Followup-Magnepan 1.7s in a 10x13' dedicated room?

Bombaywalla, sorry, guess I was making assumptions. Wife says I do that a lot. So I'm confused, how can the Lft-8bs be time coherent? Doesn't the length of the panels cause the same problems? BTW, do you have any experience with them? I've considered them also and they offer a generous trial period for those who don't have a nearby dealer.

"When you think about it, the sound from an instrument as large as a piano isn't time coherent either and would get worse the closer you are to it. Just think of the tilt of the top of a piano that's played open."

That's an excellent point, but it doesn't hold up. A pair of speakers and a piano are not interchangeable. The purpose for which they were designed are different. Playing a piano live, in real space, is the absolute sound. There can be issues as to the sound quality of the piano just like you have with an audio system. Depending on the room and how the piano is set up, SQ can range from good to bad.

A speakers job is to take the recording of the piano and reproduce it as accurately as possible. So if the piano didn't sound very good live, the speaker is expected to sound the same event; and not sound better or worse.

With regards to the piano and speakers being time correct, its 2 completely different things. If you have a recording of a piano that has some sound quality issues, timing or otherwise, there's nothing that you can do about it. Sometimes you get music that's well recorded and sometimes you don't. If you have a speaker that is time and phase correct, its a design feature. Having that feature allows you to reproduce the recording so that its a more transparent window to the source. Its another step forward in trying to get the most accurate playback possible. And that means hearing the timing flaws on the recording, but not creating new ones due to your systems short comings.

I hope that helps. I'm in a hurry and typed this out really fast, so If I'm not clear on anything, post and I'll try and fix it.

Linesource, no problem! :-)
don't know how the LFT-8b are made to be time-coherent. Same question re. the Quad ESL & the Sanders ESL...
No experience with the LFT-8b personally.

Well since I started this thread in relation to Magnepans in my small listening room I suppose I should share what's been going on. Instead of waiting until I have the funds to pick up a pair of 1.7s, I took advantage of Magnepan's MMG trial and trade up program and ordered a pair of MMGs. I got the speakers last Friday and it's been an interesting few days. I unpacked them, put the legs on, fired up the system and they sounded awful! No bass, a very strident upper midrange and very bright. Not the same experience I had with my SMGbs years ago. The SMGbs lacked in bass at first but still sounded great everywhere else. Being well aware of the need to break in, I left the room and let them play for a few hours. Their sound changed dramatically even after just a few hours. They were listenable but not great. The next day I let them play for five hours while my wife and I went shopping. Upon returning, their sound had improved even further. The bass was starting to come in and the upper midrange harshness was gone. I let them play all day Sunday and all day Monday. Last night they sounded very much like the MG12s the dealer let me borrow. They are playing away at home as I write this at work and I hope to hear further improvements tonight. A Paradigm SE subwoofer will be arriving today and I'm looking forward to hearing how that integrates. Another thing I should note which I don't understand, is that these speakers were much more sensitive than the MG12s when first played. This is not subjective or imagined either. I use an SPL meter to protect my ears and the volume knob on the preamp was set significantly lower at the the SPL I normally listen at than with the MG12s. Throughout the last three days the knob has progressively been dialed up to maintain the same volume. They are still more sensitive than the MG12s but the change is significant and puzzling. Overall I'm happy I didn't drop another 600.00 dollars for MG12s given the performance I'm experiencing with these humble MMGs. I think I will be quite satisfied while I acquire the necessary funds for the 1.7s. Maybe the .7s will be out by then and I'll consider those also.

One thing that I didn't have time to add in my post from last night is that just because we were talking about some of the flaws in Magnepan's designs, doesn't mean that you shouldn't get them. Use the info provided in these posts to make a better choice. But its very important that you make your own choice. Its your system and you are the one that has to listen to it, not us. If you like Magnepan speakers and that's what makes you happy, then those are the speakers for you. Honestly, I had the 1.7's and found they were not the speaker for me. That's why they make other brands. Just don't let us talk you out of the best speaker for you.