sell them

they are best 5 ft from a front wall; you can do side wall tmts and stick them inches from a side wall (ARC has tested their amps that way)

the bananas are fine

worst thing is you may tend to brag to friends about how great they are for the price
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
the 7 series Maggies are a big improvement - they are x.7i now BTW

it is easy to get better speakers than any Maggie -- just spend 3x as much
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
Well, I don't have a Super 7 but I'm on my 2nd 911 and 2nd Maggie pair.

I find that soundstaging is the most critical SQ factor to be impacted by position.  Freq. response is still pretty good if I'm lazy and leave them 2 ft. from the walls (3.7i).

The oval bases make them easy to move and do not alter SQ -- the projecting feet do seem to make aiming them easier.  I swapped to the oval bases after verifying the lack of impact on SQ with Wendell.

If you don't like Maggies, Vandies are another xlnt speaker.  I had those before getting my 1st set of Maggies (and did extensive comparisons for about 5 months).
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
I don't find the criticisms by the last 2 posters true.  maybe they have not heard the latest ones?
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
The Master Handbook of Acoustics has good information on speaker placement.

Real information, not alt. facts or creation "science" or witchdoctor woo-woo

The subject can be a bit complicated, but the exact center of the room is usually not the best.
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
The stock feet supplied by Magnepan are just fine and do NOT need to be replaced.
This is true of any dipole radiator - think about it.  Or call up and annoy Wendell.  Or do a proper listening test.

Mye Stands or similar could be useful if you have a toddler who tries to rock them back and forth all the time - otherwise not.

The stock fuses are just fine and do NOT need to be replaced.
 Again, call Wendell - the factory has tested all sorts of improvements.

Put the ripoff money the fusers want for their woo-woo towards a nice Bryston amp, Benchmark, good Class D or something that has good current delivery into 4 ohms.

or room treatments - things that work
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
again, the MDF frames are not a problem - call Wendell if you want

there is a lot of engineering AND testing in their speakers

if you like the look, that's fine
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
Wendell doesn't like subs.  ;]

They want you to use their DWMs - which will "mate" better than some cone-head thing but will not give you the low low bass you may really want, and require very specific positioning re back wall distance.

if you do get cone based subs, try first and listen at the Xover freqs. - then buy 2 not just one
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